“Love without courage and wisdom is sentimentality, as with the ordinary church member. Courage without wisdom or love is foolhardiness, as with the ordinary soldier. Wisdom without love and courage is cowardice, as with the ordinary intellectual. But the one who has love, courage, and wisdom moves the world.”
–Ammon Henacy
My name is Shannon Kathleen Morgan and I want to move the world.
I was born on a January afternoon in a Spanish town called El Dorado. This town is Spanish in name and is justified only because merely writing the word “Spanish” gets me excited. It’s actually a town in Southern Arkansas, close to the border of Louisiana. I lived here for the first six years of my life before moving to a tiny town in the Mississippi Delta called Drew. We relocated because my father was transferred to Drew as the manager of a grocery store. We intended to stay six months before moving elsewhere, but here we have stayed.
I am currently a Super Senior at Ole Miss, majoring in Religious Studies.
Bell Tower at Paris-Yates Chapel
The Oxford Courthouse on The Square
During my time at Ole Miss, I have changed my major several times. I’ve been in everything from English to Spanish to Liberal Arts to Philosophy to Religion, and done it all without really wasting any classes. That, my dears, is a sign that God wants me out of here soon! However, I deeply treasure all of my time at this University, putting my high-heels on for football games, walking The Square late at night, and climbing the Library’s roof, seeing all of campus and the lights of Oxford town.
Square Books
I have the greatest family in the world! I know everyone says that, but I never believe them. I was raised in a loving, Christian home where, from minus nine months of my life, I was in church every Sunday. My Daddy has been a preacher for my entire life and my Mama has been everything else, from Sunday School Teacher to Piano Player to Nursery-Keeper to Youth Leader to Anything You Can Imagine. My Daddy is the hero of my life, although I really believe my Mama is Super-Woman.
Mama and Daddy at the Ole Miss-Auburn game. Happy Birthday, Dad!
My older sister, Lora, graduated from Mississippi College Law School the same year I finished high school. Since then, she’s been busy being a wife and mother to her new baby, Noah, who was born in August! Lora has always admired Noah from the Bible, since he was the only man in the world that listened to God and obeyed him during his era, so she named Noah after him. He’s my first and only nephew, so I love playing with him! One of my biggest challenges in the World Race will be knowing he is growing up and I can’t see him do it! My brother-in-law, Michael, is a doctor in Tupelo, so Lora doesn’t practice law right now. They have always been there for me and helped me in every possible way. I couldn’t ask for better siblings/nephew!
Lora and Michael at Noah’s dedication service last month
My older brother, Mark, is the most creative person I have ever met. He does everything! He’s currently commissioned to write a novel. He’s also written screenplays, fictions, biographies, fantasy/sci-fi stories, poems, protest letters to the government, all sorts of things. He also knows all kinds of trivia, especially about cartoons and movies. Out of all of my family, he and I are the most alike in that we are fiery about our convictions and stubborn as bulls. Hilariously, most of our life was spent yelling at each other for differing political views. However, our arguments were always resolved, most often by tickle fights, if we weren’t really mad, haha. He is getting married in March to a wonderful girl named Joanie!
Mark is a Spartan. In Toys ‘R Us
My little sister, Erin, is my best friend. We have 14 months between us so we’ve done things together most of our lives. We’ve been everything from Indian Princesses in our jummies to Punk Princesses in high school. We’ve always had everything in common, but are as different as night and day. Erin and I are also International Bounty Hunters (but that’s on the DL). She is a Senior Biology major at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. She is incredible at art and won a major art award in the summer of her senior year. We don’t get to see each other too much, but when we do, we wrestle, ride around, watch anime in day-long marathons, and fight each other for the piano stool. We were blessed to be able to go on our first mission trip together in May, where we lived in Northeastern China for eight weeks.
Erin: “Doo Gro fo yo fro”
My youngest brother, John, is the coolest kid I’ve ever met. He could walk into any situation and automatically make best friends. He is a super hard-worker, exhibiting good ‘ole fashioned manual labor as a farmer. He can always make me laugh, despite the fact that he destroys my things (i.e., running over my television with a truck and later, pawning one I let him borrow). He is always the life of any situation and a bit of a rebel (I hope so, since he’s planning to transfer to MY school next year!) I still love calling him my “little brother”, although he is 6’6 and could crush my skull with his bare hands. I love to hug him and will definitely miss doing all those Ole Missy things with him when he gets up here in August. He is also in his community college’s show choir. Believe me, I knew him all of my life and never saw that one coming.
Classic John
I figured that since the World Race is all about community, it wouldn’t be right to not throw a spotlight on the community that made me who I am. Besides, I just LOVE talking about my family. I also love talking about my friends, my town, my school, my animals… Basically, I just love talking about the things I love, which, first and foremostly, is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Even though you can see how incredible my family is in these snippets, the only thing in the world that can satisfy is Jesus. I was raised in this amazing environment of love, stability, compassion… and my life was still full of hurt and unfulfillment. I began suffering from depression at an early age, but hid everything from my friends and family. By the age of 13, I was severely depressed. I felt like my life was worthless and found no joy in anything I did. I still hid all of my problems away from those around me, but it was becoming increasingly hard to do so. I was so resentful of God, and despite moments of being afraid of Hell, I feigned commitment to Him so that others around me wouldn’t question my devotion and, therefore, go no further to try and bring me to Him. Despite my beautiful family and my wonderful friends and church, my life was miserable.
Then, in July of 2000, I went to a camp called Centrifuge and saw the face of God. I had built such a wall to keep everyone and everything out that it took almost a week of relentless, pummeling conviction before I walked the aisle. But when I did, it changed my world.
I went from constant depression, pain, and misery, to real life. Christ came to me, and in a moment, washed away all of the rage within my heart, instilling within me a deep burden for the futhering of His kingdom. Within the first two hours of my conversion, the Lord enabled me to lead seven others to Him. That night, I stood in awe of what God can do with a truly willing, unafraid heart.
And, with all that I am, I want to find that again.
I have traveled across the globe over the years to bring the good news to three different places. My first life-changing trip was to Thailand in 2006. Words cannot accurately describe how excited I am to be going back to this place with my World Race family. I feel like this country is my heart land, my birth place, because it was here that I became truly alive. I can honestly say that in nearly three years, a day nearly never passes when I am not reminded of that summer in Thailand. I cannot wait to be reunited with my deepest love, my Thailand, and bring Christ to my brothers and sisters bound by Satan-inspired prostitution.
On Koh-Samet Island with my team and friends!
My second trip was to Peru. This country taught me so much about humility and servanthood. I went there with the expectations of washing feet, but ended up having mine washed by them. Literally! I severely broke my leg my first day in Peru and had to remain in Lima, although I was supposed to be in the far-off Andes mountains. In Lima, I had one major surgery and one minor surgery, was hospitalized for three days, and had to hobble the non-handicapped accessible streets for 11 weeks. This was easily the hardest time of my life. I cried often, not understanding God’s plan in it all. My days were a conflict of wanting to serve God and wanting to quit. But the people of this country showed me Christ in the most incredible ways. From the gutters and slums, I saw Christ shine out to help a lame American and comfort her spriit and soul. I will always, always remember Peru as the place that showed me the humility and servanthood of Christ.
My BFF, Sulam and I, in Lima
My latest trip was to the beautiful country of China. My best friend, Steve, and I had been studying Mandarin for a year and were so excited to see God move! And that, He did. I have never seen a place so starving for the gospel. God showed me His omniscience there, His miracles, His heart for the nations. While we were there, we had many opportunities to share the Gospel and many responses! By the end of our summer, God had blessed us with fifteen new brothers and sisters! We baptized several new believers. We taught them the song, “Mighty to Save” which has become my anthem for this place. It has also shown me how deep is the Father’s love, that He would move the mountains to save us!
Steve and I on the Great Wall in Beijing
However, through all of these trips, I have always felt like I have missed something huge. When I’m on the field, I feel more alive than I ever have, more in the middle of God’s will than I ever have, but I have this feeling that I’m missing something.
I have this urgent need, this pressing conviction, that I need to meet people where they’re at. Going on the World Race, I expect, will be the most challenging, rewarding, and sanctified endeavor of my life. This ultimatum of comfortable living or giving it all is what I’ve ached for, what I’ve missed. I can’t wait to launch out in the middle of God’s will, following His song through orphanges, His feet through slums, His light through temples, His redemption through brothels.
I am ready to move the world. It can only start here, in the middle of all that is God.
