Background

I was raised in Queens, New York, by a hardworking factory worker who labored tirelessly to provide for my brother and me. We never lacked for food and always had what we needed. Still, I often wish we had experienced more parental presence, something that might have spared my brother and me from a few too many hard lessons along the way. Nonetheless, my mother was bent on making sure that we learned life lessons wherever we could. I remember vividly receiving an allowance of $.25 and greatly rejoicing once it was upped $.10 in middle school. Needless to say, it took forever to get exactly what I wanted. And thus, I learned the lesson of patience... though I can tell you I have not mastered it. I also  attended public school from kindergarten through high school graduation. This is where I learned the language of the streets. Don't look anyone directly in the eyes. Hide your money in your socks. Run when you see everyone else running. Do not show people the gang sign if they are not in the gang. Don't wear red in certain parts of the neighborhood... I digress.  Ultimately I learned the lessons my circumstances demanded.  Resilience, grit, and adaptability were but a few of them.

 

I was a quiet kid. I was attentive to my school work, though my learning disability made learning and getting things done more taxing. I started off high school in general classes, eventually falling behind and being placed in remedial classes my second semester of 9th grade. But that would soon change in 10th grade. During my second year in high school I was in a terrible mental space. I had made a series of questionable decisions and was living a life that did not align with the values I had been taught. That, along with my fear of hell, juxtaposed to my fear of God led me to suicidal ideation. After crying out to God, I asked Him to show up in what I thought was unrealistic but  reasoned that if God was God, then He would. I asked Him to hug me. Only a few moments later my brother would call for me as he walked the dark room, having only the light from the moon to guide him towards me, embraced me with a hug. At that moment, all the fear, guilt and shame I had been carrying, lifted from me. God had shown up. That night would become the catalyst for what would take place just a couple of months later. (To learn more about this story you can watch the video below.)

 

I was also an athlete. I grew up watching my older brother play street ball and I wanted to be just like him. He was my father figure in many ways. And I made him proud by becoming the first female on an all boys basketball team in middle school. I continued to play during my high school years, though I wasn't anything to brag about while on varsity. Basketball provided safe opportunities. I gained so many diverse friendships, learned relationship skills, started understanding leadership.

 

A couple months later, I accidentally walked into an Adventist church and encountered Christ through the Bible. After attending an evangelistic series via satellite with evangelist Doug Batchelor, I chose to be baptized and gave my heart and life to Jesus on December 25th, 1999 through baptism. It changed my life and decisions immediately. I stopped playing basketball games during Sabbath hours, dedicated myself to my school work and started turning down opportunities to party. By the time 10th grade came, I found myself in advanced placement classes. I joined the afterschool Christian club and became a vegetarian. And instead of Friday night partying, I found myself at church members' homes with a yearning to learn more of Christ.

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Eventually I would graduate high school and attend Atlantic Union College in South Lancaster, Massachusetts, and pursue degrees in Theology and Religion. You can read more about that in the section "CALLING"