Originally from Wichita, Kansas, Hosanna attended college in Omaha, graduating from Grace University with a dual major in Biblical and Intercultural Studies with a focus in ESL. Hosanna comes to our Citylight Staff as a Missions Intern, pursuing placement as a long-term International Worker with the Christian & Missionary Alliance. As part of her preparation for field ministry, she will spend the next two years with us as a licensed worker, completing the requirements for consecration in the Alliance and the Alliance Licensed Ministry Experience (ALME.) As her sending church, we are thrilled to be able to invest deeply in her development as a missionary and draw on her passion for missions as we continue to work to advance the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Hosanna, in her own words:

“I am someone who has been saved from my own standards of success and perfection so that I might point to God’s perfect grace and truth—Jesus Christ. As a model missionary kid, I thought that by being good enough God would give me whatever I wanted. Thankfully, God loved me enough to shatter that lie and when I was nine my family moved back to the states where I was anything but the perfect American child. Socially uneducated and obtuse in an already socially awkward life phase, my inability to fit in American culture led me to a crisis moment with God where I ultimately found the love of God to be the source of acceptance that I had been looking for all along. Placing my peace in the identity of God is a truth I must still preach to my own heart every day and in a large part, I think this is what instantly drew me to the Gospel-centered congregation of Citylight when I moved to Omaha three years ago for college.
During college, God continued to grow my heart for people through my semester in Ecuador, my summer as a camp counselor, and my year as a community builder at Grace University. It was during my final fall semester of college, that I met Robin Laney who through Perspectives started to share with me about Citylight’s growing interest in international missions. As someone pursing long-term international ministry under the CMA, the shared desire instantly captured my attention. And now, I am really excited to work at Citylight to empower a stronger, long-term ministry partnership with one or two other ministries around the world.

Throughout the Bible, I see this story continually repeated—one person prays humbling before God, God responds with a seemingly impossible vision (except for the fact that we are talking about God), and then if the person will say yes in faith and obedience; a miracle happens. This is my heart and vision for myself and others. My coming to Omaha was that of a skeptical, in many ways, begrudging yes, and now, I would not wish my life any other way. Through the humble yes, I have seen God slowly transform the lives of many people dear to me, and as I look back in either joy or exhaustion, I realize amazingly that the most changed person is me. In Citylight, I see people of a humble yes, and I am so excited to be a part of the adventure God brings as we seek after His heart for every individual.”

Past her education and current career goals, Hosanna loves Jesus and people! She is kind, smart, wise and cheerful and is adapting well to this dynamic, sometimes kind of crazy movement we call Citylight. Make sure to welcome her when you have the opportunity!

You can contact Hosanna at hosanna@citylightomaha.org to learn more about her journey.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *