Laura (Everett) Goge

When I was very young, the Lord captured my heart and slowly began to grow me in relationship with him. Attending a public school, I had friends from many different family backgrounds, some stable and some struggling, some followers of Jesus and some not. I quickly realized that faith in Christ was not the norm and that their stereotype of Christians was not always positive. I appreciate God’s growth in me as my parents modeled a love that embraces, and I learned to reach out to people who were deemed unpopular. This passion for the vulnerable grew through working at day camps for youth from disadvantaged backgrounds and special needs. 

I graduated from Whitworth University, BA in music ministry, and worked for two years at Lake Stevens Middle School as a para-educator. Once again, the Lord placed youth from disadvantaged or unstable family backgrounds on my heart. Through a series of events and prayer, the Lord directed me to overseas ministry through SIM. There was need for youth workers at Lily of the Valley Children’s Village in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. After SIM training and raising up a team of prayer and financial support warriors, I moved to SA. From 2015-2021, I served as Volunteer Coordinator and Youth Worker at Lily, leading Bible Studies, worship music ministry, life skills, leadership training, homework tutoring, and activity coordination. I’m now in a different role under SIM South Africa as the Sustainable Youth Ministry Designer. Youth make up a very large portion of South Africa population. So, in partnership with local churches and NGOs, we are building a team that is researching ways of ministering to youth. The aim is to design ministry models and train churches in the most effective ways to reach and disciples their young people.