READ MY STORY
A BIT ABOUT ME
I grew up to a Christian family in the D.C. metropolitan area. In 2015, I graduated from James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, VA with my bachelors in International Affairs and minors in both Spanish and Latin American & Caribbean History. From 2014 to 2017, I volunteered and worked with Cru (formerly called Campus Crusade) evangelizing, discipling and working with students on the campus of JMU.
In the Spring of 2016, I traveled alongside Cru to Northern Africa where we ministered to the local college students. In the Summer of 2017, I led a summer mission with Cru to East Asia. In the Spring before leaving for the summer mission, the Lord clearly led me to quit my work with Cru and move to Kansas City to work with International House of Prayer. Immediately, after returning from East Asia, I packed up what I could of my belongings and moved from JMU in Harrisonburg, Virginia to Kansas City, Missouri where I began as a missionary of International House of Prayer.
MY TESTIMONY
From grey to color
When I was 14, I found my identity in my friends and my hobbies. When those things were removed during the summer, I became very depressed. Day after day the depression became thick and heavy. I began to ask the Lord questions such as “why am I here?” and “what is the purpose of my life?”
Finally, one day while reading the Bible, the Lord gave me the scripture Matthew 7:7 which says, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” When I asked the Lord the meaning of the verse, He told me, “When it says “keep on knocking and the door will be opened” it is talking about the “door of opportunity” and if you keep knocking, the door of opportunity will be opened to you.
Once in high school, I got caught up in the cares of the world like most high schoolers, but friendships began to crumble, and whatever I tried always seemed to fail. I said to myself, “I feel like everything I touch dies.” I found myself back in the same place—depression. In the thick cloud of loneliness, the voice of the Lord became clear.
One day, while walking in the woods, I poured out my heart and complaints to the Lord—everything that came to my mind. As I sat down by the creek where I walked, I told the Lord, “I don’t know how I am supposed to believe and trust in a God who doesn’t even respond.” I walked out of the woods the same way that I came—feeling dejected. Right before I left the woods, I suddenly heard the still, small voice of the Lord in my heart, “It doesn’t matter.”
I said to the Lord, “What? It doesn’t matter? All of these things mattered to me!” I began to list off the various things that happened to me again. Each time, the Lord would respond the same way by saying, “It doesn’t matter.” Finally, He said to me, “The only thing that matters is you and Me, alone. Nothing else matters.” Within a couple weeks, the Lord spoke to my heart again and said to me, “You’re favorite verse was always Matthew 7:7, and I told you that if you kept knocking on the door of opportunity it would be opened.
“You have spent years knocking on every other door except me. I Am the Door, and he who enters through Me will go out and find pasture (John 10:9). I have pushed away every other thing, every other person and every other desire out of your life so that the only thing you would see is Me. If you focus on Me, I will give you every other thing you’ve ever desired and more. You have said, 'I feel like everything I touch dies,' but I’m making it so that everything you touch lives.” I began to seek the Lord deeply in my quiet times. The Lord spoke to me during that time and said, “I will be found by you.” I had no idea, at the time, that this was a direct quote from Jeremiah 29:14.
The Lord impacted me in a major way during my college years. He continued to pierce my heart through the things that He spoke. He told me that He would have died for just one of us even if we never responded. His love is unconditional, and He died for the chance that we might respond. He told me how He sees us as perfect because of Jesus’ blood even when we don’t have it altogether. He sees us the way we see the people we love. Finally, the greatest calling of my life became clear: to pursue God the way that He pursues me.
Start a new relationship with Jesus
WANT TO RECEIVE JESUS?
Do you want a greater rest and joy then you can imagine? On the news we see natural disasters, lying politicians, civil wars and heinous acts of violence. Who can be trusted, and how can we truly feel safe in such an unruly world? This world is quickly fading away and all of the material objects with it.
The only sure rest and confidence in this mess is Jesus. I can tell you I have had more fun, more hope, joy, happiness, adventure and confidence in Jesus with one moment praying in His Presence (that is listening and talking to God) than any entertainment, food or drink I’ve consumed! When I talk with Him, I am never bored. I dare you to try it out for yourself!
Jeremiah 29:11-14 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope…..you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord.”
The same God that called Israel calls to you today. Can you hear His call in your heart? Searching for God with our whole heart means pursuing Him before anything else that we say or do. This doesn’t mean throwing everything out of your life, but the beginning of everything good that He has placed in your life and the end of anything that is not worth our time.
Are you ready to receive Jesus? It's not the prayer that saves you, but the heart behind the prayer. Romans 10:9 says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Though we deserved eternal separation from God, Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we may receive life (Romans 6:23). Salvation is a free gift to all, but like any gift it must be received (John 3:16).
Faith is the avenue through which salvation is received. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast."
Let’s pray this prayer together! Say, “Jesus, I need you. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my heart to receive you as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of me and make me the person you always created me to be. Let me see myself for how you see me, how much you love me and what you were thinking when you first created me. I receive your Holy Spirit into my life as my Helper, my Comforter and my Teacher. Thank you, Jesus!”
Did you just pray this prayer? I would love to follow up with you and send you some free resources! Or if you have any questions before you pray this prayer, please feel free to send them to me using the form below!
