LeAnna’s Story

I’ve known since I was a child about my call to the nations. During my childhood, my mom had dreams that I’d just open the door and walk out on my own. She told me as a young teenager that God prepared her to let me go. A month long trip to Ukraine marked my life as a 14 year old traveling without my parents. Two subsequent trips there during high school as well as a ministry tour with my church whet my appetite. I wanted to be the next Mother Teresa & spend my life in the dirt, loving the people God brought me.

I left home at age 17 in pursuit of this dream. However, what I found was unexpected. I returned home with a heart full of concern for the state of overseas missionaries instead of just those they served. I asked the Lord to someday use me to impact not only the Nations, but the missionaries that gave up everything to spread the Gospel.

Throughout my twenties, God gave me increasing favor in the business world and I served faithfully in church. The dreams I had of impacting the world were far on the back burner, thinking something would have to dramatically change for me to be able to impact the world like I’d envisioned. My character was forged in the fire of adversity and God burned things into and out of me as He prepared me for the work He’s laid out.

2019 was one of the most challenging years of my life as I fled from an abusive husband, afraid for my life. In the months that followed, I surrendered everything I had and began to desperately seek the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit met me. God began to speak more clearly to me than ever before in this season. In 2020, I was miserably alone and cried out in complaint to God to leave Portland, Oregon and live back near my parents. Holy Spirit replied, “I’m not done with you in Portland.” Frustrated but trusting, I said, “Ok, but you’ve got to make it good, because I hate being so alone.” The rest of 2020 became the best year of my life as God propelled me into full time evangelism and discipleship. He supernaturally introduced into a network of churches where people were hungry for more.

In 2021, God brought me back into the workforce as an executive where I was able to put lessons He’d been teaching me into practice. I anticipated this business-as-primary season to continue, but instead He had an unexpected plot twist! September 2021 marked the beginning of an acceleration in the ministry world. I went to Brazil with Global Awakening (founded by Randy Clark) and God moved on me in a way I’d never experienced before. After that trip, nothing was the same. Holy Spirit led me on some type of trip nearly every month following where I would connect with people of influence, encouraging them, praying for them, and sharing the good news of the Kingdom of God.

During this season, the Lord also gave me an increase in visions for my life – from a series of Kingdom Business Dinners to a massive outdoor event in Africa where I was preaching, I was beginning to imagine how my life could be used simultaneously for multiple things. My heart for equipping, building, discipling, evangelizing, teaching, shepherding – He could use all components of my heart at once!

Unexpectedly in August 2022, God brought me on a road trip to Orlando, FL, where I became a student in Christ for All Nations Bootcamp program. Here they trained me to become a crusade evangelist, being equipped to effectively share the good news of Jesus with multitudes. I saw my vision of preaching in Africa fulfilled! 

Looking to the future, I am eager to continue to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance as I “go into all the world” at His command. Energized by the miracles I’ve seen Him do, all I can ask is for, “More, Lord!”