I grew up in a Christian home in Canada with a strong faith heritage from my grandparents. I was always curious about faith and remember asking my grandma about Jesus or the Holy Spirit. She would open her big King James Bible and share from it. Those were the first seeds planted in me.
When I was five, the African Children's Choir visited our church, and I was mesmerised. Around the same time, a guest speaker musician sang about going into the world, and the line “Send me to the nations” really grabbed my heart. Looking back, I see how those moments sparked my passion for missions and God’s heart for other cultures.
At 13, I was baptised, and during my last few years of high school, I went on several mission trips to places like Central America, Europe, and inner-city Los Angeles. Those experiences shaped my heart for serving others.
Attending YWAM (Youth with a Mission) Discipleship Training School in Montana was a really significant time for me, as I felt my relationship with God became personal. I realised that God could speak to me, and he wanted to be in relationship with me individually. After that, I spent a year on Mercy Ships, where I was based in West Africa for quite a while. I finally made it to Africa, like I had dreamed as a child! I loved working with the children and women on the ship, helping them after they’d had operations, bringing joy through song, dance, and music. It was just an amazing experience.
Will and I met in Thailand, where we were doing mission work for three years and attended Bible school. After returning to Canada, getting married and having our three children, we both felt stirred again to get back into ministry. We felt the Lord calling us into full-time missions, so we sold our house, put some things in storage, and asked God where he wanted us to go.
We started by travelling through Canada, partnering with ministries that worked with indigenous youth. We ran sports camps and Vacation Bible School programmes, and joined a YWAM base in Canada that has a big heart for indigenous people. Then we went to Australia for Will to take video training and then to New Zealand, thinking it would be a month-long visit…
That trip turned into five and a half years!
It’s been such a journey of faith, just going where God leads us. We're so thankful to be here and have grown a deep love for Aotearoa and its people.
I’ve always had a heart for kids and young people. My parents fostered children when I was young, so I was used to having kids from diverse backgrounds around. Seeing God's heart for different people, especially as I travelled, deepened that love for children. I worked as a special education assistant and teacher’s aide before taking further training in education. Along the way, I was also involved with Sunday school.
It always felt like children’s ministry was a part of my life and heart. Now, having my own kids has solidified for me how essential this ministry is – especially in our own homes, raising our children in faith.
Children’s ministry is so important. The home is the first place where children experience Jesus – his love, care, security, and peace. From there, we can go out and impact our communities. If we have healthy families living on mission and supporting one another through the generations – not just within the family unit but including grandparents, aunties, uncles and the church family – then we can really make a difference in society and be the light of Jesus in our neighbourhoods. But I believe it starts in the home.
If we have healthy individuals and healthy families, we can create a ripple effect, bringing peace and love to our communities.
For the last four years, I’ve been connected with the Victory community in Nelson, working with former refugees and teaching English. I’ve been involved in the “Lark in the Park” initiative through the Victory Community Centre, as well as Kea Kids – a children’s Biblical holiday programme – through Victory Church. We had about 20 to 25 kids for the holiday programme in July, and by October it had doubled to 40 kids.
Now, as I start my role in the diocese, I’m excited to help support families and parish communities as we live out missions and impact our neighbourhoods together. If you're involved in children’s ministry, want to connect across generations, or just want to make a difference in your church, I’d love to hear from you.
Let’s work together to build flourishing communities that live on mission and impact our communities. Please reach out – I can’t wait to connect and see what we can do together!
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
We have invited these writers to share their experiences, ideas and opinions in the hope that these will provoke thought, challenge you to go deeper and inspire you to put your faith into action. These articles should not be taken as the official view of the Nelson Diocese on any particular matter.
I grew up in a Christian home in Canada with a strong faith heritage from my grandparents. I was always curious about faith and remember asking my grandma about Jesus or the Holy Spirit. She would open her big King James Bible and share from it. Those were the first seeds planted in me.
When I was five, the African Children's Choir visited our church, and I was mesmerised. Around the same time, a guest speaker musician sang about going into the world, and the line “Send me to the nations” really grabbed my heart. Looking back, I see how those moments sparked my passion for missions and God’s heart for other cultures.
At 13, I was baptised, and during my last few years of high school, I went on several mission trips to places like Central America, Europe, and inner-city Los Angeles. Those experiences shaped my heart for serving others.
Attending YWAM (Youth with a Mission) Discipleship Training School in Montana was a really significant time for me, as I felt my relationship with God became personal. I realised that God could speak to me, and he wanted to be in relationship with me individually. After that, I spent a year on Mercy Ships, where I was based in West Africa for quite a while. I finally made it to Africa, like I had dreamed as a child! I loved working with the children and women on the ship, helping them after they’d had operations, bringing joy through song, dance, and music. It was just an amazing experience.
Will and I met in Thailand, where we were doing mission work for three years and attended Bible school. After returning to Canada, getting married and having our three children, we both felt stirred again to get back into ministry. We felt the Lord calling us into full-time missions, so we sold our house, put some things in storage, and asked God where he wanted us to go.
We started by travelling through Canada, partnering with ministries that worked with indigenous youth. We ran sports camps and Vacation Bible School programmes, and joined a YWAM base in Canada that has a big heart for indigenous people. Then we went to Australia for Will to take video training and then to New Zealand, thinking it would be a month-long visit…
That trip turned into five and a half years!
It’s been such a journey of faith, just going where God leads us. We're so thankful to be here and have grown a deep love for Aotearoa and its people.
I’ve always had a heart for kids and young people. My parents fostered children when I was young, so I was used to having kids from diverse backgrounds around. Seeing God's heart for different people, especially as I travelled, deepened that love for children. I worked as a special education assistant and teacher’s aide before taking further training in education. Along the way, I was also involved with Sunday school.
It always felt like children’s ministry was a part of my life and heart. Now, having my own kids has solidified for me how essential this ministry is – especially in our own homes, raising our children in faith.
Children’s ministry is so important. The home is the first place where children experience Jesus – his love, care, security, and peace. From there, we can go out and impact our communities. If we have healthy families living on mission and supporting one another through the generations – not just within the family unit but including grandparents, aunties, uncles and the church family – then we can really make a difference in society and be the light of Jesus in our neighbourhoods. But I believe it starts in the home.
If we have healthy individuals and healthy families, we can create a ripple effect, bringing peace and love to our communities.
For the last four years, I’ve been connected with the Victory community in Nelson, working with former refugees and teaching English. I’ve been involved in the “Lark in the Park” initiative through the Victory Community Centre, as well as Kea Kids – a children’s Biblical holiday programme – through Victory Church. We had about 20 to 25 kids for the holiday programme in July, and by October it had doubled to 40 kids.
Now, as I start my role in the diocese, I’m excited to help support families and parish communities as we live out missions and impact our neighbourhoods together. If you're involved in children’s ministry, want to connect across generations, or just want to make a difference in your church, I’d love to hear from you.
Let’s work together to build flourishing communities that live on mission and impact our communities. Please reach out – I can’t wait to connect and see what we can do together!
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
