My Story

Hello friends!!

I’ve been thinking about starting a blog for awhile now, but wasn’t sure I had anything worth saying. And this is still true, I don’t think I have anything of real value to say, but God does, and I know He can use me as a vessel to share His truth. I plan on using this site to share my story, my passions, and how God has been working in and through me despite my weaknesses.

I want to start by sharing a bit of my story, specifically as it relates to my passion for the lost overseas. I grew up in a really small church, so while I have always had this curiosity about, and interest in overseas missions, I didn’t have much exposure to what that looks like.

In college, I became involved in a student ministry called Student Mobilization and God used that ministry to initially draw me to Himself. I spent 9 weeks of the summer after my freshman year in a leadership and discipleship training program called Kaleo, where I learned so many tools for how to persistently pursue the Lord. During this summer, there was a week-long conference about overseas missions and God’s heart for the nations. This is where God began stirring my heart for the world. I distinctly remember on July 9, 2019 the speaker said: “When you fall in love with someone, you start to love what they love.” I was finding that as I fell more in love with Jesus, I began falling in love with His mission. I learned that the Great Commission, found in Matthew 28:18-20, applied to every Christian, in every stage of life—which included me! I was convicted, writing this reminder in my journal: “Don’t be selfish with my young years, capitalize this time!” It was during this summer that God began loosening my grip on my future plans for my life, gently suggesting that He might have a different story for me.

The following year, I continued growing in my interest in overseas missions and began researching different options. I signed up to go on an 8 week mission trip to Sri Lanka with the Pioneers Edge program. However, I’m sure you can assume what came next—like so many other things, my summer mission trip was canceled due to COVID-19. Following that, I had a lot of surprising emotions. Most surprising to me was an overwhelming feeling of relief, and along with that relief came a lot of guilt. I ignored those feelings for as long as I could, covering them up with apathy, and even anger at God for not allowing me to go overseas for His kingdom.

The following year I processed through those emotions, and realized that a huge part of my motive for wanting to go overseas to do missions was out of a compulsion to secure my own salvation, to impress God and earn the favor of the Christian culture I was surrounded by. As I acknowledged these feelings for the first time, I experienced a new freedom: because of the grace of God, I can pursue His will and my desires, as long as my ultimate goal is to glorify Him! From this newfound freedom, I began looking into more summer missions programs for the summer following my junior year, but again, with the complications of COVID, found no real options.

This however opened up my schedule and made me available to take a job at a Christian summer camp in Estes Park, CO (Camp Timberline) as a backpacking guide. If you know me at all, you know this was the perfect job for me—I got to spend all summer backpacking in the Rockies, getting to tell kids about Christ! There was so much healing in this summer, and God taught me a lot about the type of ministry that I’m passionate for and gifted in. It was this summer that I discovered a passion for outdoor therapy, and ministry in the mountains.

As I returned to Springfield, MO for my final semester at Missouri State University, I began looking into different mid-term missions organizations, and I kept hearing about this program called Youth With a Mission (YWAM). I learned that it is a volunteer missions movement of international & interdenominational Christians, dedicated to serving Jesus around the world. They do this primarily through evangelism, training and mercy ministries. They offer a Discipleship Training School (DTS), which is YWAM’s six month entry-level course, which consists of 11-12 weeks of classroom learning and a 10-12 week outreach. They place a specific emphasis on seeking the presence of God, worship, and intercession. Then, from this place of intimacy with Jesus, students can become the very fragrance of Christ to the lost.

I quickly applied to an overseas YWAM program, and on October 18, I received my notice of acceptance into one of their schools! Due to the closed nature of this country, I have been asked to keep the specific country and location private, but if you have more questions, feel free to reach out privately and I would love to tell you more about the program!

This exciting journey will begin for me on January 13, 2022! After two and a half long years of waiting and wrestling, God has been so faithful to provide me with this opportunity. As I reflect on these years of waiting, Isaiah 30:18 comes to mind: “The Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.” This verse feels so true of my life, and I know that He has blessed me in the waiting, and is now blessing me with a program that speaks to multiple areas of my interests and passions.

So this is my story: a story of waiting, a story of struggle, a story of blessing. I ask that you join with me in prayer for the lost, and partner with me as I continue on this journey!