aAbouta

I grew up in the United States in the state of Colorado.  When I went away to college, I moved to Fullerton, California to attend Hope International University.  There, I experienced both the depth of friendships that have carried me through the past 20+ years and the love and grace of Jesus Christ who freed me to walk wholly into who He created me to be.  

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In 2004, after completing university, I went on a short-term missions trip with Adventures in Missions to Kenya.  That trip transformed my world-perspective and my heart towards missions.  I knew that one day, God would call me back on the field, but I returned to the States to begin my teaching career.

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I had always wanted to be a teacher, knowing that it was my calling from the young age of eight years old.  I began my career in a low-income community south of San Francisco called East Palo Alto.  The area was known for gang violence and poverty, but I knew it as home.  I lived in community with several other young women and lived and taught in the area for several years.  I loved my work there, though it was extemely challenging.  What I didn't know is that it was preparing me for where God was calling me next!

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In 2009, I attended an Anti-Human Trafficking conference in Mountain View, California and met the founders of City of Refuge Ministries, an organization in Ghana, West Africa that rescued and provided shelter for children who had been orphaned, abandoned, or trafficked from the labor trade.  They were in need of a teacher.  It took me awhile to say yes to God's call, but in January of 2010, after a time of prayer, I felt God tell me, "Trust and Obey.  This is an issue of obedience."  I called Johnbull and Stacy Omorefe, the founders of City of Refuge Ministries, and let them know that I would be coming that summer to stay for one year.  I prepared to quit my job, found someone to take my place in my house, and sold my car.  I moved to Ghana on July 28, 2010.

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Johnbull and Stacy picked me up from the airport the day that I arrived in Ghana and they said, "We don't just need a teacher.  We need a school."  I didn't know how to start a school, but I did know how to teach, and that first year, we dreamed together about what a school could look like while I taught the children of the orphanage home.  We began building in late December 2010, and by September 2011, we opened Faith Roots International Academy to the communities of Doryumu and Shai Hills, Ghana as a small, rural, private Christian school.  It has grown over the years and now serves 260 students from varying backgrounds, many from impoverished and illiterate homes, and we have the joy of teaching them about the love of Jesus Christ by providing a quality education through our 25+ staff and teachers.  

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I obviously didn't leave after one year, and have now been in Ghana as a missionary for over twelve years.  I served many years as a single woman, but in 2017, I was given the opportunity to foster two young boys who had grown up at City of Refuge Ministries, Edwin and Malvin.  Shortly after God opened that door, I met my future husband, Richard.  He came to work at CORM as the Coordinator of Finance and Sustainability and we got to know each other over working on our school audit, but it was his sense of humor and his heart for the Lord that made me fall in love with him.  In February 2019, we got married.  In March of 2020, our Ava Lynne was welcomed into the world and in July 2021, Jace Nathanael followed.  I am endlessly grateful for the little family that God has provided for me, the answer to many years of prayers as a single woman!

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I've lived a lot of "in-between" seasons in my years on earth and what I have learned is that every season holds a lot of BOTH/AND.  There is always a tension between joy and sorry, worry and peace, excitement and fear, the both/and of life.  It is in these beautiful places of in-between that we grow, that we can see God move and shape and heal our wounded places, and where we can see the fruit of what has been planted in us.  This is what I am excited to explore here, in the podcast, in my conversations with others, and in the sharing of stories.  And I'm glad that you are along with me for this next season of journeying with Jesus!

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