From Zoom Calls to Real Connections: How a Mission Trip with Deborah House Showed Hannah the Healing Power of Relationships
When Hannah Hammond came on board as Mt. Bethel Church’s high school girl’s ministry lead last summer (2023), one of the ministry responsibilities she inherited was to lead a monthly Zoom call between our church’s high school girls and the young women living at Deborah House.
“It was good, but hard,” Hannah said about the monthly video calls prior to her recent experience serving alongside Deborah House in-person. “On top of a bad connection, there’s a language barrier.”
She explained having to speak through a translator and accommodating both groups on such tiny screens made things feel impersonal.
“It felt like we were always asking the translator questions instead of really asking the girls questions. It was always a little intimidating for our girls to start a conversation.”
Deborah House is a ministry of Missio Link International in Romania that acts as a safehouse for women who’ve survived domestic and often sexual abuse and exploitation. Mt. Bethel Church has partnered with this ministry for over twenty years, providing financial assistance, sending short-term missions teams, and in recent years, through the monthly Zoom Calls between Deborah House and our high school girls.
This summer, Hannah was blessed to form a more personal connection with the young women she normally only sees on a screen. Because of the generosity of our church family, she was part of the short-term mission team we sent to serve alongside Deborah House in July.
“It was my first international mission trip,” Hannah remarked. “So, I didn’t know what to expect.”
In fact, Hannah revealed she was struggling with discouragement about the Zoom calls before her trip. “It’s really hard to cultivate a personal relationship over Zoom.”
“I think all of us here [Mt. Bethel’s high school girls] were wondering if it really made a difference or if the girls at Deborah House felt like they were being forced to sit through a 30-minute video call.”
God erased those doubts in Hannah’s mind through her mission trip this summer. “It was powerful when I walked in and one of the girls said, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s Hannah!’ They remembered me!”
As a safehouse and recovery center, Deborah House provides a stable, gospel-centered environment for young women who’ve experienced deep trauma, often at the hands of people who were supposed to care for them. The team at Deborah House not only provides therapy and legal help, but they also show these women what healthy family relationships are supposed to look like. Most importantly, they daily share the love, hope, and truth of Jesus with these young women.
Because of this, all the ministry activities Hannah and other team members participated in while serving with Deborah House this summer were relational. They ate meals with the residents, did crafts, sang songs, played games, etc. Most of their time was spent forming life-giving friendships with the girls so these young women would know what the love of Jesus feels like.
“It’s one thing to hear that Jesus loves you, but it’s a totally different thing to experience that love. And that’s what we were trying to share with them.”
These positive relationships, Hannah observed, make a big impact on a survivor’s healing journey.
“It’s one thing to hear that Jesus loves you, but it’s a totally different thing to experience that love. And that’s what we were trying to share with them.”
One day while helping the residents of Deborah House during craft time, Hannah shared, they wanted to take a picture of the bracelets they had made. But when she pulled out her phone and suggested everyone hold their wrists out, one young woman was very hesitant. She pointed to several scars on her arm and shook her head.
In that moment, Hannah’s heart broke. Even though she didn’t speak Romanian, and this resident didn’t speak English, she was able to somehow communicate to this girl that she understood her shame, but that it was going to be okay.
“Now that I’ve seen what a difference intentional gestures to build relationships can make, I want to be more encouraging for our girls here when we participate in the Zoom calls. There is a purpose. It does make a difference.”
Hannah agrees this mission trip changed her life.
“I used to think of a mission trip as an experience where you go and build a house, for example, and get to check a box when it’s completed. But how do you complete a relationship?
‘And so now, I have open eyes…I want to have the same level of compassion for the girls I minister to here that God gave me for the residents at Deborah House this summer.”
Thank you, Mt. Bethel Church, for being on mission with Deborah House through your tithes and offerings.