Biography

How I came to Kenya.

I am the oldest of 6 children with four brothers and one sister.   We were blessed to grow up in a Christian home and although our parents were by no means wealthy, they sacrificed much to provide us with a Christian education.  I surrendered my life to the Lord Jesus Christ as a young girl; and from an early age felt drawn to mission work.  My mother, who had the true heart of a missionary,  was my wonderful friend and  strong spiritual support  in those days.  I struggled over giving my life totally to God.  Ironically, it now seems, I was so afraid He would send me to 'deepest darkest Africa’ .

As I considered more earnestly just what my role could be as a missionary, it seemed that I would be most valuable if I had knowledge of the medical field.  So, I began at age 14 volunteering weekends to help in local nursing homes.  I continued this through my high school years, advancing  my skills to the  status of Nurse's Aide.  After graduating from Bellevue Christian School in Bellevue, Washington (1965), I enrolled in the School of Practical Nursing at Bellevue Community College (BCC).   I graduated from BCC in 1967 and I found employment at Virginia Mason Hospital (VMH) in Seattle, Washington.  At Virginia Mason I gained experience in various aspects of nursing. I worked in the intensive care unit, the coronary care unit, delivery room, emergency room and medical/surgical wings of the hospital.   The dream of a life in missions faded to the background as I settled in to a career.

However, in the summer of 1979, after eleven years at VMH, the church I was attending  began putting together a team for a mission trip to Africa, and my desire to serve God on the mission field was suddenly  rekindled.  At last it seemed  my opportunity had come and I joined the team.  Still not knowing how well I would fit into the missionary life, I thought of using this trip as a litmus test - to see if my life-long missions focus was real or merely fantasy.  The mission team included musicians, a drama group, teachers and a choir, of which I was a member.   Oh - and I was also appointed as team nurse.   Five weeks later I returned to Seattle convinced that the mission field of Kenya was definitely in my future; though I had no idea how to bring it about. I still had no specific training in missionary work, no contacts, and little money.

Another decade passed while I earned my living, this time away from the medical field as a claims adjuster for a small independent service company.   One day, while reading a Christian nursing journal, which had been given to me by a friend, I saw an advertisement for volunteers desperately needed on a short-term medical mission to war-torn Uganda.   I applied, was accepted, and spend four months immunizing children in remote areas of Uganda.  Although it was not Kenya, I bonded closely with the Ugandan liaison’s family and began to believe that this work and these people could be my future.   However, at that time the health issues I saw in rural Uganda also made it clear that to be effective I would need a good deal of  training in tropical medicine.

A year later God closed the door to further immunization work in Uganda,  but opened the door to an opportunity  for the advanced  medical training I required.   A brochure advertizing an Introduction to Primary Health Care course(IPHC) was given to me.  This eight month course in basic tropical medicine being offered by a Youth With A Mission base in Kenya seemed to be just what I needed.   The only hindrance?   I would first have to successfully complete a six month Discipleship Training School (DTS) course, which is pre-requisite for any other University of the Nations YWAM course.

The DTS course I attended was in Kona, Hawaii with the outreach phase done in Malaysia, China and the Philippines.  My initial goal was just to get through it and on to my medical training objective but much to my surprise; it was an intense time of inner healing and spiritual awakening for me.  After completion of the DTS I applied and was accepted for the IPHC School at the YWAM Shimba Hills base, located 30 miles (2 hours) southwest of Mombasa in a rugged, remote agricultural area.   This was a real adjustment for me as things were very basic—no electricity, no plumbing, little transportation

After completion of that IPHC School, God brought new focus and instead of returning to Uganda I joined the Shimba Hills base as staff.  I was stationed at the Shimba Hills base for almost ten years where I worked for six years with the medical team in surrounding villages, at our Masaai outreach location six hours away and at the outpatient clinic located on the base.  This was followed by four years as base administrator and bookkeeper.   I have many exciting stories to share about my years at Shimba Hills; taking medicine to remote areas - alone - without a map;  fighting a cobra in the delivery room, and many more.  You'll find these stories  from time to time at the Daily Life link of this website.

During my 2003 furlough in the States, YWAM closed the base at Shimba Hills; and so, in September of 2003  I re-located to my present home on the YWAM Likoni base on the edge of the city of Mombasa, Kenya.  My initial role at Likoni was as the base bookkeeper, but I joined the Base Leadership Team in December 2003 and the YWAM Kenya National Leadership Team in November 2005.

My Vision Statement:

Empower believers to embrace a Kingdom worldview, realize their God-given potential and positively impact their spheres of influence.

My responsibilities have changed since handing over base leadership in April of 2016, but I remain a member of the National Leadership Team and continue to act as bookkeeper for both Mombasa base and the YWAM Kenya National Office. I also love teaching and look forward to invitations from YWAM DTS courses being run from bases throughout East Africa. The topics most requested are Destiny, Calling, Giftings & Stewardship; Spiritual Warfare and The Work of the Cross.  Biblical Worldview is the topic I want to develop next and I hope to be able to teach it in the future.

Our base ‘family’ currently consists of fifteen full-time staff representing five countries and two short-term volunteers.  We are primarily a training base and that focus is implemented through several programs to a variety of demographic groups.

Prayorities 
Spiritual and practical needs I would like my Prayer Partners to pray about.
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Pryorities
News and Highlights from my work at the YWAM BASE