Hi!  I’m a new ministry associate with IFI, originally from Mansfield, Ohio. On January 3rd, 2023, I completed 19 years living in West Lafayette, Indiana, working with Purdue international students through the Office of International Students and Scholars. It’s been a great privilege and joy to serve international students here, and I look forward to continuing with students at Purdue only in a new capacity and role as a Ministry Leader with IFI.

It’s an exciting new chapter! And I’m eager to get started. But first, a bit about me! It was soon after graduating from Miami University with TESOL certification and Linguistics that I first learned about IFI in Columbus, Ohio. Their mission and vision was attractive to me even then as I did campus and hospitality ministry with international students from Ashland University (then Ashland College) and Ohio Wesleyan University through Grace Fellowship of Mansfield.  A short time later, God led me to Taiwan, where I lived with a Chinese family and taught ESL to students eager to come to America to study. These were very formative years for me. I returned to pursue a Masters in Intercultural Studies at Wheaton College and taught ESL in the City Colleges of Chicago before pursuing international student advising at the University of Houston.

I’ve enjoyed my work with students and especially a Purdue program matching international students with community hosts for friendship, and I’m eager to build on the efforts of others and provide even more opportunities for international students to feel welcomed and a part of the local community through working now with IFI. I count it a tremendous blessing to involve people, especially local churches, in this effort. It is certainly the next step, and I joyfully invite you to come and join me, either through funding, or with boots on the ground, working alongside me and this extraordinary ministry to students.