I moved to China at age 27 with the plan return to “real” life after two years. Enter the angelic laugh track. Eighteen wonderful years later—okay definitely sixteen wonderful years and a few that were iffy—I transitioned back to the U.S. Since then, I helped create Velvet Ashes and write books for cross-cultural workers. 

When I went to the field, it was with the best of intentions and far too much information front-end loaded for me to absorb. At that time, the only option was to spend weeks together in California learning about life in China. And you know what, it worked. It really did.

That concentrated approach worked because that was what was available. But today, in response to The Great Commission, we are accessing a fraction of what technology makes available. God has called us to the call of a life time. Yet in the midst of that ordinary, tedious, laundry-filled reality, God still desires for us to grow—spiritually, personally, professionally.

Growth and development are one of the beautiful ways we are made in God’s image. Luke 2:52 (NLT) says, “Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.” Jesus grew in wisdom while doing ordinary things like carpentry and functioning in community—I want to keep growing like that: closer to God, understanding my host culture more deeply, and actually knowing how to lead and love the people around me well.

Welcome to Global Trellis. Welcome to growing—in your faith, your cultural understanding, your team skills—alongside people who get it.

Contact Amy at [email protected]