Hannah
The world doesn’t respond well to differences; it’s a part of fallen human nature. People naturally gravitate towards others like them, whether it be politically like-minded, enjoying the same media or hobbies, or people who are of a similar age or cultural background. It’s easy to accept someone “like us.” But in truth, we are all uniquely and wonderfully made. Every single person is entirely different, with individual thoughts, feelings, experiences, and challenges.
People whose differences are more visually noticeable can attest to how the world naturally responds. Unfortunately, even in the Church, we sometimes fall short of accepting people for who they are, rather than what we see on the outside.
When Hannah was two months old, she quit breathing. “It’s called a ‘Near-Miss SIDS’ episode,” Hannah explains. Thankfully, she was revived, but without any oxygen to her brain for an extended period of time, she experienced some brain damage. “I had to go to the hospital after I came back to life,” Hannah continues. “It’s funny because the doctor who was on call that night had literally just read a study about traumatic brain injury, and that’s what I had.” God put the exact doctor with the exact knowledge necessary in the same room as little baby Hannah at exactly the right moment. “Throughout my whole life, God has been there for me,” she declares.
Initially, the doctors thought that little Hannah would permanently be in a vegetative state, but she quickly proved them wrong. Then they thought she would never be able to talk. “I didn’t say my first word until I was three. They even started me working on this little tablet talker,” Hannah shares. “And then out of nowhere, I started talking and I never stopped.”
As a result of the medical episode, Hannah has spent most of her young life in a wheelchair.
Even though Hannah grew up in church feeling loved, as she got older, her church would plan things like youth hiking and camping trips without attempting to include her. This exclusion, even when it was unintentional, eventually led her to a spiritually dark place. “I struggled for a long time with my mental health. Back in 2021, I almost took my life because I felt like no one was here for me. I felt like I wasn’t accepted. My church pushed me out of the youth group. They didn’t include me, and that was really, really hard.”
But when her niece, Layla, was born, Hannah found a beautiful new reason to push through the darkness. “I put on my brave face. And my family has helped me so much throughout my mental health journey.”
Around this same time, Hannah began helping at The Salvation Army Mountain Home Corps in Arkansas for school volunteer hours. And she never left. She found something precious at the corps that she had been searching for her whole life: safety, love, acceptance, and spiritual mentorship. “You guys just came with open arms, and it’s been quite a wonderful journey these last three years…One of the things that I’ve seen from The Salvation Army that I don’t see from other churches is that you don’t look at the disability; you look at the person.”
After navigating through her mental health crisis, Hannah started to really understand what it meant to pray and hold onto God. Having grown up in the Church, she knew that God spoke to people in the Bible, but she never expected Him to speak directly to her. But Hannah says during a worship service at her mom’s church, “God talked to me saying, ‘Stand up. Walk.’” At first, she was confused, thinking she was somehow just talking to herself, “but no, it was God telling me to stand up and walk. With the help of my mom’s pastor and my family, I was able to use my wheelchair to stand.” In that moment God became real to her. “And He called me to The Salvation Army and said, ‘Come here and you will be accepted for who you are. And you don’t have to change. You don’t have to hide behind a mask.’”
Hannah now serves faithfully at her corps every week, helping with the kids on Sundays and Wednesdays. “They call me Miss Hannah, or their favorite is Miss Hannah Banana. That’s a favorite nickname for me. I feel like I can go and have fun and just belong because they don’t see the wheelchair; they see the person.”
Hannah has found The Salvation Army to be more accepting and inclusive than she ever hoped for. “My corps officer approached me a few years ago and said, ‘Did you know you can go to camp?’ I said no, I can’t. I’m in a wheelchair… She said, ‘I’m going to make a way. We don’t know what, but we will make a way for you to be able. We will make it happen, no matter what.’” Her officers made it possible for her to attend both youth councils and women’s camp. “And I really appreciate people who do make it happen and who do include me, because I know that I’m better for it.”
This year at youth councils, Hannah decided it was time to tell her story. “God was telling me, ‘Share your testimony.’ And so, I did.” She also shared some of it on social media. “I wanted to be an advocate and show others who have a disability that you don’t have to just sit at home…I do have a life. I can go to camp, I can go swimming, I can walk a dog.” Hannah has received great feedback from both her youth councils and online testimony, many others sharing their stories with her in turn.
Hannah’s experience shows that despite our situations or abilities, we all crave belonging. “I pray for everyone who has a disability, who has mental health issues, or a learning disability, that they feel accepted too, because I know what it’s like not being accepted. And now I know what it feels like to be accepted for who you are.” She has made it her mission to make sure those around her always feel included. “If you don’t include, you’re going to miss out on some very awesome people.”
Hannah is becoming well-known in her division for the freedom and joy she shows during worship. At youth councils this year, she danced so much that her electric wheelchair’s battery died. During the Arkansas-Oklahoma Division’s women’s camp this year, they sang Elevation Worship’s “My Testimony.” The lyrics say, “This is my testimony: from death to life.” Hannah declares: “That’s my testimony. And one of the bridges says, ‘If I’m not dead, you’re not done. Greater things are still to come.’ I truly believe that.”
Hannah continues to use her story and her platform to praise God and promote inclusion, not only in the Church but in the rest of the world as well. “Belonging means that there are no outsiders. Everyone belongs. No matter if they have no legs, no matter if they’re blind or deaf. Belonging means that you can come here and be yourself, believing that God has a plan for everyone, no matter the circumstances.” She also continues to prove faithful to the name both God and her mother chose for her: Hannah Sunshine Joy.
