About Rachel

I am grateful that I grew up in a Christian household and that from a young age, my parents helped shepherd my faith and teach me about Jesus. I became a Christian in elementary school and was active in our church. As a young girl, God placed in me a clear desire to work with people with disabilities. I was drawn to spend time with them and I learned so much about God's compassion, joy, and love from this population. I chose to study Special Education in college and proceeded to become a Special Ed teacher at a public middle school for the next ten years. During this time, I interacted with so many families experiencing disability who had really hard stories about finding belonging and community. Many shared that attending church felt out of reach for their family. This is something that has been heavy on my heart for many years.

In my early adult years, I experienced a lot of challenges in relationships and with my health. In His lovingkindness, God had prepared me for this time period. I was able to lean on His scriptures and teachings that I had heard my whole life and continued to grow in my faith. Learning to trust Him in the midst of the chaos and challenges allowed me to tangibly understand that He loves me unconditionally. Through these situations, I leaned heavily on Him and He provided an incredible community of friends to walk through these hardships with me. 

Through the Lord's perfect timing, I met my husband, Rene, in 2021. We served together at a camp called Hope Heals while we were dating. This camp's focus is to provide gospel-centered respite and resources for families impacted by disability. After watching how well Rene loved everyone that he interacted with that week, I knew he was the one for me. We married the following year, moved to Plano, and then began attending Citizens Church in the fall of 2022. In 2024, we got involved in helping start up the ABLE Students class at Citizens. This became the highlight of our week. It has been such a gift and blessing to learn about the Bible with these incredible students and having the opportunity to disciple them. My own faith has grown exponentially just by spending time with these Image Bearers.

My Hope for Citizens Church

My hope for Citizens is that our church family will continue to find ways to make sure that everyone who enters our church feels seen, cared for, and loved. The world of disability can feel isolating and lonely for the individual, caregiver, and siblings alike. My prayer is that every family that is impacted by our ABLE ministry feels completely loved, known, and supported. Every individual has been created in the image of God and He has given each of us gifts. I am so excited for our ABLE kids and students to discover their God-given gifts and be an integral part of our church body.