My Story

I grew up going to Glen Ellyn Bible Church my entire life. When I was a freshman in High School, my mom, sister, and I went on a families mission trip to Bogotá, Colombia. On this trip we taught colors, animals, and body parts to children in different private schools around the city. We also spent a day at El Camino Academy (ECA), a private Christian school where Beth Afanador, a missionary from my home church serves. When all was said and done I had completely fallen in love with the country of Colombia. I loved everything from the chaos of the city to the street graffiti to the smell of the eucalyptus trees. God truly laid a passion for this country upon my heart and used Viviana Afanador (Beth's daughter) to bring up the idea of teaching at El Camino one day. From that point on I was hooked...

I spent the next 7 years pursuing Colombia! I returned to Colombia for the 2nd time in November of 2008 with an evangelist and his team. We traveled around Colombia hosting festivals and sharing the good news with Colombians. Then, in August of 2009 and in May of 2012 I ventured to Colombia on my own to spend time serving at El Camino Academy. On these trips, I had the opportunity to assist in 1st, 5th, 6th, and 8th grade classrooms in order to really get an idea of what a school day was like at ECA. This trips really cemented my love for Colombia and reaffirmed the feeling that God wanted me there.

Back up a few years to when I was deciding where I wanted to go to college. I chose to attend Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, Iowa. I wanted to go to a christian college where I could earn my elementary education degree. I found that Emmaus was the best fit because it is relatively inexpensive for a private college and I wanted to keep my expenses down in order to be able to go on the missions field to Colombia. While at Emmaus, I had the amazing opportunity to actually go and student teach at ECA! I student taught in kindergarten for 3 months and again, God confirmed that that was where He wanted me. I ended up graduating from Emmaus in May of 2014 with a bachelor's in Elementary Education and a bachelor's in Biblical Studies.

So here I am today... a 4th grade teacher at El Camino Academy in Bogotá, Colombia trying to follow the Lord in order to be His hands and feet to my students, co-workers, and anyone else I encounter in Colombia.