I am from and currently live in, Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1997 my dad, a pastor at the time, felt called to start a church in middle Tennessee. There our ministry experience began, and there we stayed for six and a half years.

During that time, our family worked together to run music, children's ministries, and teaching. That is when my love for teaching children first began. I moved from nursery work to teaching at about the age of ten and continued doing so throughout our time there. It was difficult and at times very draining but ultimately, I loved it.

Throughout the beginning of my teenage years, I became distant from God. Consequently, those years were filled with alot of rebellion. With the help of God and the loving christian family He had blessed me with, I made it through stronger, and ready to be the woman God had called me to be.

During my teenage years and through my progression into young adulthood, my passions and career desires changed many times over. However, one thing that never changed was a passion that God gave me when I was about twelve: a passion for foreign missions, a passion for children, a passion for Africa. After a mission trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this past summer I returned seeking what God would have for me now. Foreign missions had always seemed like a dream too far away in the future but through seeking His will in prayer, God lead me to the First Year Missionary program with Adventures in Missions.

So, here I am: Twenty-one, Preparing day by day for my nine month trip to Africa, Seeking to "Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)