I grew up in the small town named Lititz in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania – home of the Amish. I grew up attending church with my family, but drifted away in my teenage years. After high school, I moved to Philadelphia to study graphic design at The Art Institute. After finishing school and working there for almost a year, I picked up and moved to Seattle, WA.
When I was about 24, I began to evaluate my life and did not like what I saw. I was a mess and was struggling with the consequences of bad decisions. I didn’t know how to fix it, but I knew God had to be a part of it. I began attending Bible Study Fellowship, and learned that Jesus was about more than salvation. Believing in Him wasn’t just a get out of hell free ticket. Jesus came alive to me, and I came alive to him.
For the first time in my life, I had a relationship with the living God. I immediately started to change my behaviors and make some hard but good choices. As I moved in obedience to my Lord, He redeemed and restored me in ways I never expected.
God continues to surpass my expectations for myself by stretching my boundaries a little more each year. In 2003, he connected me with some people for my first mission trip. We went to Lircay, Peru, high up in the Andes Mountains. It was an amazing experience that began my passion for missions.
In October of 2005, I had the opportunity to visit a friend who was serving with Adventures in Missions in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. I quickly fell in love with Africa, and we returned for three weeks in August 2006. It was through supporting my friend in Kenya that I started to receive updates about AIM’s other programs. When I first heard about The World Race, I thought it sounded exciting but brushed it off as something other people get to do.
When I got another email about the 2007 World Race, I couldn’t put it out of my mind. I realized that it wasn’t something I couldn’t do; it was something I was afraid to do. So I prayed and told God that if He wanted me to go I knew He would work it out. I filled out the application to see where it would lead, and before I knew it, I was accepted as a member of the 2007 World Race.
Those eleven months were almost indescribable. I could only scratch the surface with words. God has delivered me from many lies that kept me bound and paralyzed most of my life. He took away the false identity I saw in the mirrors of the world, and showed me who I am in Christ. I am strong, beautiful, powerful, compassionate, fierce, lovely, graceful, courageous, humble, … and much, much more. I have gifts that are unique to me, and they are my gift to a hurting world.
My personal pilgrimage on The World Race is over, but my journey has just begun. I am continuing on this journey with Adventures In Missions, as I seek the next adventure in this thing we call faith. All glory to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Living for Christ is anything but ordinary; but when something seems ironic or impossible, that is when I am most certain that God is in control.
