I’ve always been a dreamer but the sad truth is I’ve never actually entertained the idea of any of my dreams coming true. All until Frieda encouraged me to dream, and to dream big! It sparked a dream deep inside me and it hasn’t stop the blazing fire inside my heart ever since. I’m excited and it’s been hard to keep to myself! This race has brought to surface a gift I have used almost effortlessly, but now has given me such a sweet appreciation for how I can use my gift to impact the Kingdom. With all that being said, I want to share my dream with you all. It’s a pretty big dream, but it’s my dream! I know it’s still raw so please be gracious with me. I would love your encouragement and prayer most of all. Please dream with me!!!!
My vision is to create a place of refuge for young women, aging from 16 to 26, who have transitioned out of foster care or group homes, are facing homelessness, battling addiction, and/or have been abandoned by critical supports. Our hope is to also provide housing to young single mothers and their children, allowing these mothers to raise their children in a safe, nurturing environment and giving them both better opportunities for success.
I believe that every person is precious, worthy, and immensely loved by God regardless of past trauma, financial circumstances, addictive behaviors or mistakes made. My goal is to create a safe place committed to helping women (and their children) discover true freedom, identity, and their purpose in Christ. The home will be Christ centered, designed to operate through discipleship by teaching biblical precepts, while mentoring, modeling, and guiding women toward living righteously and abundantly as followers of Jesus Christ. Our heart will be to restore hope to the hopeless, to empower women to overcome addiction, and to equip women with the life skills and education to achieve success. We will also provide childcare and schooling for the children of our young mothers in the program, giving children love and knowledge of Jesus from an early age and equipping them for a life of abundance of love, joy, and opportunities.
The home will be sustained by a combination of financial support and grace giving from outside supporters as well as programs/business created solely to help sustain the ministry. Businesses will be in place to give women ownership, life skills, and a part of an entrepreneurial effort with all profits directly assisting the home and promoting opportunities for the women. My dream would be to open an upscale coffee shop and bakery in the PNW providing baked goods, desserts, and specialty caffeinated drinks to the local community. It will be managed and operated by program residents and volunteers, with 100% of proceeds going directly towards ministry programs and continued education. The coffee shop will encourage creativity and challenge women to grow in areas of interpersonal communication, conflict management, and responsibility. It will teach women further customer service skills, the basic of business, and technical skills that accompany the trade of barista. My goal is to develop more business and trade opportunities as the program grows to continue catering to improve ownership and skills amongst the women that will strengthen independence and self-sustainability at completion of the program.
My dream is to plant my vision and invest in the lives of women in the Pacific Northwest. An aspiration of mine, for the last six years, has been to move to the Pacific Northwest. This region of the United States has fascinated me since I was 16 years old and hasn’t seized to completely enchant me ever since. Captivated by a uniqueness and diversity found nowhere else, the notorious coffee culture, and their intense love and appreciation for the outdoors. The PNW offers some of the most astounding views in the US, found in their beautiful coastlines, mountain ranges, and spectacular greenery. This Florida girl truly can’t get enough of Oregon and Washington’s beauty. All of those things continue to deepen my love for the pacific northwest upon every visit, but what captures me most is the immensity of lost people without the hope of Jesus. Over the last three years, each visit leaves me even more broken than the last. God truly has broken my heart over the hurt and despair covering the cities of Seattle and Portland, which I know breaks His heart. This distress has fueled a deep longing within me to see change; a yearning to spread the hope that only comes from experiencing the freedom from a relationship with God. I want to be apart of how God wants to move in the PNW.
God has graciously given me the gift of discipleship and the ability to freely talk to strangers, build deep connections, and foster relationships. My passion is for teens and young women to experience freedom in their stories and find their worth in Jesus. So often the world we live in tells us as women that we are worthless or less than, and that is not true. I want to speak that truth and life over women that need to hear it. My heart is to give women who have nothing else to cling to something worthy of living for. I know the importance of having someone there who loves and supports you and I want to be that for other people. I would love to help them dream, help them discover themselves, and help them find their worth in the Lord.
It’s been a dream in itself to be working with Ciudad Refugio! I can’t wait to tell you what I’ve been doing in month three in Medellin, Colombia.
