I started life in a bubble. A small bubble filled with predictable beliefs, familiar people and comfortable routines. My path towards the mission field and out of my bubble began when I served in Scotland at 15 years old. It changed the way I saw the world and broadened my horizons outside of the familiarity of home. This was the first time I truly encountered the need for Christ in the world around me. Two years later, I served on another mission trip to Nepal as a small group leader. During that summer, I learned about what it means to serve God and serve others. After High School, the next big step for me was attending Biola University in Southern California.
Although I started out as a business major, I soon realized that my passion lay in the realm of Intercultural Studies. In my major, I learned about culture, how it affects us and how it changes and grows over time. Once again, I found myself being stretched further and further outside of my comfort zone, as I strived to understand other cultures. It was during this time at Biola, I discovered my desire to go to the world and serve others by sharing the love of Christ. I spent a significant amount of time searching for the right place and right organization to work with, but I was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic at the end of my senior year. Despite Covid, I graduated from Biola and realized I still wanted to go ahead with my plans to serve overseas and push out of my comfort zone farther than ever before.
After graduation, I remembered Go-Corp, who I had met during several job fairs I had attended at Biola. I was so excited to hear about what they were doing in the nation and how young people like me could make a difference. I didn’t really think that it could be me going until I first met with my mobilization coach and started talking about what it would mean to spend two years overseas. Go-Corp introduced me to One Collective who I will be working with in a ministry called The Pilgrim House located in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. While there, I will be serving the community of people who are walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. Providing them with the space and resources they need to fully debrief and process their Camino journey, what it means for their relationship with God, and what it means for their relationships with others going back home. My job will be to show hospitality and serve the travelers who enter The Pilgrim House however I can. I am so excited to reach people where they are at and use everything God has taught me up till now to serve others and grow closer to Him. My hope is that I can learn to find the edges of my new bubble of familiarity and break free of it to grow beyond where I am now these next two years.