Throughout my life, I have wandered in and out of the church. Having been born in a family of Christ followers, I was raised in and around the church. My father at one point held a local minister’s license, and my mother was always active in teaching Sunday school classes and leading small group Bible studies. Church was what we did. Even after my parents divorced, my mother ensured we stayed rooted in the church.

Saying “yes” is not always easy, especially when it is in response to something that pulls you out of your comfort zone. As a pastor’s kid who grew up in the church, I can’t remember a specific time when I decided to follow Jesus. As a result, I often felt like my testimony wasn’t big or transformational enough. However, as I drew nearer to God, He began showing me that my story was only just beginning and there was so much in store. But I first had to give up the control that I loved so much and begin saying “yes” to the opportunities He laid before me—even when it was scary.

In just a few short weeks, my husband, Sam, and I will be moving our family to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to serve as the Work & Witness coordinators for the country. While this is our first full-time ministry position, we have always been “missionaries,” and we wholeheartedly believe that if you claim Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you are, too!

My email inbox is full of messages from people offering advice on how to come back from this year of pandemic. It’s been full all year. Some advice is from expert consultants who have been willing to guide me through unprecedented days of leading. Other emails have arrived from well-meaning church members whose hearts are hurting, and they want to be heard, understood, and supported. Some identify with one cultural and political perspective, while others take another perspective. All feel justified, called, prayerful, passionate, and committed. All of them are family—the Body of Christ.

The trip from Toronto, Canada, to San Antonio, Texas, is long. We made this trip when God pressed upon our hearts to pastor Central Church of the Nazarene. Central Church is part of the Texas Oklahoma Latin District (TOLD), one of only three all Hispanic districts in North America. Financially, the district is in the bottom of all North American districts, and when we arrived, Central Church was the most financially unstable of all churches on the district.