A leap of faith

By the time Abby Warren graduated from Dexter High School in 2010, she'd left her mark on that institution in a number of ways. Her achievements in the areas of scholastics, as well as community and school involvement, were numerous, but she is perhaps best remembered for her accomplishments as an ace player for the Dexter High School Lady Cats. In that role, she claimed All-Region, All-District and All-Conference selections and earned the Missouri High School Athletics Association's Sportsmanship award her senior year. It was that excellence on the basketball court that has brought Warren full circle on a "mission" of faith.

Abby Warren is a product of a family deep in faith. Her father is Phil Warren, a minister from Dexter who along with his wife, Cindy -- a former elementary teacher in Dexter -- are currently ministering in Saipan on a two-year commitment. When they left for Saipan, they left Abby in college in the states.

Given her rearing in the church and as part of a blended family that came together very much in the atmosphere of Christianity, Abby set out for college with -- she thought -- the world by the tail. That world, though, offered some unfavorable opportunities.

"I thought that I had a strong faith in God, but my first two years of college were rough. I made a lot of poor decisions that weren't God honoring. I wasn't bringing Him glory, and I was enjoying living a life that the world said would be fun."

Her world came crashing down in the winter of her second year in college.

"God broke me down," she recalls. "I was crying out to Him because I hated who I had become. I asked for Him to send me somewhere where I could grow in Him."

Abby found the answer to her prayers when she was accepted to John Brown University, a private interdenominational, Christian liberal arts college in Siloam Springs, Ark.

Warren says that move served as the best decision she had ever made.

As a member of the college basketball team, Abby had the opportunity to take part in a mission trip to the Philippines, where her team put on a clinic for young girls, including many who lived in a residence called the JAZ, an acronym for Josie's Angel Zone.

"Girls who live there were sent there by their parents in order to keep them safe," Abby explains. "The home is a refuge from a life of mental, emotional and physical abuse."

The team from John Brown University also conducted "feedings" in several impoverished areas of the Philippines.

"That part of the mission was extremely sad," she recalls."There were people living in filth in little wooden shacks and cardboard boxes on a dirt road. There must have been thousands of them."

"The children would come out of their shacks holding little bowls or measuring cups and in one case a plastic bag full of holes. It broke my heart. It was an experience I'll never forget."

Warren says that after that mission trip, her eyes were open to the world around her. She admits that when her parents left for Saipan while she was still a college student, she was bitter.

"Instead of being bitter at my parents, I found myself thankful for their obedience to God and soon apologized for my awful attitude. When she first realized her call to teach and work in Manila, she says she ran from the thought.

"I first thought there was no way I could ever do that," she recalls. "But it's crazy how God changed my heart, and I'm going to Manila to be a missionary!"

Warren will be teaching physical education at an international school for missionary children called Faith Academy, a K-12 school with over 20 nationalities represented. It has been her task in recent months to raise $58,000 by July, and that goal was met recently through donations from friends, family, and church congregations to which she presented her plight.

"There is nothing better than aligning your will with God's and being obedient to His call. I am so thankful for this opportunity."

Editor's note: Abby Warren left the states on July 10, headed for Manila for her two-year commitment with Faith Academy. She may be reached via email at a_warren1991@hotmail.com.