I was born on August 2, 1980, in Denver, Colorado, where my father was attending seminary. My family moved to Leavenworth, Kansas three years later when he became the pastor of Northwest Baptist Church in Leavenworth, Kansas. When I was about eight years old, I was listening to a Patch the Pirate story about salvation, and I prayed and asked Jesus to be my Savior. I was baptized two years later. As time went by, however, I struggled with the assurance of my salvation. Each time I struggled, the Holy Spirit would urge me to tell someone and ask for help, but I was too proud. This conflict continued throughout my high school years. Finally, when I was a freshman at Northland Baptist Bible College, the Lord convicted me of my stubbornness. I finally yielded to Him and talked with a faculty member. When I confessed my disobedience to the Holy Spirit, He restored to me the full assurance of my salvation; I realized that my doubts had persisted only because I had not been walking in obedience to the Holy Spirit. “And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us” (1 John 3:24).

From the time I was a little girl, my heart’s desire has been to serve the Lord. Growing up in a small church and seeing countless missionary presentations helped make me aware of the great need for more workers. During my years at Northland, the Lord began developing in my heart the desire to assist church-planting missionaries. During my freshman year, I began to pray that He would allow me to serve Him in a French-speaking country in a ministry that needed help with music. Four years later, at Northland’s annual missions conference, I asked the Lord to lead me to the right missionary family for a short-term trip. That very week Pastor Kim Fox, a missionary to Normandy, France, invited me to work with him and his family in the city of Rouen. Four months of ministry with the Foxes provided the opportunity I needed to experience missionary life and “count the cost” of full-time ministry. Since then God has made it very clear to me, my parents, my sending church, and my mission board that He wants me to return to France full-time.

Short-term trip: January-May 2003
Assisted missionaries Kim and Lori Fox in Normandy, France
Cross-cultural challenges
• Adjusting to total immersion in French
• Enduring anti-American attitudes during war with Iraq
• Witnessing to people of many nationalities and religious backgrounds
• Dealing with culture shock

Ministry opportunities
• Worked closely with the Foxes
• Attended secular language school
• Roomed with French girls from church
• Participated in regular evangelism and discipleship
• Attended winter camp in Alsace-Lorraine
• Visited other missionaries
• Helped with Easter cantata and other music ministries
• Taught piano lessons

• Staff member at Amazing Grace Baptist Camp in Kansas for several summers
• Bachelors degree in Music Education from Northland Baptist Bible College in Wisconsin
• Girls’ dorm supervisor and music teacher at Dublin Christian Academy in New Hampshire (2003-2005)
• Masters degree in Music Education from Bob Jones University (2005-2006)