Offering Hope to the Orphans of Uganda

“I am a missionary heart and soul. God Himself had an only son, and he was a missionary and physician. A poor, poor imitation I am, or wish to be, but in this service I hope to live. In it I wish to die. I still prefer poverty and missions services to riches and ease. This is my choice.” – David Livingstone

As long as I can remember I have always had this urge, this dream, inside of me to visit remote places, see things that few others have, tell stories of strange lands and exotic people, to live in a country where I was completely out of my element. Where I had to learn another language, where everything was new and exciting, and where I was able to adapt to a new culture and new customs. Places where I could wake up and see the sunrise over a vast plain with no electrical wires, places where at night you could actually see the Milky Way and places where the only light you had was fire. I wanted to see and be in a place where time seemed to have stopped and life was simpler. I never knew how I would get to these places, or when… but I knew that somehow and someway it would happen.

I guess one could say that this dream was born when at the tender age of two my family moved to Moscow, Russia. We lived there for one year before returning once again to Arizona. Maybe it was having that experience at such a young age that was the catalyst to these trips. Then again, maybe it was something more, something much bigger.

I accepted Christ at a very young age, four in fact; and I grew up in a Christian home living a normal life just as any other kid would: pressing through life’s tragedies, learning valuable lessons, dealing with an older brother, and growing up.
The only difference was that at 13 years old I felt the urgent call to dedicate my life to missions. I will say that honestly, before then, I had never truly ever given missions a second thought, yes; I always thought it was a cool idea, and of course God, yeah, he is a pretty cool guy. But when it came down to it, I never thought that my way of traveling the world would have been missions.

All of these thoughts changed at ATF (Acquire the Fire youth conference). There was a video that caught my eye, it was about a missionary in Africa and the radical things that God was doing there. It was this video, listening to his stories and testimonies, and seeing the pure need and hunger that those people had for God that drew my interest. It was as if for the first time I realized that not everyone knew who Jesus was. I realized that not everyone was as lucky as I was to live so comfortably… I realized for the first time that there was a whole world out there with people who were begging for someone to help them… And I saw right then and there just how privileged my life was.

But there was one moment in particular that I will always remember. At the very end, the speaker said, “Listen closely, you never know when God is talking to you. It could be right now, it could be tomorrow, it could be years later… but whenever it is, you must be willing and ready to answer. Because you never know when God is going to ask, will you go?” It was in that moment that I knew I had to do something, anything. I knew God was telling me to go.

Now one might ask how did a 13 year old girl talk her parents into letting her go with people she never met to Africa… for a month? Well, I don’t think that I really had to persuade them much, because God made it very clear. In many moments in my house, watching TV, listening to the radio, or even at a store; we heard Botswana, Africa everywhere. So with perhaps a little persistence from me I was off to Africa within five months of that conference.

Now at the age of 17, I have experienced incredible summers! For the past four years, I have trekked in the outback of Botswana for a total of five months, and performed on the streets of Lima, Peru for two weeks of my life. I have seen God move in miraculous ways, healing the crippled, the blind, the deaf, the mute, the sick, and even the brain dead! I have spoken the message of Salvation in front of crowds up to a thousand people. And it is because of these trips that I have not only been able to reach the people of Botswana and Peru, but many people here in the United States as well. You see, I don’t believe that my mission stops once the trip is done; I believe it is my duty to open the eyes of others to what is really going on in the world… And to tell others that you are never too young to make a difference in the kingdom of God… that you are never too young to change the world.

"But the Lord said to me, 'Do not say I am too young. You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.' Declares the Lord. Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, 'I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.'"
- Jeremiah 1:7-10

I invite you to read through my journal entries below and see what life has been like for me on the mission field.

Click Here to View My Botswana 2007 Journal and Photo Gallery

Click Here to View My Peru 2006 Journal and Photo Gallery

Click Here to View My Botswana 2005 Journal and Photo Gallery

Click Here to View My Botswana 2004 Journal and Photo Gallery