I grew up in a Christian home in Cincinnati, Ohio. We attended church always, and I attended a Christian school, Central Baptist Schools.
God started doing many substantial things in my life when I was in college at Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, Florida. I began to have a real interest in missionaries, life overseas, foreign languages, etc. I began attending "Mission Prayer Band," which is a time when missionaries share their work and we spend time in prayer for them and their ministry. Although I had the desire, I had no idea how God could ever use me on a mission field for Him.
After college, I taught at my alma mater Central Baptist (now) Academy. I taught Junior High and High School Science for four years and LOVED it. I felt such a bond with my students and was able to lead two of them to salvation.
After leaving the school, I wandered. I took a job as a stock broker that paid (what was to me) a lot of money. I spent money and traveled and lived for myself. It was then that I realized what Solomon meant by those "things" being vain and empty. God had to take me through the darkest years of my life for me to build a new and different relationship with Him.
In February 2008, I began attending Crossroads (Community Church) in Oakley. God came alive to me in a way that He never had before. The church's Wednesday night services take place on the last Wednesday of each month and are thus called "Last Wednesday". It was during this service in September 2010 that my pastor, Brian Tome, asked us to be quiet in the moment to see if God was trying to tell us something that our lives had just been to busy or noisy to hear. I very distinctly felt that God was telling me that He wanted me to serve in a foreign country! WHAT!?!
Me? Overseas? What could I do? I was just a single, white girl! LOL. On the way home from church that night, I was listening to Christian radio when a caller mentioned in passing that he had taught in Christian schools overseas. DUH!!! I was a certified teacher!
The very next day, I googled "Christian teaching overseas" and found the Network of International Christian Schools (NICS). I requested an application, and the rest is, as they say, history!
I'm excited to see how God leads, provides, and uses me in Nairobi, Kenya. Subscribe to my blog, and I'll share it all with you too.
