Testimony of Hannah’s parents (Heart’s Home missionary in Chile)

Hannah left in 2008 for a Heart’s Home mis­sion in Chile. Her par­ents, who became close friends of Heart’s Home USA, shared with us their fears, appre­hen­sions and joys about her set­tling over­seas to vol­un­teer as a Heart’s Home mis­sionary

“Our daughter Hannah began to con­sider the pos­si­bility of serving as a mis­sionary with Heart’s Home after a friend­ship our family built for over two years with mem­bers of the move­ment.
Though coming from a non-Catholic tra­di­tion, our family was deeply touched by the joyful sim­plicity and prayerful ded­i­ca­tion of all the mem­bers and asso­ci­ates we met at Heart’s Home. So when Hannah expressed a wish to explore the work of Heart’s Home fur­ther, we were at peace with her choice.

Nevertheless, both they and we wanted to be cer­tain that she would feel at ease. Therefore, Hannah expe­ri­enced a couple extended visits to Heart’s Home in Brooklyn before her actual time of training began.
It is only nat­ural for par­ents to be con­cerned for their son or daughter’s well being in taking what appears to be such a rad­ical step. We were thankful, how­ever, to learn how care­fully Hannah was looked after—­phys­i­cally, emo­tion­ally, and spir­i­tu­ally. There was never any pres­sure put on her. In fact, Heart’s Home was careful and con­sid­erate at every step of her training and place­ment to make sure that Hannah was ready for the next step.
We always felt a great respect from Heart’s Home for our own faith tra­di­tion. And in the end, it was great joy for us to par­tic­i­pate in Hannah’s Sending Forth cer­e­mony knowing that we were united in our common love for Jesus and his wish that his com­pas­sion would be shared with all suf­fering humanity.

In the seven months now that Hannah has been gone, we marvel to expe­ri­ence her growing love for the people of her neigh­bor­hood in Valparaiso Chile, espe­cially for the chil­dren and old people. They, as well as the mem­bers of her own Heart’s Home house­hold, have found a spe­cial place in her heart.
The intense life of prayer that is lived at Heart’s Home has helped Hannah to both live out her Christian faith and to reflect deeply each day on what she expe­ri­ences. Through reg­ular cor­re­spon­dence and fre­quent visits from those respon­sible, she feels con­nected to the greater Heart’s Home move­ment.
We as her par­ents feel that in some small way we accom­pany her in her mis­sion. We are reas­sured that Hannah has found a true home in Heart’s Home and that she is being nur­tured as she seeks to give her­self for others.

No matter what the time ahead may hold for Hannah, we feel that her ser­vice as a mis­sionary is an invest­ment for her future and that as a result she will emerge from it a stronger and more com­pas­sionate person.”

Read Hannah’s tes­ti­mony on her Heart’s Home mis­sion in Chile