“Are you a Christian?”
6-year-old Mia Lull looked up at me with wide, expectant eyes, jumping from one foot to the other in excitement. The question followed a string of other rapid-fire inquiries and observations: How old are you? I like your necklace! Are you a student here? Look at this grasshopper I caught! I found myself wishing I looked at the world with such curiosity and wonder. We could all use a little more of that these days.
“I am!” I replied. “Are you?”
Mia answered with a sunbeam smile, filled with joy in this simple thing we shared. In that moment, she looked like the physical embodiment of childlike faith.
I first met Mia when I sat down with her parents, Samuel and Hannah Lull, outside their on-campus apartment. It was one of those quintessential fall days, chilly but sun-soaked. We decided to chat outside while we watched their two kids, Mia and her younger brother Jack, play on the small playground. Almost immediately, I could see the bond between the members of the Lull family. Samuel and Hannah looked at their two children, and each other, with evident love and gratitude—in the same spirit, they graciously allowed me a glimpse into their lives. Everything about them felt welcoming.
My roommate, junior elementary education major Cayla Cohen, also had the pleasure of meeting the Lull family.
“From the start I could tell they were eager to meet students and connect with them,” Cohen said. “They seem like they’re trying to make a relational impact with the time they have here.”
Building relationships here is indeed something the Lull family hopes to do. Samuel and Hannah are missionaries-in-residence at Union, their alma mater and where they first met. After getting married and graduating together, they spent some time doing mission work in East Asia and studying language in France before moving to North Africa in the middle of 2019. There they worked with existing churches to foster healthy, truth-based environments and to help people grow as a church body.
“Our goal and our hope is that God uses us to help strengthen local churches, not just stop at sharing the gospel,” Hannah said. “People need churches to help them grow in their salvation in a healthy, biblical environment, so that when things like this pandemic happen and all the foreigners get pulled out, they haven’t lost their crutch. They can stand on their own because they have that theology and doctrine. They can say ‘I know what being a Christian is.’”
In many ways, the Lulls have seen the fruits of their labors in North Africa, but they only lived there a year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. A slew of virus-related complications prompted their return to Union and forced the family to put much of their work on hold.
“In a lot of ways it was a complete stop,” said Samuel. “It’s like we’ve pushed pause on our lives. We still don’t know when we can go back.”
Hannah nodded. “Right, and we originally thought we’d only be gone a couple of months.”
We all smiled a little at that. Oh, how wrong we were has become a familiar thought when reminiscing about the pandemic’s beginning. Nobody knew what the world would look like mere months later, including the Lulls. After being overseas for so long, they had to rely on God’s provision when they returned to the states.
Oftentimes, trusting God in the midst of uncertainty is easier said than done. Samuel and Hannah’s story reminded me of a personal test of faith, so I shared one of my recent experiences with them. Before the pandemic, I was scheduled to travel to Southeast Asia in May. The trip was a leap of faith for me, into which I put countless hours of prayer and preparation. I worked with a team of other students for months as we prepared to share the gospel overseas, only to be told we couldn’t go a month before our scheduled departure.
I was devastated. In the moment, I couldn’t understand why God would call me to something so significant only to close the door at the last minute. I wondered if all that learning and praying and preparation I’d done had been for nothing.
Hannah understood that feeling. “Sometimes I wondered, ‘Can I do this?’” she told me of the moments when her world began shifting. “It’s one of those times when it’s easy to get mad at God, but I remember crying out to the Lord and He gave me peace. Looking back, look how He worked everything out! He has worked so much good in this time.”
For the Lulls, their stay at Union has not only been a time of waiting, but a time of work. They’re not exactly where they thought they’d be right now, but then again, who is? God has still provided for them with places to stay, friends and even a newfound purpose—their missionary-in-residence position. Through their work on campus, the Lulls have no doubt that God is still using them for His glory.
“With this MIR role we actually have something meaningful to do, and it’s really the best possible scenario for us, given that we’re in limbo,” said Samuel. “We get to talk to people in missions and go speak at churches. We’re very thankful.”
“The Lord has continually been faithful,” Hannah added. “Just to be here, I feel so much peace. I feel like that’s just God’s grace in our lives. A lot of life overseas is go, go, go, but here it’s not that. It allows a lot of time to reflect and really look at our relationships with the Lord.”
Samuel and Hannah both smiled as they spoke of God’s provision—in truth, their trust in Him inspired me. Here was a couple who had traveled all over the world, faced countless trials, and ran headlong into the unknown for the Lord. Still, their faith had not been shaken—it was trusting and hopeful. Childlike.
At that moment, 2-year-old Jack came barreling down the slide on the little playground where we sat. A bit too much momentum sent him tumbling head-over-heels into the wood chips. We all looked over in shock, but Jack only sat there, grinning at us as if waiting for approval. Laughing, we applauded his acrobatics. His smile only grew.
That day, I didn’t just see that simple joy in Jack and Mia, but also in their parents. Samuel and Hannah were content in their circumstances, joyful even, and fully reliant on God. Thinking back to my own experience with Southeast Asia, I realized how much God has been working in my time of waiting as well. I still had the privilege of doing virtual mission work with my team over the summer, and our preparation process built some of the most special relationships in my life. I still plan to pursue missions in the future, even if that’s right here in Jackson, Tennessee. Samuel and Hannah’s story helped me realize the value in the waiting—sometimes it’s important to just be still and listen.
“Several people have told me, ‘Don’t just keep wishing you were over there, but really use this time in a redemptive way. Look at how you’re walking with the Lord,’” Samuel said. “Well, He has certainly given us the time to do that now. We’re so grateful.”
*The names of some individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.
