Our Journey...knowing Jesus, walking with Jesus, walking with Jesus together
This is our journey and it can’t be denied. Please feel free to write us with your own story, as we would love to read them.
I grew up in sunny Southern California. As a kid I always went to church with my parents. I knew all the Bible stories, knew all the people at church, but I never knew Jesus. In high school I began hanging out with some older kids who were showing me some fun ways to get into trouble. As a sixteen year old kid many of their lifestyles looked extremely appealing. One day this fantasy life came to an end, as I stood in the office at my high school signing my expulsion papers. The same month this happened my Father was offered a great job transfer opportunity in another state. Since, my entire family lived in Southern California this was a hard decision, but when I was kicked out of school it served as the thing that made my parents decide to move. I remember my mother telling me she felt this decision had almost everything to do with me. I would have never imagined this was going to be a correct prediction.
After weighing out the option of moving in with my friends and getting my GED, I decided to move. I didn’t always make the best decisions, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew staying in California would be a stupid decision, even though I hated the idea of moving. I arrived at my new home with no friends. My parents had Godly friends who moved not to long before us. They already found a church they liked. As a favor to my parents I agreed to go with them once. I had no good excuses anymore, because I didn’t know anyone. As I walked into this huge church I was instantly directed to a tent outside where the youth met. To my surprise I met a few others who made the move from California. I gave my phone number to a few people, and suddenly I had people inviting me out almost everyday that next week. While the church group wasn’t at the top of my list of people I wanted to hang out with, the reality was I didn’t have any other options.
Within the first week of being in my new home I found out I was going to graduate on time, I accepted a good job, and I was able to get school credit for working my new job. My life was going good, which was frustrating because it gave me no reason to complain .
I met a guy named Kyle who moved the same week I did. Kyle moved to attend seminary ( I had no idea what that meant at the time), and work at the church. I was the first student he met when he moved. Kyle invited me to meet with him and a small group of guys to study the Bible. I decided to start attending. Every week I would see him, and every week he would give me homework. I didn’t understand why he took the time to do this, but it didn’t seem to stop me from always picking up his assignments and doing them. These assignments were things I wanted to do, rather than something I had to do. I never thought Kyle would keep this up, but each week he continued to bring a new assignment, and each week I would come back with the old one completed.
On New Years Eve weekend 1998 I was invited to attend a winter retreat with many of my new friends. On New Years Eve 1998 one hour before midnight, the youth pastor gave an open microphone for students to talk about what Jesus had done in their lives within the past year. I felt like someone was speaking to me that night, and I didn't know who it was. Suddenly everything that I had been learning from the Bible began coming to my mind. I heard the voice again telling me to go up to the microphone. I didn't know what I was going to say, but I walked up on stage anyways. I remember being really nervous, because I had no great story. I remember grabing the microphone and saying, “I haven’t lived for Jesus in the past, but I want to live for Jesus in 1999.” My hands were shaking, and I walked back to my chair. I didn’t say any fancy prayer, but I knew my life would never be the same again.
Ever since that night nothing has been the same. I often compared myself to a drowning man, and it was Jesus who pulled me out of the water and brought me back to life. If Jesus didn’t pull me out of the water I would have died. In understanding this reality I had three responses. The first was a strong desire to know everything I could about Jesus. The second was a stronger desire to serve Jesus. The third was an obligation to tell everyone I knew about Jesus. I knew very little theology, but these three things seemed to make a lot of sense to me. Jesus transforms individuals differently, but for me, as soon as Jesus came into my life I knew it, and this knowledge led to action.
My mentor Kyle saw me growing, so he started letting me teach the small group Bible study. After two months of following Jesus I was presented with a totally different challenge. He asked me if I would be interested in going with him to Europe. He had been going with a group to Europe for the past eight years and he was asking me to go with him. The purpose of these trips were to live and learn from people who knew God for a long time, and to talk to others in Europe about Jesus. I told him that I didn't have money to go on the trip. He said, “Go home and pray about it.” I went home and prayed about it, but after one day I came to the conclusion that if God wanted me to go money would not be an issue. I came back and told Kyle what God impressed on my heart. He said that people would love to support what God was doing in my life. He was right! I began telling my story to everyone I knew and people began to send me money for my trip. I found out during that time a few people were praying for me to come to know Jesus. They were overjoyed to hear God answered their prayer. I ended up going the summer of 1999 to Europe with Kyle. I was stretched so much that summer. On the trip I was learning how to teach my friends the stuff I was taught only a few months earlier. My mentor Kyle told me how it was important for me to make a public declaration of my belief in Jesus, and it was called baptism. He explained more about baptism to me from the Bible and that summer Kyle baptized me in Europe.
I came home that summer ready to begin applying everything I had learned. I had people I wanted to share Jesus with, and things I wanted to study in the Bible. At this point I began to experience something that was new. I began to experience spiritual attack. I believe everything I was learning and doing was becoming a threat to Satan. I was beginning to have temptations thrown into my life of things that used to be attractive to me, and I was slowly beginning to give in. This was one of the hardest times in my life. Before I Jesus all of these things were completely normal, but I knew that people who followed Jesus should not live in sin like this. Jesus was the greatest thing in my life, but I wasn't showing that very well to others if I was walking in sin. I asked God to help me break free from this sin, and He answered in a way I didn't expect.
One day my Mom asked me if I was planning to go on another trip with Kyle. I prayed about it, talked with Kyle, and then decided to go for it. The summer before I had a good reason for going, but this summer I wasn't exactly sure why I was there. When I arrived I realized God brought me back to relearn many things from the first summer. The big difference during this trip was whole summer was spent preparing to go home to never repeat the same mistakes ever again.
After coming home the year was so much better. I applied myself so much more and saw God transform my life once again. I was accepted into Bible college the next school year. I also pushed myself to share my faith with many, saved some money, and even began to pour into a group of middle school students at my church. I was invited that year to go to Australia with Kyle. He asked me if I would teach four guys that summer. I didn’t feel ready to do this, but Kyle told me I was ready to began teaching what I have learned.
This summer God began to teach me a lot about how he wanted me to spend my life. I came to the realization that God moved me from California for this purpose. I received a glimpse into what God wanted to do in my life, but I knew it was just the beginning. I mentored four guys that summer and Jesus’ plan for ministry suddenly became real to me. Jesus didn't want me spending most of my time with the crowds, but with individuals. Jesus wanted me to spend my life teaching those who were starting their walks with Christ, and teaching them how to walk radically with Jesus. The expectation is that most of these individuals would then go on to teach these things to others.
I left that summer to enter into my first year of Bible college. Bible college had huge academic demands, but I also tried to find time to sneak away and talk with Jesus. Often I would sneak away to the corner of the library to read books on different countries, and the issues pertaining to those countries. In those quiet moments I would read about the many places in the world that have never heard about Jesus. In those quiet moments and over a period of time with the help of Godly mentors I felt Jesus telling me that someday I would be living in a different country. I committed my life in 2002 to living and teaching others to live for Jesus in places that have never heard about Jesus.
Tiger's story (The new nickname for the amazing wife God gave me)
I grew up in a Bible-believing home in a family that regularly attended church. I put my faith in Christ when I was 15 years old. I did not, however, live for Christ during my early college years. During my junior year, with the help of my Christian friends from InterVarsity, I began to understand the Lordship of Christ and surrendered my life to Him. Later that summer, Christ opened a door for me to go to Kenya to serve through nursing. My Kenya experience exposed me to God's heart for the entire world. I made a decision to pursue long-term kingdom work overseas after college and patiently waited for Christ to direct my next steps. Christ led me to meet my future husband at the end of 2005, and on October 8 2006 we were married. I have a master’s degree in intercultural studies.