I graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree in history, English, and a certificate in African American Studies.  A perfect course of study for a missionary or to play a lot of Trivial Pursuit.

I love reading and am especially fond of historical fiction along the lines of Jane Austen and L. M. Montgomery. 

I have three brothers and one sister which has lead to my having 7 nieces and nephews!  I love being an aunt!  

I also really enjoy watching sports with Andy.  He knows so much more about them than I do and doesn't make fun of me about my ignorance.

I'm so excited to be a mom as we are expecting our first child in September!

Amy's Story 

 I grew up in the small town of Albion, Michigan as the youngest of three children.  My parent’s raised us going to Sunday school and church every week and as a result, like Andy, I never had to question whether or not God was real.  I decided to that I wanted to follow Jesus when I was somewhere around 8 years old.  From that time on I tried to be the best Christian I could… but I often felt like I was failing.  I had little understanding that my relationship with Christ had less to do with me being good and everything to do with His excellent work on the cross.   I often experienced frustration with my own inconsistency.

After graduating from high school, I attended college at the University of Detroit Mercy from 1997 to 2001.  While at school, I started to attend a Bible study with Campus Crusade for Christ and was introduced to the idea of “the ministry of the Holy Spirit.”  I came to understand that I was empowered to live the Christian life by the Holy Spirit who lives inside of me and that I didn’t have to do it on my own.  I felt incredible freedom!

As a child I’d always be particularly concerned with racism and social inequalities, but I became even more concerned with poverty and what the Bible has to say concerning the poor.  As a student, I was able to be a part of a short-term missions trip called Summer In The City in Chicago through Here's Life Inner City (the urban ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ).  God used that summer to increase my concern for the needs of the poor and of children in the city, especially those I saw around me in Detroit.  That summer in Chicago I was able to work with a number of different churches and ministries to serve them as they served people in their community.  After graduating, I knew that I wanted to continue invest my life in Detroit serving churches as they ministered to the poor.

 A few months after graduation in May of 2001, I joined the staff of Here’s Life Inner City in Detroit where I served for 6 years.  I was the coordinator for short-term missions projects, which allowed me to meet and train college students from around the country as they served with us in Detroit.  I also worked with the junior high youth group at my church.

In the spring of 2006, Andy and I started dating and it quickly became apparent that we would spend our lives together.  On March 31, 2007 we were married and I moved to Chicago to join Andy in ministry here.  It’s good to be back in Chicago where I first feel in love with ministering and I’m excited to jump in to ministry with our team here!  I miss my friends and family in Detroit, but I also love my team, home, and neighborhood here in Chicago.