Life is: Loving God, loving others, travel, music, adventures, books, laughs, tea, animals, compassion.
Passionate about social justice, development, empowering youth & women, social enterprise & fair trade business.
Calvin College student studying International Development and Business-Marketing.
To live is Christ, to die is gain.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
A bit of my journey
I’m Ellie, 19, born and raised in Minnesota. Here’s a bit of my story:
I feel like my journey truly stated my senior year of high school. God started opening my eyes to the reality of injustice in our world and I began learning as much about injustice as I possible could. I ended up leading a World Vision event called the 30 Hour Famine at my high school. The 30 Hour Famine is an event where students fast for 30 hours- to open their eyes to hunger- learn about poverty, pray for the hungry, and raise money to combat hunger. It was an amazing experience and we ended up raising a large amount of money to donate to Mali, Africa.
Every year the 30 Hour Famine takes a group of students overseas to show them how the money they raised is being used to combat hungry. I applied for that trip, and got chosen to go to Burundi, Africa for a week in August of 2011.
That trip turned my knowledge of poverty into a heartbreaking reality. I realized I know I will never be satisfied in life if i’m not fighting on behalf of the poor and serving God. I knew there was no going back from there.
I decided to take a year off from high school before starting college. Starting in the fall of 2011 I interned with World Vision and the 30 Hour Famine. It was a really great opportunity and I loved it. I fell in love with Seattle, and built friendships I know I’ll have for a lifetime.
In January of 2012 I left for Australia to participate in a 5 month long Not For Sale Discipleship Training School with Youth With a Mission. It’s a school that focuses on building character and developing your relationship with God, as well as learning about human trafficking and practically fighting trafficking.
With YWAM I spent 6 weeks in Cambodia, working with organizations that are on the ground working to empower, educated and restore women (and girls) who have been trafficked into the sex industry. It was a really eye-opening experience that I am so thankful for.
The summer of 2012 I’ve been interning with HOPE International, a Christian micro finance organization. They do absolutely amazing work and it has been wonderful to learn more about what they do, and how they are making an impact around the world.
As I head off to school this fall, I’m excited for this next chapter. I’ll be studying International Development and Business at Calvin College in Michgian. I know God has a lot in store for me and I can’t wait to see where He brings me next.
