I grew up in a strong Christian family in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where my dad was a fu
ll time teacher at a church. From a young age, my family instilled two loves in my life, sports, and God's word. This led to two very sacred times in my family, March Madness and Sundays when we sat under Dad's teaching and ministered together as a family. Ministry really was a part of our family life. Because of this, I have had a desire to be involved in ministry from an early age.I have also had a desire to be involved in missions from an early age. My first missions experience was when I was 6 years old and my family spent a summer in Ireland. I had the very important job of setting the tables for meals and licking the brownie bowl clean. This was the beginning of my experience of seeing the needs in the world and what God was doing in the rest of the world. Throughout my school years and college, I had several more opportunities to go on mission trips and be involved in various ministries. I loved them all. I loved helping people, I loved seeing how people worshipped God in other parts of the world, I loved having a common bond with people I had never met before because of our relationship with Christ.
My love for God's word continued to grow throughout my life as well. In high school, the favorite time of my week was when my dad and I would have breakfast together and talk about things I had been reading or thinking about, or things he had been studying at Seminary.
After high school, my parents encouraged me to study the Bible at Emmaus Bible College. I did not know for sure what I wanted to do when I graduated, but I knew that I wanted to be involved in ministry and that I loved to study the Bible. Those four years were wonderful, being able to spend all my time digging into God's word and gaining a better understanding of who He is and how I can best serve Him. I still get jealous when I see the Emmaus students starting classes and reading all the time! I had opportunities in college as well to serve overseas and my desire to go overseas continued to grow. I must admit that much of my desire to do missions was very practical. I thought that I would be single for a very long time (before I met Wayne of course!) and knowing that I wanted to be involved in ministry, I thought that a single woman would have more opportunities to serve overseas because there was more need. I wanted to build up the body of Christ where there was true need and lack of people.
College was also when Wayne and I met. From the beginnning, we both knew that the other had a desire to serve the Lord overseas (we met on a mission trip in France) and that ha
s helped us grow closer together as we mutually grow in our desire to serve Him. Our relationship has been one in which we are both challenged by each other to continue to grow in our love for the Lord and our knowledge of His word and His person. We both love to study (yes, we are nerds!) and love sports, we're a perfect match! We also dearly love our baby girl Adelaide, who brings so many smiles to our faces. We are excited that Addie will have the opportunity to serve with us in Senegal.(A nerd in the making! She makes us so proud!)
