moments collected in a calling

Moments collected in a calling

My desire to travel and experience other cultures started at a very early age. I spent hours poring over a national geographic book called "Our world.” My Sunday afternoons were filled with imaginative vacations to faraway places.
When I was old enough to venture out on my own, these once imagined vacations became reality. I have dined in “the valley of the beautiful women” in Hungary, walked in Rembrandt’s footsteps in Holland & snorkeled in Cuba.
I began to feel called to work abroad in my mid-twenties and I began pursuing short-term volunteer trips to test my resilience and seek confirmation from God that we were on the same page.
It was not 'one' exact moment in time, but a collection of experiences that solidified this calling. It was the month of November 2005 and I spent 12 hours a day at the Mkar Christian hospital seeing patients, doing rounds, reading x-rays, then falling, exhausted, into bed every night. The gravity of HIV astounded me, the abuse of women angered me, and the abandonment of children broke me. But the joy in Bridget’s face as she hugged her pink balloon moved me, the tears of hurting women drew me in, the children's songs and games made me laugh. I knew without a doubt where I had to be personally, professionally & spiritually. I knew I was called to work in hard places that I would both loathe and love. Moments collected in a calling.

The next step...
I have the honour of being chosen to be a “Program HOPE!” intern. This opportunity ‘provides an “apprentice type” experience in Christian community development at the grass roots level.’
I will be working with Christian Reformed world relief committee (CRWRC), a relief and development organization that has programs around the world.
I will be living & learning in Eldoret, Kenya for the next two years. I hope to offer my skills of nursing, water filter construction, and perhaps even my sewing abilities to local partner organizations.
My departure date is September 2 after a summer filled with learning and training across Canada.

As I have been going through my belongings (thousands of photos...) I found these photos randomly scattered about. they reflect some of my adventures in the past few years.



in one of my favourite places on earth - kananaskis country


i can't seem to resist sick people lying on the ground.



enjoying an afternoon swing on pulau weh, indonesia


a camel ride in mahula, nigeria.


with friends in mkar, nigeria