My story begins in Irwin, PA, where I was born and lived until graduating high school. In high school, I discovered my love of storytelling and desired to be a journalist. So I specifically went to Ohio University to study journalism.
My first week on campus, I attended a Cru® Bible study. There, I saw other Christian students who were excited to tell people about how Jesus changed their lives. I wanted to be a part of that and I wanted to grow in my faith. God used Cru to teach me how to walk with Jesus.
Throughout my four years at OU, God gripped my heart for the students on campus and for the unreached people all over the world. Through opportunities with Cru and also the journalism school, I spent time learning in France, India, and Morocco — all experiences that God used to shape what I’d do after graduation.
In the summer of 2011 — before my senior year at OU — I started my long journey to the Tighza Valley, a remote village in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. I didn’t realize then that God would use that trip to send me on a different career path.
I had to complete a professional project for my journalism degree. So I spent five weeks in a Moroccan village, interviewing Berber people in French, and publishing a magazine about their lives and culture.
Before going, I looked at a world missions map by the Joshua Project. I found the Tighza Valley and saw a red dot, signifying the area is unreached with the message of Jesus. The Berber people, with traditional religious backgrounds, had never heard that through Jesus, they could be forgiven of sins and have a relationship with God.
That red dot showed me the significance of the trip — God was using my journalism degree to send me to an unreached people group and show them Jesus.
Those five weeks living among the Berber people, seeing their lives, and telling their stories gave me a heart for people. That trip solidified my desire to go into ministry and to combine journalism and missions. In fact, I wrote about this in the magazine I published in 2011 (pictured below).
For the two years following graduation, I interned with Cru in the campus ministry at Ohio University and then in Ljubljana, Slovenia, a small country that was a part of the former Yugoslavia. I witnessed gospel transformation in the lives of the women I had the privilege of working with. And I saw first-hand how God is using Cru to introduce people to Jesus, build them up in their faith, and send them out into the world to lights wherever God has them.
I thought I had given up journalism to work in ministry, but God brought it back and in a way I never could have imagined.
One of my first assignments was to cover a pastor’s ministry in Moscow, Russia in 2015 (pictured left). Since then, my job has taken me around the world.
In 2017, I led our team to launch the digital publication Cru Storylines, which showcases God at work in and through people.
For eight years, I led a team of editors and content creators to produce journalistic stories for Cru Storylines, evangelism and discipleship resources, and articles for cru.org that help Christians and non-Christians take their next best steps toward Jesus.
I'm now on the Global Digital Strategies team, in a role that combines the work I’ve done — story-gathering, interviewing, editing, direction-setting, leading and training teammates — but on a global scale.
I have the privilege of training and coaching ministry leaders around the world to more effectively use the internet and communication to spread the gospel in their countries!
Would you consider partnering with me in the global work God is doing?
Let's connect!
I'd love to meet you and share more about the ministry of communications, how the Lord has called me to this role, and the many ways you can partner with me!
Or call or send me a message at 724-961-1363.