Melissa Hull: Headed to Macau

Posted May 2001

Melissa Hull will graduate from Huntington College this spring, and in the fall, she will head to Macau. During its April meeting, the Missions Board enthusiastically approved Melissa as a fulltime missionary to teach in the English Language Program.

Melissa is from the Banner of Christ UB church in Grand Rapids, Mich.

"I first realized I liked missions through the involvement of my grandma, Vivian Hull, with WMF at church," she recalls. "She was very involved in that. Then in high school, we started doing things locally, and went down to Kentucky for a missions trip."

When Melissa was a senior in high school, Wes Burk was the youth pastor at Banner.

"Wes, I want to go overseas. What can I do?" she asked him.

Wes gave her an application for STUMP, the annual United Brethren youth trip to Jamaica. She applied, and found herself in Jamaica the next summer. That was in 1997.

She has now been to Jamaica four times. In January 1999, she went with a trip led by Professor Steve Lee . She went to Jamaica by herself during January of 2000 to work with Habitat for Humanity. And in the summer of 2000, she participated in STUMP as an adult leader.

This summer, 2001, Melissa will make her fifth trip to Jamaica, once again serving as a STUMP leader. But in August, soon after returning to the States, she'll head off to Macau.

Which, also, is familiar territory to Melissa.

"I didn't know anything about Macau until I came to Huntington College," Melissa says.

An Elementary Education major, Melissa had taught in Fort Wayne, Ind. But wanting a multi-cultural teaching experience, she stopped by the UB Missions Office last fall and asked secretary Mabel Mundy if she knew of anywhere she could go during the money of January to get some multi-cultural experience."

"I'm sure Macau would take you," Mabel suggested.

Melissa left three days before Christmas 2000 and stayed until January 18.

"I fell in love with Macau, the culture, the people, and I got along great with Jana and Jennifer and Paul. It's a very friendly place, and it just felt comfortable. I loved talking with and getting to know the people. They're so busy and going and active and doing things. I didn't want to leave, but I had to come back for a wedding. Otherwise I would have stayed for another week."

Melissa worked a lot with missionary kids, but also did some teaching in the ELP.

"Jana and I talked about the possibility of me coming back. So when I got back to Huntington, I went to the Missions Office, got an application, and started the process."

Melissa will go for a three-year termótwo and a half years on the field, six months back.

On her application, she wrote, "I believe God has given me a passion for other cultures and for sharing his love with people. God has given me the ability to adapt well to other cultures and to be flexible in new surroundings and situations. I love people, and I love God."