The Mission to Magadan according to Hannah, Hannah's Testimony, The Catholic Parish of the Nativity of Jesus, Magadan, Russia

The Mission to Magadan according to Hannah, Hannah's Testimony, The Catholic Parish of the Nativity of Jesus, Magadan, Russia

“Therefore I accept the loss of all things for the sake of gaining Jesus Christ my Lord” (Phil 3:8)

This is my favorite Bible verse, not only because it reminds me of my call to live for heaven, but because it reminds me of the true desire of my heart.

If I am to gain heaven, to be with my beloved God for eternity, I have no other choice but to deny myself and take up my cross to follow Him.

My name is Hannah Castree and I will be a senior in college at Franciscan University of Steubenville this fall.

If anyone would have told me a year ago that I would go to Russia even once in my life, I would have thought they were crazy.

Now, the thought of ever wanting to leave Magadan is crazy to me.

When I started considering coming to Magadan this summer, I went back and forth so much that I am surprised that I didn’t get whiplash by the end of it!

It took months of prayer and a lot of me begging the Lord to make His will clear in this decision.

If I was going all the way to Siberia, I wanted a clear answer.

Finally, when the clear answer did not come, I realized that the Lord was calling me to make a decision and trust Him.

I told Him that I was going to push forward with going and if He really did not want me to go, to stop me.

As my friends and family asked me why I was going and some thought I was crazy, the only answer I could give them was, “I do not know why I am going, I just know that the Lord wants me to go.”

This did not change, even after arriving in Magadan.

I had no particular love or passion for Russia or Russian culture, I just had a love for God that brought me here.

This continued for the first two weeks of living in Magadan.

After living here for about a month, the Lord has shown me the reasons why He brought me here, but He also has placed in my heart a love for Magadan.

Now I love Russian culture, Russian people, and I love the community in Magadan. I have never been so welcomed and loved by people I did not know and only just met.

These people that have been placed in my life are the reason the Lord brought me to Magadan.

He has asked me to be His instrument so that He can love His children here in Magadan.

I am His arms when He wants to hug them, I am His eyes when He wants to look at them with eyes of love.

It is truly no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

I have been amazed at how great my love for these people is.

As the Lord’s instrument, He has allowed me to experience His love for each person I meet.

I see them through His eyes in all their dignity, beauty, and I am able to see the gift they are to this world.

This in itself is a gift to me, Magadan feels like home.

Without evening realizing it, all the people I have met are becoming members of my family.

It is as if there is a place in my heart that each person I encounter was meant to fill. Each person reveals a part of God to me I never knew before, and would be missing in my life had I not met them.

I hope as I continue my time here that I may become more of a worthy instrument in the hands of our Lord and simply to love all those I meet.

That is my greatest desire in all that I do, because the Love of God is the greatest gift I have ever received.

https://www.facebook.com/Mission2Magadan

Mission to Magadan, Monday, September 1, 2014, at 1:04am:

Here's our e-newsletter for August!

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Mission-to-Magadan-e-news-August-2014.html?soid=1102658680149&aid=I03mpeGJnhU