How did I get to here, you might ask? If we aren’t that close and you are just now meeting me on my blog, well THANK YOU for reading! My name is Abi Zarate, I come from Snoqualmie, Washington where I grew up with my parents and sister who is 4 and a half years older than me in the house. I also have an older half brother and sister who are significantly older than me (like 15/20 years feels) who I cherish dearly and they have invested in my life deeply, I most definitely would not be the woman I am today without their influence. Additionally, my older siblings are both married and I have a nine-year-old niece who is my favorite little human ever (along with some nephews, too!). Along with much other family…because of course I have extended family, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and the assortment that comes with being Filipino.
Oh yes, did I mention that? My parents are from the Philippines, so I grew up in a very culturally Filipino home. Rice all the time, lots of sinigang, stuff like that. I’ve attended private Christian schools for all of my life and am aware of how much of a privilege that is, and believe it is an absolute honor for me to have such great opportunity. My school was in a fairly affluent neighborhood in Bellevue, WA, but I also went to a church in Kent, WA for most of my life living at home. My life was always in little triangles when I was growing up at home; there were sections and spaces for types of people, activities, all the things. At school I wore a uniform, dressed really nicely, and at church I held my Bible, and played with the kids after services. I was involved in ALL the things: band, theater, sports, spelling bees, math olymmpics, you name it, I did almost all of it.
At some point, I acknowledged that it was not typical to have such a well-rounded and diverse exposure to so much. Because my parents were Filipino, and my church had a Spanish Ministry, and my schools were majority white but had Spanish classes from when I was 8 years old, all the way through graduating High School, my experience was whole. It has not been until this last year that I have reflected back on my holistic educational experiences. While yes, I did attend private Christian schools and have grown up in a predominantly Christian world, I have the influence of much more than just that one world.
My family used to travel every weekend to somewhere in Washington. I would get annoyed at my parents because it meant I couldn’t hang out with my friends, but I got over it. We would take weekendly road trips to a new town, to the Oregon Coast, to Canada even! Growing up, I also had the privilege of going on multiple trips out of the country. We went to the Philippines multiple times before I was 10, one particular trip for an entire month when I was in Kindergarten while my Lolo (Grandpa) was dying. I have these vague and beautiful memories of being surrounded by cousins, being in the heat, and being content looking at everything and knowing my family came from somewhere special.
I also had the opportunity to go to India once as a child, was able to see the Taj Mahal, and stayed at a fancy hotel in New Dehli. I will never forget the extreme poverty in that city, and believe it is one of the first times that I recognized what a great need there was in the world. In high school, I went on my first mission trip to Costa Rica. It was only 10ish days, and of course I lost my passport on the way out, but I made it into the country after all my team and God hollered at me to listen to him and trust His promises for my life. It was there in Costa Rica I realized how much I love children, I love communicating, and I adore Spanish and Latin American Culture. I fell in love with all that God is currently calling me to, that year.
The summer before going to college, I also went on a trip to Honduras, and the Lord continued to speak the truth of me chasing after this passion of Spanish and the influence of other places in my life. After my first year at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, CA, I worked at a camp and absolutely loved it. Our team traveled around Southern California to different cities to partner with churches and put on an amazing week of day camp for kids. After that first summer, God continued to challenge me to keep working with kids, to continue loving people uniquely because that is what He had for me. Therefore, I got involved at my church, and I became invested in the lives of people in the community I currently live in.
Then, Ecuador. That is when this blog came to life. Scroll back if you’re interested, but simply put Ecuador was life-changing, transformative, and the most Jesus-saturated community I have ever been part of. I would go back in half a heartbeat. Post that trip, I worked at the same camp again, and my Junior Year at APU became more involved at my church as an intern.
Working as an intern at a church where the vision is to be “Gospel Centered, Multi-Ethnic, and Intergenerational, existing to make disciples,” I had the opportunity to work with a wide array of people. I was mainly focused in the early childhood wing of the family ministry, but families look different in different spaces and places, so there was an intense diversity about that year of experience. That brings me to this last summer, were I worked a new camp ministry with my church, being part of a core team of people who made camp happen. This was incredible, and was honestly much of what we dreamed to occur with the summer.
And now we have arrived upon this year, to this Senior Year at APU, and all that God is continuing to call me into. I’m an RA in a freshwomen dorm, with about 30 incredible ladies to love on. I’m involved with middle schoolers, something I never thought I would do. I get to chance to hang out with all the families I invested in for a couple years, every here and there, and I have the honor of being friends with so many wonderful people. I love God. Honestly and transparently, I am absolutely in awe of the works and moves God has made in my life. Looking back on all that is above, I am encouraged by what God has done through me already, and what he is continuing to do with me.
I’m going on this WILD trip, for 11 months to chase after Jesus with some people. What? Yup, I’m doing that. 11 months, to 11 countries, all around the world. The countries are not confirmed yet, but that will be over in my other blog ASAP. The impact of all my influences and my passions, hopes, and dreams has begun to intersect here at this trip. The organization I am going through is called Adventures in Missions, and my trip is going to be either Route 1 or Route 3 (hopefully this one!) of the World Race, 11 in 11.
I’m going, and God is going to do wild things and that’s going to be incredible. But I know it will be hard as ever and I’ll face temptation and danger and challenge I’ve never known before. God is going to use me. A little faith and small understanding will get me somewhere insane. God. You’re going to be amazing. You’re going to do insane things. The devil is going to try to do wild things, but God is all the more reckless and relentless within us. How do I continue to love God best through all of this? Oh Holy Spirit, be within and through me. Let me know that the presence of God is known. The Lord’s love is WILD. God is present with you, daily and moment by moment. In every shaky hand, quivery breath, and brave feeling you have. We have the chance to receive love like none other and I cannot fathom it, but am willing to continue chasing after it. God is here. He’s in the present and known, working in those thoughts and spaces. Yes, there are impossible thoughts, yes, there is the reality that I have to raise over 20 thousand dollars, and YES there are thoughts of joy and love and life, and I think the Lord is incredible.
God is making waves and shaking up my life, and I’m just trying to share that with others. Yes, I do have to raise 20 thousand dollars and if you can help me out with that, I would love to chat with you more, so shoot me a text. I’ll be selling T-Shirts, I’m writing letters, and I have my venmo @abiz1210 ready to receive
Thank you for reading this. Thank you for being part of my story, loving on me, and being someone who cares about my existence and the Lord’s calling on my life. I’m stoked for what this next season has to offer!
