"I was born on an Air Force base in Mountain Home, Idaho on January 3, 1985 to Mike and Sharri Harris. My younger brother David was born two years later while we lived in England.
"We traveled and moved many times before my father resigned from the Air Force to pursue a call to the ministry. After he graduated from seminary, my family moved to Colorado Springs to plant a church as Mission Service Corps Volunteers with the NAMB. The church started with the four of us in our apartment and eventually grew, meeting the same elementary school where David had gotten in trouble for passing out Bibles during recess. Serving there shaped a lot of my ideas about how a church should function, and my father's preaching and both my parents' instruction grew me in my faith prepared me to defend my beliefs and biblical worldview.
"I graduated from high school in Colorado Springs and then attended Oklahoma Baptist University, which I loved. It was there that I learned that it was possible to use art in missions. After a year, I transferred to Baylor University and graduated in May, 2007 with a degree in studio art with a concentration in graphic design and a minor in photojournalism.
"After graduating, I served as an intern at a church in New York City as their graphic designer and a missions volunteer coordinator. After that, I moved back to Waco, Texas to work for Columbus Ave. in the youth and college departments.
"I started to feel a call to international missions at a young age. I have also had a life-long draw to produce art (mostly painting and photography), the purpose of which I have struggled to understand, in view of my missionary calling. I am so excited about my opportunity to serve as Creative Arts Engager, in part because I feel like I am getting a glimpse of why God created me the way that he did. I am eager to follow God's will and spread His message of salvation."
