About Me

Hi, i'm so glad you are stopping by....

I am a simple girl with big dreams to love, create, travel, and live in community.

My favorite movie is the Sound of Music, i'm a die hard.

I could eat Mexican food every day of the year.

I love sand in my toes and sun on my face,
and playing spike ball on the beach,

but mostly I love Jesus.

I started traveling the world when I was young,

and one thing I could never shake was the injustice I saw. 

in college i studied international relations and minored in italian and africa studies.

normal combination, eh? haha

my life turned upside down when I met a refugee from Sudan who ruined my life for the better. 

after college I moved to Thailand because I thought I had a job.

key word: thought. 

turns out when I arrived it all fell through and I was a young 22 year old stuck in Thailand with no friends, no job, and an ounce of courage. 

I had no idea what was happening, but Abba took me on an adventure that spanned the entire country.

after Thailand, I took a year and traveled around the country with Invisible Children, sharing about the conflict in northern uganda. 

when it was all over, i was still madly in love with the work being done in Uganda, but never wanted to eat pizza or brownies again.

After IC,  i saw God answer my dream to work for a non-profit doing incredible holistic development work in East Africa.

I spent the last 4 years working for Empowering Lives International,

coordinating and planning trips for teams and interns to Africa,

and speaking in our local community about a God who cares so deeply about the "whole" person. 

but once I moved back to the US and got a job at ELI,
i began to feel uneasy about living in the suburbs...

like God was saying "Katie, why do you only choose to serve the poor when you go abroad?"

{ouch}

so I prayed that God would displace me, and teach me, and give me an opportunity to experience and build relationships with a diverse community locally in California.

miraculously he led me,

and I moved into an immigrant neighborhood in southern california. 

at first i was fearful of the unknown, but soon my neighbors became my best friends. 

they taught me so much about the power of community, sharing, and bearing each others burdens.
{along with how to make amazing mexican food!}

i saw crime, drugs, and abuse like never before, but I also saw Abba show me the power of HIS redemption, and the incredible working of the Holy Spirit when HIS people pray. 

around the same time

i met this hot man named Kevin, who I fell head over heels for. 

and when he started loving on the kids in our neighborhood, I fell hard. 

together we prayed that our lives would be totally and completely for the Kingdom.

that we would dare, together, to live bravely. 

after an epic proposal,

we married

from the beginning we said we wanted our home to be a place 

of refuge and warmth to all who entered.

the last year and a half of marriage has been an adventure of inviting neighbors over for dinner, game nights, our ghetto attempt at VBS, hosting college students, and lots of laughter!

and traveling the world!
{a few of my humble thoughts on marriage, here}

this past december I quit my job, not sure of what God had for us.
it was as if I felt we were moving into a new season.
and then, as a beautiful miracle,
we were asked to move to Asia to serve at an aftercare home for women rescued out of sex-slavery.
which has been a heart desire of mine for a long time. 

so come April, we are moving. 

we are nervous, and excited, and humbled. 

but we know this is right.

we want to spend our life for the things that matter.

in love. 

with courage. 

Thank you for stopping by. I would love nothing more than to hear your story and meet you! Please don't be shy to say hello! 

much love,

Katie 

"God is asking us to choose between being brave and being safe 

in order to love those who are hurting"

-Gary Haugen