“So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free indeed.”
– John 8:36 (CSB)
Hi, welcome to my blog! I’m Ella, a girl finding her freedom in Christ and longing to share that good news of freedom with the world. Especially to those in bondage and facing persecution around the globe.
Here you’ll find content exploring what it means to live life at the intersection of faith and freedom.
Will you join me on the journey?
What is the Purpose of Faith and Freedom?
I don’t have a grand “coming to Christ” story. I’m one of those people that was “raised Christian” and accepted Christ at a young age.
Although I accepted Christ as Lord and Savior of my life a long time ago, I’ve never fully lived under the grace and freedom He bought for me.
My faith felt stagnant for a period of time until I came to a point of complete desperation where I needed to know God’s love for me was real and that He truly had a reason for me to be here on earth. Since that point, it’s been a journey for me to have a more intimate relationship with Him. I’ve always struggled with a sense of worth and value, and as I’m now an adult in her late 20s, the impact of my negative self-perception has only grown.
The past few years have been a long season of taking God at His Word, believing that what He says about me and how He feels about me is true, regardless of how I feel about myself.
Every day is opportunity for me to be reminded that God loves me and He sees me as righteous in Christ.
I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who struggles in their Christian walk to believe that God truly loves them and that they are free to be who they are in Christ.
So, I wanted to create a blog to share not only my journey of living out my freedom in Christ, but also to bring hope and encouragement to your life as well.
I sincerely hope that what you find here will inspire you and renew your walk with Christ. I hope that you feel seen and understood, that you will come to know you can walk in the freedom Christ died to give you.
I hope you stick around and are able to find some useful content here that blesses you and perhaps brings you a word of encouragement.
Peace and blessings,
-Ella
Why I’m Pursing a Master’s Degree in Humanitarian Action and Human Rights
If you’re coming here from my humanitarian action and human rights series introductory post, here’s my long backstory that you didn’t ask for, but in case you were curious as to how I chose to pursue this degree.
Several years ago, I fell hard, I mean HARD, into K-Pop (thanks BTS) and soon after, K-Dramas. I still am, however my love for Korea – the language, culture, and the people – has become of great interest and importance in my life.
Naturally, when delving into anything and everything Korean, you come to learn about the atrocities and human rights violations occurring in North Korea.
I felt for these people and the circumstances of life in the Hermit Kingdom and thought it would be amazing to be able to work for a missions-related group or somehow participate in a mission trip that had focused efforts on North Korean people.
But at the time it had not registered to me that I could ever work for an organization or entity that helped bring justice to those oppressed by the Kim Regime. Until earlier this year (2023), as I was exploring the idea of going into an international relations or global studies field, I stumbled across a degree that focused on humanitarian action and human rights.
And all of a sudden a small little match fell in front of me that had the possibility of becoming a huge forest fire in my life.
Now, one thing you should know about me is that I’m VERY much a homebody. So the idea of helping people that are literally half a world away from me in a closed, repressive, dangerous region seemed so completely laughable to me that I doubted whether or not I was just starting to grasp at straws in my desperate attempt to find a purpose in life.
But, you can’t know if you’re right unless you’re willing to step out and try out. I took a chance on stepping out and submitted an application for the degree, fully telling God to close the door and not have them admit me if it was not what He wanted me to do.
To my surprise, the process of admission and getting to the starting date of my first semester has been the smoothest process of starting anything I’ve ever tried. I’ve attended two different colleges throughout my undergrad career and while they weren’t particularly difficult, they weren’t exactly smooth sailing and anxiety-free either.
But with this new pursuit, while I still question whether I’m crazy for trying something completely out of my comfort zone, I keep being reminding in my spirit that it either works or it doesn’t. And what God wills, He’ll see through to completion. Not that God’s plans for us are always easy, straight paths, and I could be wrong in what I feel Him leading me in, but as long as He opens doors, I’ll keep trying to walk through them.
Currently, I feel a great pull toward working for an NGO or Christian organization that works toward helping North Korean defectors or serving the people of North Korea in some way.
Whether I can help at the law and policy level in relation to North Korean humanitarian efforts, or directly help with getting defectors to safety, or help minister to their needs after they’ve been brought to a safe place, I hope that God will allow me to be used to bring His glory and love to a people that I’ve never met, but already take up a large part of my heart.
The Internet and Their Cats
Cats make up the substance of the Internet and run basically all things. So in the interest of full disclosure, I do have a cat. He’s cute, spoiled rotten, lives a thousand different lives in my imagination, and is the CEO of the household.