This is always the hardest part for me, there is so much I can probably tell you about myself but you would be here all day reading! So I will start by saying I was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. I have 7 other brothers and sisters. I moved to Tampa my sophomore year of High School with my dad and younger brother. A couple months after my mom, 2 of my sisters and, my baby brother moved with us. We have all been here ever since. I graduated from Blake High School in 2008. Received a scholarship to a two year school to play basketball, After just a year there I transferred to Saint Leo University where I played basketball for two years and studied Psychology.
After playing ball for most of my life I gave it up after my second season with The Saint Leo women's basketball team, I decided that it became too much of a burden and wanted to try out school without the responsibilities that being an athlete brought. After doing just one semester of school, I then decided that I needed a break from school to build my relationship with God. College from the beginning was very difficult for me, I had a coach who was very negative and power hungry. His way of motivating and gaining authority was to talk down to us and to threaten us. Going into college I already had second thoughts about playing college ball so being a part of a team like this caused me to fall into depression and I began to do things to cope with my time there. My school work suffered and so did my relationship with my coach and teammates. I began to rebel and not really care about myself, school or anyone else. By the end of my first year of college I was a mess, I did not think I was going to make it past my first year. I was sure that school and basketball would end all together for me. At this time I learned a lot on my natural father for support but because he was so far away that there was not much he could do. One day while talking to him he asked me if I ever talked to God? At that time, I realized that I needed God. I began to pray and ask God to give me another chance, and he did. I passed classes I knew I was suppose to fail and I received another scholarship to play basketball as Saint Leo University. The summer before I began my sophomore year at Saint Leo, I literally stayed in the house reading my bible and trying to stay out of temptations way. I made a promise to myself and God that when I got to Saint Leo, I was not going to do anything except go to practice, class and do my homework.
At the start of my sophomore year , I did just that, but because I am a social butterfly it did not last long. It was not long before I was back to the parties, drinking, and hanging out. My first year there was good, I was doing good in school and I loved my teammates. It was not until my second year there that things began to really fall apart. I just had no desire left in me to continue on with school or basketball. During this time I really began to feel like I had no purpose. I always knew I wanted more out of life but I never knew how I would get it. I would get visions of me traveling and impacting lives, I knew that where I was at in life was not going to get me there. Depression began to take over once again, I just was not happy. My coach did not know what was going on with me, she could tell I was depressed but I would never go talk to her about anything because I had a hard time trusting authority. I was hurting and there was nothing that I or anyone else could do. During my time at Saint Leo I continued to be hurt and disappointed by people who I never expected to hurt me, I hated school and I began to drift away from friends. This is when I decided that I needed to put down the basketball and focus in on my school work. during this time, I yearned for more. I knew there was more. I knew I needed God but I knew that while being at Saint Leo a relationship with Him would not happen, so I left December 2011 . New Years I laid in bed in tears, crying out to God surrendering my entire life to Him. I was sick of being depressed and unhappy. I was tired of being stuck in the same unfruitful lifestyle, I wanted to let it all go and live right.
Supernaturally, God changed my desires. I prayed for a church that fit me, and someone who would guide me in my walk. I met a lady at La Fitness, she invited me to her church and I immediately felt like it was where I wanted to be. A couple months later, I moved in with the lady, her husband and two kids and they have been mentoring me and helping me to grow spiritually. during the summer of 2012, I worked all summer just to save up enough to go back to school in the fall. I felt like I was pretty strong in my relationship with God that I could return back to school to finish up. I was so excited to get back to school and around my friends to share all that God had been doing in my life. One day while sitting in service my pastor was preaching on allowing God to strip you of your old identity and give you an entire new one. During that time in service I felt so convicted, at that moment I knew that I was not suppose to return to school. Not one time did I even ask God If I was suppose to go back. I just assumed because the world says that school is everything and without it you can't go very far. I felt so sick to my stomach because all I kept thinking about was how uncomfortable it was for me to not know what was going to happen. What could God possibly have for me that is more important than school. I thought the enemy was tricking me so I began to fast and pray and ask God to show me where I was supposed to be and immediately God showed me that I was not suppose to go back to school. After my fast, I gained peace and a bit of excitement. I knew that Gods plan is always better than my own. After my pastor found out that I was not going back to school, he asked me to be a part of the internship there at church. I was so excited because one of the things I wanted to do was go to bible school. During the internship I was pulled and stretched in so many ways, I learned so much about myself. During the internship I can remember thinking about the different visions I have had throughout my life. I was determined to work toward those visions. We ended up creating a vision board and on my vision board I put this as one of my visions:
At the time, I knew that it was something that I really desired to do but I did not know it would happen so soon. After my internship was over, my internship mentor asked me what I wanted to do. I told her with confidence that I needed to travel. I had such a burning desire to step into the missionary field I just could not ignore it. She introduced me to the world race and I immediately began to apply. I did not care about the cost or anything. The application process took a little longer for me because I did not have the money but God took care of that and once my application was submitted it was not long before I became a World Racer!! I knew with all of my heart that I was going to be accepted. The enemy tried so many different things to throw me off track but I thank God that he is in control over my destiny and not the enemy. I am so stoked about all that God is doing. I am so humbled that he thought I was fit for something so amazing like this. I have only been walking with him for a year and already he is sending me out. The visions that I have been getting since I was a little girl are unfolding. This has taught me that, there is nothing in this world that qualifies me like my God does. He has given me desires that may seem silly or too big to others but to me and my God they are divine. This is not a vacation but this is where I am called. God has called me to go to these 11 countries, his timing is always perfect. I am so thankful for this opportunity. I thank God for all the people he has placed in my life that hold me accountable and will continue to be by my side for a lifetime.
I hope this found you well, God is truly amazing 🙂 Please by all means feel free to add my to your prayer list, I need all the prayer I can get. If you feel God tugging on your heart to partner up with me financially , please by all means do just that. If you want to continue to follow my ministry, hit subscribe and you will be notified through email every time I post a blog. Thank you so much for taking the time out to read about my life. I love you all, may God continue to bless you!
<3, Chanele Patton
