Growing up in France with a missionary family & learning to mingle with strangers from a from a young age, Hosanna has become a natural people person & frother of life and THE LORD. If you haven’t met her yet, I’m kind of surprised. Go have a yarn. She will speak in a french & provide you with enough belly laughs and joy to last a week. Here is a small snippet of her story yewww….
How has your upbringing impacted you, & who you are today?
Well, for those of you who don't know, I come from a Christian missionary family. I was born in Newcastle…yeah the Blues! When I was three, my parents took five of us kids to live in the very beautiful Biarritz, which has a very niice longboard wave & it’s just a 40-minute drive from Hossegor, a well-known surf spot where they hold the Quiksilver Pro.
So we moved there when I was three, and I developed a French accent haha. I did all my primary schooling in France, which was awesome. Mum and Dad started a backpacking business that was kind of connected to our house, so we always had people coming in and out. Mum and Dad would share about Jesus with them, which was a great way to minister to people because you got to know them, and Mum and Dad would share their faith, leading people to get saved and give their lives to God, which was really awesome.
Us kids were little groms just running around, making beds for people, getting the place ready. I was the annoying little blond girl who would cling to everyone and ask, "What are you doing? Can I come?" People must have thought, "Who is this kid in this backpackers?" haha.
We had people from all over the world, which made us very easygoing. You just go with the flow. You meet so many people, and you become pretty socially adept at an early age because you're constantly interacting with new people.
During Christmas, we'd even have homeless people over, which was awesome. It taught us to be adaptable. Mum and Dad eventually started a church called Surf Church, beginning in Biarritz and later moving to Hossegor. We kids helped out a lot.
Tell us about Friday night Groms night yew…
Yeah so this is my first official year on the Sunny Coast because I have commitment issues and didn't want to pay the extra hundred dollars haha. I just started CS Groms a couple of weeks ago. The idea started probably around the end of last year, and I just had the thought, "Oh, we don't have anything for the groms."
And then I kind of let that thought go. I didn't want to do anything about it haha. Anyway, that idea kept floating around, and I was like, "Okay, well, I'm going to do something with this because I'm sure God has put this thought in my mind and in my heart for a reason." So then I prayed about it, caught up with Jordy Merry because he used to do stuff with Groms on the coast, and then still like six months after that, because it takes me a while, you know haha. Six months after, I got some crew together, and it was like, "Alright, we're just going to send it- Friday afternoons surf, pizza, someone shares a testimony and then skate or something, because in my mind, I really just want to get among the kids that maybe don’t come from great homes or like they're not that loved, or they struggle in school, or they're just the eshays at the skate park, too cool for school with they're little fanny packs and scooters, you know? So, yeah, I want to get around those kids.
It started small, which is great. And the first night was actually pretty funny. The night before the big CS Groms launch, a couple of the groms messaged saying they couldn't come. And then a couple of people who were going to help just couldn't come for various reasons.
And then I was just like, "Oh my gosh, everyone's waiting. Like, what am I going to do?" So picture this: It's CS Groms' launch. I get to Coolum park, which is where we’re going to do it. I'm sitting at the bench, and I'm by myself. I'm like, "Oh my gosh, what am I doing?"
There were like six, maybe eight leaders that eventually came which was sick. When I was sitting alone I just had that moment with God that reminded me that it's like God works through me. When we give Him a yes and follow through with the plans He gives us, using our skills and just being obedient, I just had that humbling experience of realising that I need God for this. I think I really needed that. There are four kids now who are consistent, which is awesome. Some weeks are so random… a Spanish kid from the surf joined, and he couldn't speak a word of English. But he saw the Domino's Pizza and sat down. He was sitting there cold & shivering, while someone was sharing their testimony, and he felt too rude to leave. So he just stayed, eating pizza. And when they said, "You can leave if you like," he replied, "Oh, thank you," and just left. So I was like, sick! If this is it- just random kids joining in for pizza, not understanding English, getting touched by the Holy Spirit in some way, and then leaving—I'm all for it.
Even random adults would join in sometimes and listen to the testimonies, so it's small beginnings, but I'm excited to see what God does because we need to reach the next generation.
“GOD DOES NOT CALL THE QUALIFIED. HE QUALIFIES THOSE HE CALLS.” 1 Corinthians 1: 27-29
A big ‘God moment’ for you?
Growing up in a Christian family, it can become routine to go to church and do your devotions with your family. You might lose some of the heartfelt meaning behind it because that's all you know. You start to second-guess it and think, "Yeah, I'm a Christian because that's how I was raised." Mum and Dad did an awesome job at raising us in a missionary family, and we had the privilege of meeting so many people. The church was also linked with Christian Surfers too, so we got to meet many fantastic guest speakers who shared their stories and faith, which was really cool.
I would say I've always had faith from a young age, but it was always through my parents that I had to follow. It wasn't until I moved back to Australia and turned 17 that I thought, "Okay, either this is all real, or I'm not in it at all." I was like, "I want to figure this out for myself, fully."
I remember I used to do outdoor education, and I was on a school camp. I was in my room by myself, and I remember just going on my knees one night, saying, "Man, God, I just want to know." I was just on my knees, thinking, "God, show me your love." You can live your whole life reading so much scripture and singing so many worship songs, but when you actually believe the words; it hits you, which is so amazing. I don't even remember what I prayed, but I just remember being overwhelmed by God's love so much. I was just wrecked, weeping on the floor by myself, and I remember calling my brother. We do FaceTime a lot & we're besties. He's only two years older than me. I felt like, "Oh, man, this crazy thing just happened." We were both crying on the phone together, like, "Wow." It's just such a special moment when you have those moments in your faith when God touches you. That was one of them for me. So that was the moment when I thought, "Yes, I want to get baptised and go all in with my faith." That was exciting. I got baptised, which was really special, and then cried like a baby again aha. Fun fact, I'm not much of a crier at all- I’m not too emotional, but when it comes to God, man, God loves to move me. It's great.
Hosanna, growing up in a Christian home, did you ever find that it was hard to share your testimony or that you possibly didn't have one? How did you find that journey and being able to share Jesus in that space…
Yeah, I remember throughout the years hearing people's testimonies, and you would hear the wild ones where people went off the rails, hit rock bottom with drugs and alcohol, and then experienced a 180-degree change as if by the snap of their fingers, which is so awesome.
That's really cool, and we need testimonies like that. I think with a couple of my siblings, it was like that as well. I remember that when people asked about my faith or my testimony, I'd always cringe on the inside because I thought I needed to make it sound really cool somehow or maybe be a bit dramatic in a story to show that I went off the rails.
But man, God really challenged me, and he said, "What do you mean?" He said, "Look at your life. Everyone has a testimony, whether it's different from others or not. We all need the different stories that God has written in our lives." For me, growing up in a Christian family, I personally didn't go off the rails, but it doesn't mean I didn't go through challenges as a Christian. It doesn't mean I didn't go through emotional struggles or feelings of shame, guilt, or even questioning my faith. I definitely did, but it looked different from other people's testimonies. God has moved in my life, and I have the privilege of sharing stories about what God has done in my life and how he's used my family and me.
You don't have to hit rock bottom to get to know God on a deep level. There will be challenges, for sure, but He will help you navigate through them and build your faith even stronger than before. I think people need to hear that more because some may shut off and think, "I don't have a testimony; nothing has happened." I want to challenge you. If you're someone who thinks you don't have a testimony, I challenge you to think back on your life and reflect on what God has done…
