I was recently given the opportunity to share my story of how God has been at work in my life, and it seems like sharing it here as well is the best way to kick off the next part of my learning safari. This post will walk through the past 30 years of God preparing me for where I am today.
I am thankful to say that I was born to the best parents in the world and have been raised to know God since the very beginning. My first church home was Floyd Baptist Church where my grandparents and parents were members for many years, where my aunt would keep me quiet with Tic-Tacs during the service, and where I knew Mr. Baker would always have Smarties in his pocket for me.
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| Floyd Baptist Church nursery - 1987 |
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| Floyd Baptist Church nursery - 1988 |
Church activities continued to be a big part of my life all throughout childhood even as we moved a few times and needed to change church homes. I memorized key Bible verses through many years in Awana. I was fired up and grew in my knowledge of God through great Sunday school teachers, church summer camps, and Vacation Bible Schools. These were all foundation building so that I could go off to college and continue to build my faith and relationship with God.
Thanks to my mom's suggestion to visit multiple colleges, I visited Texas A&M. I knew on the very first visit to Aggieland that it was the place for me. I applied and became a proud member of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2008. Whoop!
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| Fightin' Texas Aggie sibblings |
God used my time in college in so many ways. I found a great church home with people who encouraged me and held me accountable. He placed me in a Freshman Leadership Organization named ASSIST (Aggies Selflessly Serving in Shaping Tomorrow). I am so thankful for the friends I made in ASSIST, many becoming life-long friends. Who we surround ourselves with has a huge impact on how we spend our time, how we act, and who we become. My ASSIST friends were people who had a desire to serve others and learn about the needs of people both locally and globally. So we all learned together and bonded through service projects and lots of laughter. It was through ASSIST that God began to develop my leadership skills, keeping me in ASSIST as a mentor and then director.
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| ASSIST Class of 2008 |
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| ASSIST Class of 2009 |
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| ASSIST Class of 2010 |
It was also through ASSIST that God opened my eyes to the world in a new way. I began to see the needs around the world and wonder what could be done. As I learned about the AIDS orphan crisis in sub-Saharan Africa, my interest in Africa specifically began to increase. So I jumped at the opportunity to go to Zambia in 2006 to be part of Camp Life. The passion that had been slowly growing for these kids to know the love of God grew immensely. For the first time that I can remember, I visibly saw how the knowledge of the love of God transforms lives. How Great Thou Art became my hymn of the trip because I saw during that month in Zambia that God is even greater than I had ever realized.
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Lucy is who I picture when I think about God's transforming love.
At the age of 5, she seemed almost empty and had already faced
a lot of spiritual darkness. She only began to smile after being
told that God loves her, most likely the first time she had ever
been told that she is loved. |
My experience at Camp Life fueled my passion, but I was also interested in finding ways to address some of the root causes of the needs I saw, like through education and knowledge of God. About that time, one of my friends told me about The Rafiki Foundation. The mission of Rafiki Foundation is to help Africans know God and raise their standard of living with excellence and integrity.
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"Rafiki" means "friend" in Swahili. This captures the vision and
purpose of the Foundation—to befriend orphans
and widows in their distress (James 1:27). |
If you are interested, this is a 3 minute video that I think does a good job of providing an overview of Rafiki.
Or if you prefer, you can view it at this link:
Rafiki Video
The mission, vision, and purpose all seemed to align with what I was looking for, so I went to one of their mini-missions trainings and learned even more about the organization. I was very impressed with how the villages operate and how God has been using them in Africa.
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| The 10 countries with Rafiki Training Villages |
It worked out for me to go spend two months at one of the villages during the summer of 2008. I still remember quickly checking my e-mail after class one day in the Wehner business school and seeing the e-mail informing me that they wanted to send me to the Rafiki Village in Malawi. I was so excited!
I was able to see the village in action and see that they were really living out the mission, vision, and purpose that God had given them; they aren't just statements on paper. During the two months in the village, I filled in wherever I was needed. One of my favorite assignments was to be a guest Bible teacher in the pre-primary classes. I was blown away by the scripture those little 3- and 4-year old students had already memorized. I got to know the teachers and the mamas and saw how God is using Rafiki to provide for the widows and orphans.
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| One of the pre-primary classes |
I spent extra time with certain students who needed a little extra support in school. Cossam was one who really grabbed my heart. God has allowed me to see him through the ups and downs over the years and by God's faithfulness develop into a fine young man.
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| Cossam 2008 |
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| Cossam 2018 |
It was in Malawi that I sensed my calling become even clearer. I had an afternoon to sit out behind my cottage and spend some time reading, praying, and journaling. It is still a very vivid memory in my mind of looking out over the rolling hills beyond the village and thinking "This is what I was made for". I felt so alive and so at home.
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| The rolling hills beyond the village |
I didn't want to ever leave. In fact, I tried to convince the long-term missionaries that I didn't need to get on the plane to go back to the US. Of course, I did have to come back. I needed to finish college. I would obviously have to work out quite a few more things if I were actually going to live there long-term. So I thought I would come back for a year, finish college, and then head back to the village. But that was 2008, and here I am in 2018 writing that God had very different plans. Plans that were far better and far more purposeful than I could have ever imagined.
At the end of college, I was accepted into Teach For America and placed in Colorado Springs. Through the two-year program, I was able to gain valuable teaching experience and earn my teaching license. I learned so much and gained experience that I could only get by being in those 1st and 2nd grade classrooms.
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| My awesome 1st graders! |
After completing two years of teaching in the Springs, I had a desire to get some international teaching experience. I had learned about World Teach in college, so I applied to become a teacher with them and accepted their offer to teach at the College of Micronesia in Pohnpei. I had only applied for elementary teaching positions, but their offer opened up my mind to the possibility of teaching older students. It turns out that I love teaching older students!
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| The World Teach Pohnpei crew |
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| College algebra students working on graphing equations |
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| Math for Business Purposes students |
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| Dear friends, Melody and Lori, on Joy Island |
I enjoyed my international teaching experience so much, and it was an encouragement to me that I would like living internationally long-term. After completing my 1-year contract at the college, I then needed to determine what I should do. I thought that maybe I would find another international position or that it might be time to return to Africa. I tried a few doors to see if they would open, but it was not time yet. I'm glad that God didn't let doors open before I was ready. It was time for me to come back to the states, and I ended up back in Colorado. The timing was perfect for me to move in with my college roommate who had moved to Boulder. Even though my time there was short, I was thankful for that time with Nikki before her wedding, thankful that I confirmed that I do not want to be an 8th grade algebra teacher, and thankful for the church group I was involved in there that opened my eyes to the fact that the nations are right here. God is bringing people from all tribes, nations, and tongues to live right here as our neighbors.
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| College roommates reunited for a while in Boulder, CO |
But every time I visited Colorado Springs, it felt like home and where I actually wanted to be. Things had changed and some people had moved on, but there were still friends cheering for me to come back and there was something so welcoming about Pikes Peak as I drove into town. I figured I would settle back there for just a little bit until I figured out where I should go next. That little while turned into 5 years, and I am so glad!
I thought it would be a good idea to become a substitute teacher in the district that I worked in when I first moved to Colorado so that I could earn a little income while figuring out what I should do. Because who hires teachers in February?! Little did I know that God was holding a position just for me at just the right time. When I went to apply as a sub, I saw the job postings for administrative positions in the district office. I had never considered district administration, but the jobs sounded like they might be interesting, so I applied for a the data analyst position. I heard back pretty quickly and they asked me if I would be willing to interview for the grant manager position instead. It turned out to be the perfect blend of my accounting/MIS background and my teaching experience. I interviewed and accepted the job offer and was back working in Colorado Springs within just a few days. I knew that my plans of staying in CO for a short time were probably not what God had planned. I mentally committed to managing the grant for the full 5 years. No more hopping around, it was time to be a little more settled. I can now look back and see why God kept me there for time that he did. Staying in CO, even though my heart still longed for Africa, was made much easier by the people that God surrounded me with during those years.
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| My awesome RDA team |
I was blessed with the best work team. My team made work fun and enjoyable. We worked hard and thought deeply, but we also knew how to celebrate and laugh. I grew and learned so much. I had great bosses who encouraged me and gave me opportunities to expand my experience and develop as a leader.
During this time, I was able to work with a lot of school leaders - principals and assistant principals. I began to realize that I missed being in the school and that I might enjoy being a school leader. While attending an education conference, I met a recruiter for Grand Canyon University who told me about their Masters program to get a principal license. I had some Americorps money that was going to expire if I didn't use it soon, so I enrolled and started work towards my Masters in Educational Leadership so that I could get a principal license. The big reason I share this story is because I saw God at work and providing all along the way. When my Americorps money was about to run out and I would have to start paying tuition on my own, I received an unexpected temporary promotion at work with a stipend. When I was offered the stipend, I sat down and calculated how much additional money I would receive. And guess what! It was exactly how much money I needed for the remaining tuition after the Americorps money ran out. God at work! :)
I came to find out that another reason God kept me in the states was because I needed to be with my family when my brother, Zach, died unexpectedly in 2014. I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with him just before and for that one last hug at Thanksgiving. And I was thankful for the ability to hop on a plane and be with my family within hours of getting the worst news we'd ever received. I miss him every day, but God has shown His faithfulness, His love, His strength, and His comfort through it all. I have learned to trust in Him and put my hope in Him more than ever before.
The time in the Springs also taught be the value of community. God surrounded me with people who loved me, walked with me through the ups and downs, went on adventures with me, prayed with me, and helped me grow in who God made me to be. These are the people who are continuing to cheer me on, pray for me, and now send me off with blessings and support. God doesn't ask us to walk through life alone, and I am very grateful for these people I will continue to journey with.
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| They know how to send a Texas girl off! |
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Dear friends gathered around a fire pit - one of my
favorite places to be |
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| Team of prayer supporters |
As I write about all of these things, I am reminded yet again of all the ways God has been at work. It may not have been my timing or anywhere near what I thought my life would look like. But thankfully I am the child of a good God whose plans for me are far better than I could imagine. And so in the past year, as the grant was wrapping up at work, I began praying about the future and felt the release to go. I applied to join Rafiki as a long-term missionary. I was accepted and began 2018 with preparations for going to serve with Rafiki, 10 years after that moment in Malawi when I thought "This is what I was made for."It's been a journey, and I am thankful for every bit of it. I am beyond excited to see all the pieces coming together.
This summer I completed Survival Camp (new missionary training) at the Rafiki Home Office in Florida. God used that time to prepare me even more for the work He has for me in Africa.
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| A rainbow over the Rafiki Home Office |
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| Music training because music is integral to classical education |
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The 2018 missionaries in training with Karen, Rafiki Executive
Director, and Rosemary, founder of Rafiki |
I will share more about my specific commissioning in the next post.
It all seemed to come a bit full circle as I was able to share this story at the church I attended as a baby. It's amazing how God has been at work in my life over the past 30 years to bring me to where I am today. I know I am still a work in progress and there is still so much more to come!
