Welcome to my reflections on life, faith, travel, and culture!
My name is Janielle, and I am currently serving my mission in Rwanda with my husband Baraka. Read more of our story here. I was born in Kuala Lumpur, where I spent the first 15 years of my life and then moved to Australia with my family. I pursued my degree in music and later on a post-graduate diploma in theology and a masters of music education in Melbourne. Over many days of taking small steps of faith in my home turf – visiting detention centers, befriending Afghan refugee families, using music to build relationships and faith with Sudanese refugee youth groups – I began to put the puzzle pieces together from my own life and realized God was calling me and many others to step out into the fray: to touch people in tough places with music and the sheer embrace of Love.
Before I moved to Rwanda in 2021, I lived in Afghanistan for 3 years, teaching music at the only music institute in the country. A lot of my writings here are from that significant time period in my life. My dad always told me, 'It's not what you do, it's why you do what you do.'
This little whisper has transformed my attitude toward how I want to live my life. Here I am, simply writing to testify of the fact that impossible things have and are happening, not because of how capable I am, but because of what God has started from the beginning of time! I hope my writings inspire others to embark on a journey that takes on not only exciting new adventures, but also an exhilarating spiritual dimension that leads to a discovery of what you and I were made for.
As a musician and music educator, my desire is to use my passion to reach people with the gospel and ministry of reconciliation, especially in conflict-affected places, and simply building relationships with people across cultures, to spread soundwaves of Hope everywhere I go.
