Contributors
Hi!
[insert a Mama hug]
We’re so ecstatic you’re here. We imagine you clicked here, because you want to know a bit more of who we are–the voices who gather + carry + ponder + listen + thread + tell stories + speak our hearts + take action + give our words + desire to Love.
Idelette McVicker, Founding Editor
Translation: I’m the girl at the front door who gets to give you a hug when you come in.
I’m Idelette (pronounced Ee-de-lette) and I like soggy cereal. I would like to go to every dot on the earth to meet our world’s women.
I dream of a planet where no women or girls are for sale. I also dream of a world where women and men are partners in doing the work that brings down a new Heaven on earth. I believe it’s possible.
My word for the year is “Roar,” but I have learned it’s not about my voice rising as much as it is about our collective voices rising in unison to bring down walls of injustice.
I have three children (7, 6 and 4) and SheLoves is my fourth baby. I am African, although my skin colour doesn’t tell you that story. I am also a little bit Chinese, because my heart lives there amongst the tall skyscrapers of Taipei and the mountains of Chiufen. My favorite quote is the Chinese proverb: When sleeping women wake, mountains move.
I believe in kindness and calling out the song in each other’s hearts. I also believe that Love can cover so much–my gaps, my mistakes and the distances between us. Here’s a piece that expresses some of that: Let Us Be Women Who Love.
I live in Vancouver, Canada and I pledged my heart to Scott 11 years ago.
Give me some sweet chai and I’m in heaven.
Tina Francis, Weekly Columnist: Tina’s Glee-Inducing Fridays (TGIF)
My name is Tina. Loved ones call me: Teen.
Words are my chocolate. Music, my caramel. Photography, my bread. Girlfriends, my butter.
Confession: Some girls dream about Manolo Blahniks or their next Hermes bag. Not me. I dream of freshly baked bread, perfectly barbecued meat & steaming bowls of Pho. My dream lover *cue Mariah Carey song* is someone who would read out a menu to me in Barry White’s baritone voice.
I celebrate food, ask for help, interrupt conversations, laugh and cry hard, acknowledge the elephant in most rooms, fight for the underdog and believe in the power of storytelling.
My word for the year is “leap.” If something scares me, I do it.
I was born and raised in Dubai and currently live in the beautiful city of Vancouver, known for some of the best sushi in the world.
Kelley Johnson-Nikondeha, Editorial & Columnist: ShePonders
Kelley Johnson Nikondeha is co-director of Amahoro Africa and international staff member of Community of Faith with her husband Claude. She’s a thinker, connector, advocate, avid reader and mother of two beautiful children. Kelley lives between Arizona and Burundi. She loves handwritten letters, homemade pesto and anything written by Walter Brueggemann.
Helen Burns, SheLoves Mama & Monthly Contributor
Helen Burns and her husband, John, speak around the world on the topic of relationships. They host the popular TV show “Relate with John and Helen.” For years Helen has tended the hearts and spirits of women through LifeWomen at Relate Church. That’s the beautiful soil SheLoves magazine is planted in.
Vera Raposo, Technical Whizz & Contributor
Vera Raposo is involved with the marketing & technical side of She Loves Magazine. She has been an entrepreneur since 1996 which included owning five retail stores. Recently God told her to “clear her plate and open her heart.” So she sold her business and is now listening for God’s heart in her life. Vera was born and raised in beautiful British Columbia. She’s a wife & mom to three wonderful kids. She often blogs at VeraRaposo.com & tweets from @veraraposo.
Njoki Mbui, Contributor & Marketing Mama
My name is Njoki. I was born and raised in Kenya. My family immigrated to Canada 13 years ago. If asked to introduce myself, I would say: I am a daughter, sister, niece and friend … my family defines who I am. We love to love, cook, eat and laugh-out-loud. The happiest days are spent hanging out with my family and close friends. I am a pediatric nurse, driven and passionate about issues affecting women and children.
Winnie Lui, Editorial & Monthly Contributor
The wave of Asian immigration in the 1990s brought Winnie to Canada on a little red-mast junk. To fulfill her family’s dream of running a business in Hong Kong and giving the children a Western education, Winnie’s father commuted home to Canada during Christmas and Chinese New Year, and Winnie herself spent her childhood between the two continents and among many different schools and neighbourhoods. Her growing up experience has become a mosaic of cultures, languages, and perspectives.
Trisha Baptie, Columnist: Getting Real with Trisha
Trisha Baptie is Executive Director of Honour Consulting and founding member of EVE (formerly Exploited Voices now Educating). In 2008 she won BC’s Courage to Come Back Award for her bravery in transitioning to a healthier lifestyle, for giving the murdered women of Vancouver a voice through her trial coverage of Vancouver’s serial killer and for her ongoing activism. Follow Trisha’s tweets at @trisha_baptie or friend her on facebook. She recently founded EVE (formerly Exploited Voices Now Educating.)
Kathy Escobar, Monthly Columnist: Down We Go
Kathy Escobar co-pastors The Refuge, an eclectic faith community in North Denver dedicated to those on the margins of life and faith. She blogs regularly about life and faith at www.kathyescobar.com and just released a new book called, Down We Go–Living out the Wild Ways of Jesus in Action. She lives in Arvada, Colorado with her husband, Jose, and five kids.
Danielle Strickland, Monthly Contributor
Danielle serves Jesus as the Corps Officer of Crossroads Community in Edmonton, Canada. Her passion is social justice, including establishing human trafficking response teams in local situations and giving leadership to the global team for the Stop The Traffikcampaign. Danielle speaks and teaches around the world and has written several books: Just Imagine: the social justice agenda,Challenging Evil, and newly released this year, The Liberating Truth: How Jesus Empowers Women. Danielle is married and has two sons.
Sarah Bessey, Monthly Columnist
Sarah Bessey lives in Abbotsford, BC with her husband and two (nearly three) tinies. She’s a happy clappy Jesus-lover, non-profit marketing director, blogger and simple living/social justice wannabe. She blogs at www.emergingmummy.com and is on Twitter @emergingmummy.
Stephanie Motz Skinner, Monthly Contributor
Stephanie is a humanitarian and portrait photographer for fakeleft.com where she shares stories of hope and dignity. She blogs at fakeleft.com/blog and tweets at @stephmotz
Angela Doell, Monthly Contributor
Angela is a lover and a fighter. She and her husband Rod have been married for 17 years and they have two beautiful children, Madison (15) and Miller (11). Angela works with the creative & media teams at Relate Church in Surrey, BC where she oversees graphic design, art direction and marketing. She loves finding beauty in everyday life and is passionate about communicating hope and the reality of a living Jesus through media and design.
Christina Crook, Monthly Contributor: Seeking Eve
Christina recently traded the seaside views of Bowen Island, BC for the banks of Toronto’s Humber River where she, her husband and two young children attend Grace Toronto Church. Her work has appeared in MUSE and Vancouver magazine, and is forthcoming in UPPERCASE, Geez and the Literary Review of Canada. She is the founder of SeekingEve.ca and blogs at www.christinacrook.com.
Destiny Loeve, SheReads Monthly Columnist
Destiny Loeve treasures most her roles as wife to one daring husband & mommy to three sunshiny children. She loves to see things grow in her garden, read great books, hang out at her church, meet all kinds of people & sit in her living room with friends. When not on maternity leave, she works as a pediatric nurse, and finds as many opportunities to volunteer in the community as possible.
Stefanie Thomas, Monthly Contributor
Stefanie is a Registered Clinical Counsellor living in Vancouver, BC. She feels blessed to work in a helping profession and is grateful that her work requires her to show up not in a power suit but with listening ears and a compassionate heart. Stefanie enjoys spending time with family and friends and has never met a kid or baby she doesn’t like. She is a noticer and appreciator of birds (chickadees, herons, eagles) and many a beach rock has come home in her pocket. Stefanie is a lover of music, tv and movies, and she is gifted at absorbing and retaining useless pop culture trivia. She loves walking, fresh air, the smell of dirt, and anything of the salt and vinegar persuasion. She can often be found puttering.
Musu Taylor-Lewis, Monthly Contributor
My life is lived out of the calling “to advance Christ-centred work.” I am currently Director of Marketing and Development at Mercy Ministries, working to get the word out about the life-transforming work that takes place here. Prior to my work at Mercy, I directed a Crisis Pregnancy Centre, studied Christianity and Culture at Regent College and co-led women’s programs at my local church. I have four great children and am married to Steven, a gift to me from the Creator.
Ashley Mandanici, Monthly Contributor
My name is Ashley and I am the Children’s Ministry Coordinator at Relate Church in Surrey, B.C. My mission is to develop the God-given potential in every child who crosses my path *Insert Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All” here*. I love all things jazzy, particularly music, and I tend to break into song throughout the day for no apparent reason. I blog here and tweet @AshleyMandanici
Stacy Wiebe, Monthly Contributor
Stacy Wiebe likes biriyani, books and things that grow. She’s lived in Chennai, India for the past three years, writing and speaking with WOW and other non-profits.
Christi Walter, Monthly Contributor
Christi has a Communications degree from Trinity Western University. She loves stories and feels privileged to have heard some truly incredible ones while interning at Childcare Canada. Christi hopes to figure out how she can best use her gifts to impact the world around her. Her greatest passions are writing and travel. Over the next few months she’ll be in Australia where she’ll hopefully do plenty of both.
Amy Englemark, Monthly Contributor
I am currently studying at the International Coach Academy to become a professional certified coach. I could spend 90% of my life outside. I love hiking, mountain biking, travelling and any sort of adventure. I like to jump from the highest rock into the deepest water. I like to shout for joy.
Ali Valdez, Monthly Contributor
My name is Ali Valdez and I live between Seattle and Houston. I am a Christian yoga instructor, academic and writer, and devote most of my time in servitude to my students, who are yoga teachers or studio owners developing yoga communities in their cities and towns. I have also worked and led Kindergarten and small groups at my church. I love religion, philosophy and man’s inquiry on all things of higher order. I have devoted my life to study and am versed in the metaphysical, philosophical and topics of comparative religion. Practically, I love wellness, nutrition, the gross and subtle energy bodies, healing, alternative medicine, fitness, exercise, and healthful levels on many levels. I have done crazy things like marathons, sky-diving and state-of-the-art spa treatments. I look forward to connecting with you all and sharing whatever insights I may have that serve you in your aspirations. For fun, I travel the world, host retreats globally, read and write on my blog, the Gadabout. I also party with my Bun, a little five-year-old named Mathilde. You can learn more about what I do at sattvayogaonline.com
Sabrina Connell, Monthly Contributor
An artist-turned-academic, Sabrina spends her days navigating between a wide variety of roles including that of mother, wife, graduate student, researcher and daydreamer. She is currently a doctoral student in the Communication Studies program at Northwestern University where she researches the various ways in which children and parents engage media and technology and the potential effects these interactions might have on the development of children. Prior to her time at Northwestern, Sabrina earned a Master’s degree in child development from Tufts University, as well as a Master of Arts in puppetry from the University of Connecticut. She has a passion for all things involving play, whimsy and the art of nurturing. She tweets at @sabrinaconnell.
Kisa MacDonald, Monthly Contributor
Kisa completed her law degree earlier this year and is currently finishing her articling year at a non-profit that focuses on law reform, legal research and outreach. She grew up on Vancouver Island but has lived all over: North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. In this next season of life, she hopes to see creative community and access to justice established in Vancouver. She tweets at @kisamac.
Daniela Schwartz, Contributor
Daniela is stepping into the role of stay-at-home mom. She loves Jesus, her husband and kids and jumps feet first into opportunities to serve in her community. Daniela lives by this statement, “Preach the gospel always, use words when necessary.” She loves to live life big and laughs a lot. She blogs with her twin sister Trinity at Lime in the coconuts.
Claire De Boer, Contributor
Born and raised in the UK, Claire De Boer is a writer, woman of God, mother and wife. She is currently working on her first women’s fiction novel and a collection of short stories. Claire is a graduate of The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University. She blogs at ClaireJdeBoer.com and tweets @britchic19.
Katherine Folkers, Contributor
Wife, mother of two little ones, business owner, entrepreneur, actor/writer/director, filmmaker. I like to keep myself busy taking care of my family and chasing my dreams! I am passionate about encouraging others to follow their dreams and giving a voice to those who have no voice. Always ready for a fight, I love to take on new battles that seek justice while secretly dreaming about being Wonderwoman. Often quiet around those I’m getting to know, you’ll find me blunt and honest, outspoken and goofy with my besties.
My taste in film and music is likened to that of a 60-80 yr old. I’ll be watching psychological thrillers, period films, indie flix and listening to jazz, motown, opera etc.
I love education, constantly learning and sharing what I have learned.
In the mornings you’ll find me grumpy and crawling for my soy, hazelnut latte. At night you’ll find me energized and hammering away on the computer or getting into a good TV show with my hubby, who, might I add, is an incredible supporter of my career and of fighting for women’s issues (which I do on a daily basis). You can find my website over here and I tweet @KatherineSHill.
Shelagh Hardern, Contributor
I live my life at something close to ludicrous speed. I am currently serving as the Children’s Ministry Director for World Harvest Church, I work two jobs and have a renovation business with my good friend. I’m busy all the time, doing things I love, with people I love for the God I love. It is a full and abundant life that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
Shirley Eu, Contributor
Inquisitive quidnunc (without the gossip), voracious learner, atypical culture vulture, impulsive linguist, simplicity-addict, people-watcher, friend-collector, food-experimentalist. I have a bio. It’s somewhere.
Michelle Hamman, Contributor
Michelle Hamman is the owner of MotherTongues.com and loves traveling and exploring with her husband and two beautiful girls. During their sabbatical last year, they lived in 3 different countries, took way too many photos, didn’t do enough homeschooling, and don’t regret any of it. Between travels, she lives with her family in Holland, Michigan.
Carey Denman, Contributor
Carey Denman is a mama to four young children, a determined laundress and an avid thrifter. She lives on a small acreage in South Dakota, where she tends a flock of chickens and a sprawling garden. When she isn’t wrangling children or chasing dust bunnies, she teaches college English. She also works part-time as a writer for the American Center for Credit Education, a non-profit organization that creates encouraging, easy-to-understand financial education materials.
Michelle Miller, Contributor
Michelle Miller is Executive Director of REED (Resist Exploitation, Embrace Dignity). Founded in May 2005, REED stands against trafficking and sexual exploitation through outreach, advocacy and education.
Natasha Files, Contributor
Natasha is one smart girl who has walked the path she talks. Officially, here’s what she does: Natasha Files is Case Manager with a Mental Health and Addictions Team. She has experience working with youth and adults struggling with a variety of life-controlling issues and she specializes in eating disorders. Natasha’s passion for mental wellness began when she personally experienced the impact of a genuinely caring professional. That passion is paired with a love of espresso, only to be overshadowed by her desire to see women set free from life-controlling issues.
Jackie Tan, Contributor
Jackie is part of the Innovation and Strategies team of Campus for Christ, an organization that helps university students discover Jesus. She loves the works of John Milton and graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BA Honours in English Literature and Geography. She lives in the metrospiritual city of Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband and two spunky boys.
Frances Stone, Contributor
Frances Stone is a single mother of three loved and chosen children. She is the author of A Reflection of Love, her her self-published memoir of how she came to believe in Jesus Christ. She is a a reader, writer and a perpetual student of love.
Romel Saplaco, WordPress & Design
A special shout out to Rom, who loves drumming, writes daily devotions and is our WordPress whizz. We definitely couldn’t do this without Rom. Check out his designs.
The tent is large … Do you have a story you’d like to share? Email us at shelovesmagazine (@) gmail.com
