From Rock Bottom to the Mission Field.

When I came to the end of myself, God led me to the mission field.

I collapsed to the floor. I had pushed myself too hard again.

Physically and emotionally exhausted from my shift at the hospital, I waited for my daughter to drive up from Florida and rescue me for the second time.

It had been more than 4 years since my life began to crumble.

First, it was the breast cancer diagnosis. Then the deaths of my parents. Finally, my husband of 31 years walked out, leaving me in Virginia, to grieve and fight alone.

On the heels of my cancer remission, I had jumped into nursing school as a distraction from the grief. Often I would overwork myself to the brink of a meltdown – just like tonight.

This time, when my daughter came and took me to Florida, I stayed. But even family couldn’t heal the hole in my heart.

I couldn’t find a way to get better. I struggled with depression and complicated grief. Even the psychiatrists didn’t know what to do with me. Finally, I had to learn to be independent and face my wounds.

So I moved in with a friend, created a healthy separation from family, and focused on my relationship with the Lord. Some days I would rewrite the Psalms for hours.

A year into my healing process, I woke up one night and sensed God telling me, “I have a place for you”. Confused, I tried to go back to sleep by scrolling through Facebook. Immediately, a picture popped up of a friend surrounded by orphans on a missions trip to Uganda

I grew up in a missions-minded church and even attended Bible college in the hopes of one day going to the field. But plans changed when I married a fellow student and became a stay-at-home mom.

Something shifted in me when I looked at the photo on Facebook. Unsettled, I fell back to sleep and tried my best to continue with my routine the next day. But God would not let me.

He led Ugandans into my workplace. Then my church announced the location of their next short-term trip: Uganda.

The Lord was calling me and I knew I was going to obey.

I visited Uganda 5 times on short term mission trips, to help in that same orphanage. In the summer of 2022, I moved to Uganda to walk with the women of that country and point to The Source of all Hope. Most of these women grew up as orphans, and have given up on hope.

I am now partnering with my local church in Kampala: Agape Baptist Church Ntinda. We are teaching and mentoring young adult women, visiting abandoned Jjajjas (Grandmothers) out in the villages, and building relationships with displaced Muslim woman who have come to Uganda from war torn Sudan.

God is gracious to allow us to join His work.