Rebekah’s Story
- My natural life began just a few decades ago in a small coastal town of northern California called Eureka. My family and I spent a lot of time outdoors. One of my favorite memories is BBQs at the beach. On occasion my parents would spontaneously decide, “why not eat dinner at the beach tonight?” My two older sisters, Sarah & Elizabeth, and I would scramble to collect all the old margarine tubs and buckets we could find (to build the biggest sand castles) as my mom filled the ice chest with food. My dad was always sure to bring a shovel. This meant deep holes in the sand to be covered with driftwood, and viola – the coolest fort around! Some of my other favorite memories are on family camping trips under the gorgeous Redwood trees. As I got older I began to also enjoy the mountains of northern California, usually on my snowboard. My fondness for nature gives me my love of the color green today. Greens of a mucky pond or a hillside of evergreens still take my breath away!
Another part of my childhood was being involved in many activities. All three girls in my family attended the close-knit Arcata Christian School. This brought a lot of adventures in annual Pancake Breakfasts, Jog-A-Thons (which later became “Trash-A-Thons”), and going door-to-door with our Tom Watt suitcase of trinkets to sell. Apart from fundraisers, I enjoyed being a part of the volleyball team and going on class trips. My Mom became a group leader for Camp Fire Inc. and formed two groups of our friends leading us in a variety of crafts and games.
Entering St. Bernard’s High School, I continued to be involved with many service projects. At school, I always enjoyed being a part of various clubs like Interact (Rotary) and helping out at school functions. A lot of my time went to attending and helping out with the youth group at my church. I loved being with my friends as much as possible and even took on the role of co-leading (with one of my girlfriends) the Jr. High youth at church for a year after graduating High School.
After attending College of the Redwoods for two semesters, I entered the year-long Honor Academy at Teen Mania Ministries in east Texas in 1998. It was there that my foundation in Christ flourished, becoming a dynamic relationship with my Creator. Here, my long-time desire for cross-cultural missions increased to the point that I knew it was time to surrender my life to it. So, I searched through many colleges until I found Bethany College of Missions (BCOM) on the Internet. About two months later, I packed my bags and came to Minnesota! BCOM is in a southwestern suburb of Minneapolis and winter was definitely a culture shock for me! Even though I have a hard time when the temperature drops so low your skin hurts just when you step outside, I have loved the beauty of a fresh snow and enjoyed the fun of ice-skating!
My time as a student at Bethany really built on what I had learned in Texas. Passion grew deeper than excitement, as I was challenged in and outside the classroom. A big part of my growth came from the budding prayer room that was being built on campus. Spending time with the Global Prayer department, in worship and prayer events definitely changed me a lot. Still today I am challenged by the call to still in the Lord’s presence and be changed by his character. Today they are expanding and I love being able to take part when I can (Bethany House of Prayer).
Who knew that I would stay in MN longer than my four years? God did, as He increased my desire to join BCOM in a greater capacity while I was on my internship in Spain (my four year program included two semesters abroad during my junior year). While all my classmates were excited to graduate and move on to their next step, my desire to stay was increasing. Then, as I started my senior year, I began to notice a freshman that was from Canada! ♥ Later that year we began dating and were married in April 2004!
As I finished my bachelors degree of Cross-Cultural Studies in 2003, I also joined staff as the assistant to the Director of our Trek & Internship Department. We facilitated Trek, a 3-week trip the freshmen took to experience another culture (we sent out about 7 teams each summer to various countries); and internship, a 9-month stint in another culture (we sent out about 40 students, in pairs, around the world each year). It was an increasing joy to work for the college. I loved my job because I got to work with so many students through our Trek & Internship programs. Since getting married, I have added cooking to my list of hobbies. I have always enjoyed creative arts through sewing, scrapbooking, graphic designing, etc. and I am exploring the family tradition of quilting a lot lately!
During the summer of 2005, I stepped down from my job at BCOM and started our family with our first son, Jakob. After Jason (the love of my life, aka – my husband) and I returned from his internship in Kiev, Ukraine (with Youth With A Mission) in 2007, we returned to Bethany with new rolls. Jason took over the admistrative side of the college serving in many capacities, including being the Registrar, overseeing the Library and much more. I am enjoying volunteering with the students as an Advisor in the Mentoring Program. I help lead a small group of freshman girls and it really is a privilege to be a part of their lives.
We are excited to be a part of the Bethany community and Bethany Church has become an integral part of our lives. It’s fun to see what plans the Lord will unfold for us in the coming years. We love our life!