MINISTRY
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Italy at last!
12/5/25
Once I arrive in Italy I will be joining the staff team as we pray, fast, worship and seek the Lord for this next new year. I think that this is a beautiful way to unite us as a ministry with God's heart for the community we will serve in the new year! There are many roles on base that I could serve in, and at this time I am unsure of which area is best for me to serve starting out. I would appreciate prayer as I discern what role would be best as I begin my time in Italy. I also have the option to start off my time doing an Italian language intensive, and get a jumpstart in the language. I am so excited to share with you as I begin my first few months in Italy! In this last month God has been so kind to show me some of the fruit of this season in Minnesota. It has been an unexpected and beautiful season! As I have been working at a local nursing home and caring for the elderly I have been touched by so many sweet moments with residents who have impacted my life deeply. Especially as I have worked with those with memory loss I am amazed at the beauty God has given each person even in the midst of such loss. It has been a true privilege to care for those who are vulnerable and yet who display such immense value as God's creation. One of my favorite moments weekly with the residents is church on Wednesdays. Often times these residents are non verbal and are hard to get any reaction out of. Yet as we spent Wednesday mornings together singing old hymns I see these residents perk up and open their eyes. I find myself tearing up each Wednesday as we sing Jesus loves me. Residents who haven't spoken all week will suddenly remember the words of truth in this song. This beautiful example reminds me that the seeds of truth and hope planted in peoples lives remain! YWAm Cultivate!
9/12/2025
God truly provided the perfect month of introductions to the staff, ministry, culture and language in Italy! This month held so many sweet moments of encouragement, and God's faithfulness! Although one month maybe short, I felt I was able to experience and observe a variety of ministries, and transitions within the base. As I served cooking meals for the base and helping in hospitality I was able to be apart of the variety of groups that came to do ministry with us, as well as the schools and seminars either starting or finishing their time with us. I was also able to really get to know all the incredible staff apart of this base and build connections with them. I got to attend the staff retreat and hear all the incredible stories of God's provision for this pioneering base from the people who experienced it first hand. This base has been going for three years, and in those three years they have moved 20 times and ran 7 schools, sending out outreaches as well as local outreaches! Praise the Lord that they now have a solid housing situation and are able to lay down roots and start building trust with the locals. The base is located a half hour from Pisa in a small coastal town that is busy in the summer and quiet in the winter. I love that the YWAM base is placed right on the street with all our doors and windows open! It is easy to be a part of the community and get to know our neighbors. People pass by and look in, stop to talk to us, comment on the smell of the food our listen to us worship together. Through these open doors there have been many relationships built and people who have accepted Christ! The first day I arrived at Fonte Di Vita our partner church I got to see the most beautiful sight, a group of about 10 Italians being baptized and declaring their freedom and surrender to Christ! I am excited to see all that God is doing through the partnership of YWAM and the local church, He is bringing fruit to a spiritually dry climate! I left Italy with an excitement to begin this next chapter of ministry and growth in my life. I am so grateful to you all for praying for me and for your faith in God's character during this waiting. Praise to Him who is so faithful!
Italy Update
March 2025
I want to thank so many of you for your continuing prayer as I wait for my religious workers visa to come from the Italian consulate. I had my interview for the visa at the consulate in Chicago in November and was told it might come in January, then in February and now in March! It has been a long waiting process and trusting process. A religious workers visa for Italy is a pretty hard visa to be approved for. I have a visa lawyer who has been working with the consulate and with me in this. My current flight out is for the 21st of March but I am prepared to move it back again if necessary. I have been encouraged again and again by the Lord that when the time is right he will release the visa and I am trusting His timing over mine! Praise the Lord that I am fully funded and have what I need for Italy! Thank you all for your partnership as I have now the full funding to live in Italy as missionary. This has been a huge encouragement for me especially as it has been a long waiting process for the visa! As I wait I have been so grateful to continue to work and see the Lord show up in daily moments of loving the elderly and those around me. To those who have donated money either monthly or in a lump sum, thank you! The money that you have donated I am so grateful to be saving in this season for future flights as well as visa needs and emergency savings. As I continue in this season of waiting, I would ask that you praise and pray! Praise Him for all he has done in this beautiful season and in faith for all He will do! Pray that this visa would come in the Lords timing! I am so immensely grateful for you! Unexpected beauty
December 2024
Ministry has looked different this fall than in the last three years. While at home I have been working at a local nursing home as an activities assistant. Yes, I play a lot of bingo and have also found a deep joy in getting to have one on one conversations with residents, especially those who need a friend. The Lord has been so gracious to lead me to some amazing conversations with residents as well as praying with them! Even with staff I have seen so many open doors to amazing conversations and prayer. As I was praising God for these opportunities he gave me this verse: " Behold, the days are coming declares the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed: the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it." Amos 9:13 ITALY UPDATE The process towards Italy continues as I wait for my visa and continue in support raising. Getting a religious worker visa in Italy is an extensive process that has many steps, I am grateful to have my interview over and am now just waiting for my visa's approval! I am praying to see that come through mid January. I am getting closer to my monthly support goal as I now only need 600 dollars more in monthly support! I am so grateful for the new partners the Lord has given me as well as those who have been with me for these last three years! Thank you for all you do! growing young hearts and minds
Being the head teacher of Hope Academy (our homeschool center for missionary kids on base) has been the biggest joy in this season! I had the privilege of teaching and loving on 7 kids ages 9-16. The heart of this ministry is that these amazing kids get a space that is totally dedicated to them, their growth, education, and relationship with God. I was blessed to pour into them on the daily, from helping them with their math to having conversations about God's calling, it was a gift!
Between the silliness and pickleball playing these kids learned so much, including history, science, cake decorating, writing, debate class and ministry. These kids have a passion for evangelism and would often ask me when we were going out into the community! One of these times we went to the beach and painted verses on rocks and went around praying for people and giving them encouragement! One student felt very called to give a rock to a lady and pray for her, as he went up to her he realized that she was crying. She later shared with us that this was just what she needed today! It was beautiful to see God touch her life and grow our faith! Take a peek at what we did below!
Evangelism, housebuilds, a mural and much more....
Part of my job this fall was helping staff the Discipleship Training school! I staffed the art and music track which means we had a lot of creative and talented students! I got to teach art this fall as well as help with our ministry times, host a house build and help with our end of semester art and music gallery! Weekly we went out for evangelism and got to talk and pray for some amazing people. Within ministry we try to use creative ways to do ministry and share the gospel. One way we did that this year was through a mural the art track painted for one of our local ministries! I also had the privilege of mentoring two amazing students for the DTS and see them grow in their relationship with the Lord. This DTS has grown so much this fall and just returned from outreach in 4 different locations {Mexico, Madagascar, Thailand and Cambodia}! As they returned it was so beautiful to hear so many stories of healings, salvations and their faith ignited in Jesus!
Summer Mission adventures!
This summer was one of the most beautiful and most busy summers of youth ministry I have staffed! This was one of our biggest summers with the amount of teams that came since covid. The summer was filled with energy, excitement and a lot of sharing Jesus! We saw the Lord bless the ministry this summer and saw amazing fruit in the community and in the lives of students. Here are a few of the numbers from this summer:
Youth ministryThis spring I worked with our youth camp and missions trip ministry called Mission Adventures! Here are some highlights from the spring:
Spring praise! Summer excitement!
Words cannot express what an incredible two months it was in Madagascar! It was so easy to love these people and share the Gospel with them. Because Madagascar is the third poorest country in the world, injustice is everywhere and people are in need of help wherever you go. Every day held amazing planned and unplanned ministry that the Lord set up for us! We saw many healed, set free from demonic oppression, saved and baptized. So many people where open to receive the Gospel that our team was genuinely shocked at all that God was doing through us in such a short amount of time! Over half the population of Madagascar is children, and because of that we took care of many kids and helped redeem some of their childhood by playing with them and loving them.
We worked in the areas where some of the poorest of the poor live, including dumps, prison and mining fields where families work to make gravel by hand for a few dollars a week. We preached in churches, hiked to unreached villages and worked in schools sharing the gospel and baptizing those who wanted to receive Jesus. Witchcraft and Ancestral worship is the most common form of religion in Madagascar, it was amazing to see God free many who had been practicing witchcraft as they gave their lives to Christ! Every location we went and every ministry we partnered with we got to see God move so powerfully, to set the captives free and heal so many in desperate need. Our team was so honored to be apart of harvesting the fruit we saw in Madagascar! It was truly incredible and felt like we were the actual hands and feet of Jesus. Outreach to Madagascar!
At the end of lecture phase in about a month the next phase of the DTS begins, the outreach! I will have the privilege of helping lead ten students to Madagascar for two months of outreach! These students have been growing so much in the past two months and now they will have the opportunity to share the Gospel and put into practice all that they have learned on outreach! In Madagascar we will be partnering with many local missionaries, churches and YWAM bases to share the Gospel. We will have a variety of ministries to help with like slum ministry, street evangelism, teaching art, music and English. We will also be partnering with churches, preaching, sharing our testimonies and doing local service projects and mercy ministries. The heart behind all of the ministry is to share the love and hope of the Gospel to those in Madagascar. Madagascar is a very poor nation with many people who have yet to know the truth and freedom of Jesus! As one of the leaders of the team I will be helping to disciple the students as they grow personally with the Lord and leading them as we do ministry together in Madagascar. I am so excited to see God grow us as a team and see the fruit of many lives changed through Him in Madagascar!
Would you be willing to partner with us? I am so grateful for your continued support of the work God has been doing in Mexico! As Madagascar approaches I would really appreciate your partnership in prayer and finances with our team. Madagascar is a very spiritually heavy place and your support through prayer is so needed for our team! I will place the prayer points on the prayer page. If you feel lead to give financially, our students are still in need of financial support especially because some of them need to fly out of Mexico due to visas making it a more expensive flight. I am personally still needing 200 dollars to help cover outreach needs. All of this to be said if you are feeling led to give please check out all the info on how you can give on my prayer page! Thank you!
Spring Mission Adventures
April 18th
This month has been a fun and busy month! Only just a few days ago we said good bye to our last Mission Adventures group for the Spring. Although our spring season of MA was shorter than in the past it is the first spring season back since 2019. No matter how speedily it went it was such a beautiful and transformative time. The first team that came was about 50 people. For the week, we did Vacation Bible School at two different churches. The kids we spent time with were so sweet and instantly connected with our team. One afternoon during the week we passed out Bibles in the communities as a way to help end Bible Poverty in Ensenada.
In between our two cycles of MA we had some time to be able to serve the base and help prepare for the upcoming teams. I am so thankful for the Mission Adventures team of staff we have, although we may have pulled a lot of weeds together they always made it fun! Our final team for the summer was a group of 60 people! It was such a fun week with them. It was amazing to see the growth each student had and the seeds God was placing in their lives. It was a joy to see three students come to know Christ and see the beautiful ways God transformed so many. Throughout the week our team served at a women's safe house, guys rehab and church. Even though the weeks went by fast I am amazed at the ways God moved in these students lives and the lives of those in the community. I love working with Mission Adventures and I am astounded that even though I am physically exhausted by the end of the week I am so filled and am excited to do it all over again! I am excited for our summer cycles of MA to begin at the end of May. In the mean time I will be helping host some house builds, teach the preschool, work in the cafe and help in hospitality on base. I am looking forward to visiting home for some time in may and I hope that I get to see a few of you during my visit!
Preparing for MIssion Adventures
OpportunitiesDecember 10th 2021
I am grateful to have had so many diverse opportunities to serve this season on base. I will share with you some highlights so you can catch a glimpse of what these last few months have looked like.
TRansitions
August 2nd 2021
This past month has been marked by so many beautiful moments. As I shared in my last post for the summer I have been staffing Mission Adventures which is the youth camp/mission trip that YWAM runs for the summer. We have had three cycles of camp and four different youth groups come from different places to Mexico. I have had the privilege of helping host these teams every week. Each team does local outreach in the afternoons such as house builds, going to orphanages, womens safe homes, girls rehab centers, guys rehab centers, churches and street evangelism. The teams share the love of Christ in practical ways and also share their testimony and the gospel. It has been amazing to hear stories of God healing and saving people in Mexico through these amazing groups of students! Along with local outreach we have sessions each night and morning that focus on our theme for the year. Our theme this year has been The Movement. This theme calls us to join the Movement of Jesus Christ that started long ago and continues here today. This theme invites us to live as Christians in a way that is counter cultural and shares the life changing reality of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. As the students are sent home they are sent out to carry this life changing movement to everyone they know. It has been such a blessing to see spiritual growth in these students lives on many levels as well as to see the way God has used them in the community of Ensenada. To close off this season of MA our last team that came was an outreach team. We got to host this team and go to local ministries throughout the week and share in debrief and worship times with them. Although Mission Adventures was shorter this summer than usual it was filled with so many moments and people I am so grateful for! "For Such a time as this"
What will I be doing in Mexico?
I am going to be moving to Ensenada Mexico this spring to be on staff with YWAM Ensenada for two years as a full time missionary. I am so thrilled that this is the direction that the Lord is leading me! I love this YWAM base and the purpose it serves in the area. I can see myself working happily with all the ministries they have on base, but I am very passionate about working with the youth in Mission Adventures as well as the Schools that YWAM runs. Why Now? I always knew that I loved working with people. I didn't know that God had called me to ministry and into missions until I started working with our youth at church. Wednesday nights became my favorite night of the week. Not long after that I heard from God specifically that he was calling me into ministry and for now missions. I am excited to use the giftings and skills God has given me to love him and others well in Mexico. I am passionate about sharing the truth of the Gospel, and championing others to use the life they have to love God and others with all they have. What is YWAM? Youth With A Mission [YWAM] is an international, interdenominational ministry organization. It's goal is for people to be equipped, grown, and commissioned to know God and make Him known. YWAM Ensenada is located on the Baja of California, and focuses on training students, and hosting teams that help minister to the surrounding community through various ministries. Ministries: 
First Month in Mexico
June 6th 2021 These first few weeks in Mexico have been full of so many moments of gratitude, many reunions, and adjusting to life in Mexico. While in the process of moving into my apartment, I have been serving on base in the kitchen. I am continuously amazed at the kitchen staff and their dedication to serve! These past few weeks I have transitioned over to staff training for Mission Adventures. I will be on staff for the summer helping to run the youth camp. Mission adventures is one of my favorite ministries that YWAM Ensenada runs. This camp/mission trip focuses on growth for the students in their relationship with the Lord. There are sessions every night focused on different topics that connect with the theme verse for the year. Throughout the day students do local outreach and serve at orphanages, rehab centers, Homes of Home ministry, and evangelism. Our team has been preparing practically and spiritually before Mission Adventures begins. I am so excited for the amazing opportunities that this summer holds! |
