About Janielle
Hello brave soul, a hearty welcome to my reminiscences on life, faith, travel, and culture!
My name is Janielle, and I'm a wayfarer at heart. I was born in Kuala Lumpur, where I spent the first 15 years of my life and then moved to Melbourne, where I made a new life as a teenager. My time in Australia has opened many doors of creativity, social action, and purpose for me. As I grew into my early twenties, I ventured to countries like Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, India, and the Philippines, on different three-month music and teaching projects which led me to numerous encounters with those I call ‘local heroes’, young people with peace-maker hearts and a desire to think and live differently. I’m based in Kabul, Afghanistan, where I teach at the only music school in the country.
My dad always told me, 'It's not what you do, it's why you do what you do.' Thanks to his musings, I often ask myself why I do the things I do, and travel is no exception. As I searched my heart for a deeper answer to this whole wanderlust affair, I knew that I wanted to do so much more than just travel!
Since 2014, I’ve become more aware of the universal vision of God to touch all nations and all peoples, bringing justice, truth, and hope to lost sons and daughters everywhere. I began to drop every distraction and seek desperately in faith for Him to show me how I could be part of this crazy adventure of reconciliation and destiny in my generation. Over many days of taking small steps of faith in my Melbournian 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.
As a musician and music educator, my desire is to use my passion for cross-cultural collaboration, music education and therapy, writing, photography, empowerment of young women in local communities (especially places of conflict), and simply building relationships with people across cultures, to spread soundwaves of Hope everywhere I go.
Janielle Beh