The Backstory

Back in the summer of ’81, I was born, in about 7 minutes, in the Original Washington, in North Carolina. You should totally visit. I grew up there, and then followed the very important family tradition of attending East Carolina University. Go Pirates, ARGGGGGHHHHHH! I started really following Jesus there, and began delving into the delight which is World Missions shortly after, which brought me to Mexico, a couple places in Africa, and eventually, Scotland. You should totally visit.

From there, it’s a story you’ve heard thousands of times before. After finishing a couple of degrees at ECU, I moved to Scotland in 2005 to be part of a team planting a church in Edinburgh. I also studied for a Masters in Theology at the University of Edinburgh. Whilst there, I met my super South African husband, Mark. We started dating a year later, and got engaged on a game reserve in South Africa after a few months. We married in my hometown in 2007.  We now have, (born in Scotland) perhaps the whitest African-American you’ll ever meet, whom we affectionately refer to as The Bear.

After four years of ministry in Edinburgh (11 years in the UK for Mark) we began praying about our next steps, and felt like South Africa was our next destination. When we felt this was the right move, we raced some friends who made the journey a bit more arduous by driving home from Scotland. (Seriously, check this is out!) They beat us by about a week. We had a few things to take care of first! At present, we’ve just arrived in Cape Town (well more specifically, Gordon’s Bay) and we’re getting our lives set up, and ready to get started with ministry!

So, this the wee Collie clan, our little white African-American in tow.

There ya go. For the rest of the story (as it unfolds) and some extra thoughts thrown in free of charge, you’ll have to head back to the home page. You can read more about our ministry here. Thanks for reading. I love feedback, I hope you’re encouraged and I hope you enjoy! If you would like my opinion about something, would like me to write about something, or even if you think I should just hush, as the Scots say, gies a shout!

If you would like to contact me, you can email me at cedcollie@gmail.com or holla at carolinecollie on Twitter. We raise our own support to minister in South Africa, so feel free to ask for those details, which are also here, if you’re keen to make a contribution!