Meet Carolyn Canini

Kevin and I came to Whiteriver in August of 2007 with a small short term mission group to do a work project and lead Kids Club in East Fork. We had been in Whiteriver for approximately 12 hours when I felt this huge tugging inside and I did something crazy that has changed our lives forever. It was Sunday morning and we were sitting in church on the rez, so I wrote a note in a tiny notebook and passed it to Kevin. He looked at me like I had written in another language when he read it:
“I’ve been thinking about staying -- here.”
Later we discussed Kevin’s dream of many years to live in Arizona and the desire in both our hearts to serve God through a ministry like AYM. We started praying, we started dropping hints to Ron, and then God began amazing us as the preparations gradually came together over the course of the last year.
We arrived in Arizona one week ago today and we still have some boxes to unpack, some address changes to make, new schedules to get used to, and a whole lot to learn. One thing we do know is that God is faithful and that we wouldn’t be here without his tugging and without the counsel of the many people in our lives who have shaped us and loved us. Our hearts are full of gratitude for your friendship and care and concern for us.
Another thing we know so far—the air here is fresh and clean and the pine-covered mountains are incredible! The air in the south part of Columbus is not really that fresh and clean, so when I got here and first took a whiff outside our new place I thought I smelled leaking natural gas. Someone told me that was the smell of PINE. Like I said, I have a lot to learn!


(Carolyn graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from Ohio University and completed her Master of Social Work degree from The Ohio State University.)