Hannah Stanfield remembers being twelve years old, and having just started at a new Christian school, when something a teacher said took her aback. “I had a teacher who introduced herself, and one of the things she said was ‘I love God passionately.’ I hadn’t really heard someone specifically say something that sounded so personal and so convicted, it made me wonder if I could also know God like that,” Hannah shares.
Now, Hannah is studying at BST and preparing for overseas mission, keen to share the God she also loves passionately with others.
Though she grew up in a Christian family, with faithful parents who took her to church, Hannah can pinpoint the moment with her teacher as pivotal in developing a stronger faith for herself. Not long after that, she got baptised.
After high school, Hannah studied a Bachelor of Arts in linguistics, and then became an English as a foreign language teacher (TESOL). She did that for about four years in a few different contexts with refugees and international students.
Since her uni days, Hannah had been thinking about overseas mission work, which was what led her to studying language and TESOL. “It is a useful skill to have, whether I do it overseas or in Australia,” Hannah says. But as time went on she got more certain that God was leading her towards mission work, and that the next step was theological study.
“A few things just kind of lined up,” Hannah explains. “I felt I needed to be better equipped for the ministry I was doing at church, mainly in youth ministry at the time. But also, my husband and I were having more conversations that led to us deciding we were going to pursue overseas mission work more seriously.”
Around the same time, her church asked her to consider doing a paid internship with them, which would allow her to balance working part time with study and ministry. Having decided to study, the choice was now where she would go.
“BST stood out as having an emphasis on mission. I think part of that is being interdenominational, so you’re not necessarily funneled towards being a minister in a specific church. I’ve been to a few different denominations so I really value that experience of learning from one another and growing in unity and fellowship and humility that develops from that,” Hannah says.
Hannah also knew some people who had gone through BST and saw how they had come through their time at college having grown in both understanding and character. All these things added up to make BST seem like the best fit for their theological education. So, Hannah began her Master of Theological Studies in 2023.
At the moment, Hannah’s week is a mix of working three days a week for OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship) and then two days of classes. She still serves at her church and in youth ministry as well.
A real highlight for Hannah has been not just being in community, but learning in a community where they are all wrestling with new concepts and difficult things together. She particularly found it helpful to know she was not alone in having big questions and not having all the answers. She wasn’t expecting how encouraging it would be to discover it is possible to be honest about uncertainty, but still have really strong convictions about faith.
Another stand out has been the real love and care the faculty has demonstrated for their students. “They are very academically rigorous and serious about what they are teaching, but they are also very genuine and devotional, and teach in a way that is not just about head knowledge, but about formation,” Hannah explains.
Hannah has been challenged to grow and stretch herself, particularly when it comes to writing assessments where she must argue and defend a position, even as she is in the process of figuring it all out. “I’ve learnt to separate my identity from the assignment a little bit. I treat it as an exercise in defending a position, and it’s my best go, but it doesn’t define all of me or where I stand on this issue for the rest of my life,” Hannah says. She has found this helps her to hold the tension of faith being a matter of personal growth alongside being a student learning theology in an academic context.
Hannah is set to finish her studies at BST at the end of 2027, which is when her husband is also due to finish his studies. They are looking to head into overseas mission work in Japan after that, working in church planting and church ministry with OMF.
In her time working with international students, Hannah discovered the joy of explaining the gospel to those hearing it for the first time. Her passion for taking the good news of Jesus to places it has not yet been proclaimed is what directs her and her husband towards Japan. “I realised that there is a real need there, and thought, ‘what if rather than waiting for international students to come here, we went to them?’”
When asked why others should consider studying at BST, Hannah’s answer is clear: it is a place where you will grow in both knowledge and love of the Lord. “It’s such fertile ground for spiritual growth. It’s not just academic learning, but shaping your whole person.”
Hannah would love you to pray for wisdom for both her and her husband as they think through all the decisions the next few years will bring as they graduate and head into a lifetime of ministry.
