Outpost Stories
Grady and Kenzie Monfeldt: Called to Serve: Overcoming Fear and Finding Purpose in Christ
Grady and Kenzie Monfeldt are preparing to serve in Thailand with the Free Burma Rangers and the Donnellys. Their path to Jesus was not always a clear or obvious one, and both feel that their experiences in finding and surrendering their lives to Jesus have ultimately prepared them to answer the call in service to others.
Read the full story
Kenzie: “I had super bad anxiety, and it was kind of a generational thing: my mom had it, my mom’s mom had it…”
Kenzie grew up in Powell, but her family moved to Texas when she was in third grade. The move to a new state was difficult for her; learning to adjust to being the new kid in school and learning to make new friends didn’t come automatically.
Kenzie: “I was influenced by the people around me, and by eighth grade was following other kids into wild things.”
Kenzie’s family decided to move back to Wyoming the summer before Kenzie’s first year of high school. The change was difficult for Kenzie; she fell into depression and anxiety and wasn’t able to make connections with the girls at school. The stress of school caused Kenzie’s sleep habits, anxiety, and depression to increase. The drastic changes in her life began a pattern of struggle that would continue.
Kenzie: “My sophomore year got a little better; I got into people-pleasing because I wanted to have friends. I wanted to be accepted, so I fell into trying to impress people. (I thought) If I would go and drink, that would impress people. I would do things I didn’t feel comfortable doing, because that’s what people liked. I lost my identity and who I was in Christ.”
Kenzie’s family decided to move to Cody during her junior year of high school. Kenzie was a volleyball player in high school, and much of her identity was found in her athletics. The girls in Cody were kind to Kenzie and she felt like she had finally found her people and was fitting in.
Kenzie: “It still wasn’t the right friend group. I got into a lot of drinking to fit in and I was still trying to find my identity in the world.”
Still searching for her place in the world, Kenzie thought people-pleasing and her identity in sports and friends would solve her depression and anxiety. By the end of her junior year, she decided to try marijuana with a group of friends. By the end of that night, her anxiety was spiraling.
Kenzie: “It opened some kind of door within me that made the anxiety more severe. I believe it was God telling me to come back home. He was calling me back.”
While her younger years were spent attending church, Kenzie hadn’t made Jesus the priority in her life.
Kenzie: “I knew Jesus was there, but I wasn’t ready to submit to Him. I didn’t know what it meant, that submitting my life to Him would be everything.”
Kenzie began to search for worldly things to solve her anxiety. She would wake up in the middle of the night with near panic attacks and couldn’t stay in class without the anxiety increasing. She stopped spending time with her friends.
Kenzie: “I’d never had Godly friendships, so there wasn’t anyone to check on me. My relationships weren’t that close, so they didn’t care for me the way Christian friendships would.
The anxiety in her life continued its grip on her, until she began to hit her lowest point.
Kenzie: “I wanted to die, but I was so afraid of death. I secretly wanted to close my eyes and not wake up.”
She continued to search for answers for her illnesses. Everything from low blood sugar, cancer, and mental illnesses were considered. She was also beginning to experience migraines in the middle of the night and her parents would rush her to the emergency room to help her. Kenzie feared the worst, and asked for an MRI to check for a brain aneurysm. After the scan, the news was positive but baffling. Kenzie was completely healthy, but they still didn’t have answers for what was happening to her.
Kenzie: “I felt so helpless. At least if there was a diagnosis, we’d know what to do, there would be a resolution.”
Anxiety still held its grip on her, so Kenzie kept herself away from people, worrying that she wouldn’t fit in because people wouldn’t accept her. It was during this time she met Grady. She carried on hiding her anxiety from Grady, but he could tell something was off. Grady invited her to attend church with his family.
Kenzie: “I met Jesus there. Grady’s family showed me love in the way they lived their lives, and it was something I strived for. It felt so free.”
Kenzie persisted in attending church and learned what it meant to truly submit and surrender her life to Jesus. One night, she felt her heart turn to Jesus and prayed.
Kenzie: “I was crying on my floor. I prayed ‘Jesus, please heal me, please save me. I accept you as my Lord and Savior.’ He came into my life, and ever since then I haven’t had any panic attacks. It has been so freeing to think of that. I have found my rest in Him. I’m completely a new person because of Him. Jesus has fully restored me and healed me. He’s brought me so much peace and comfort, more than I could have imagined in my life. Jesus took the grip of anxiety off of me, and now I’m free.”
Kenzie gave her life to Jesus that night and began her walk with Him. Meeting Grady and attending church that day was the first in many steps to bring her back. Grady’s childhood was based solidly in Christ’s foundation, but like all children, he would need to choose to follow Jesus of his own accord.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 4:6-7
Grady: “I did grow up in a Christian home. My parents are Christian, and we’ve gone to church as long as I can remember. I never really cared about going to church, it was all about pleasing my parents and going along and hanging out with my buddies I had at church. I never had a relationship with the Lord because I hadn’t wanted one.”
The lack of relationship with Jesus led to sin, and Grady fell into sexual sin by watching pornography at an early age. The sin began to consume his life, and it was all he thought about. As he grew older, he found his identity in sports, and put all efforts and focus into impressing others through his performance.
Grady: “I put everything I hoped for into those areas of life. By the time my junior and senior year came around I let go of my sexual sin. Not because of any spiritual want, but because of my friend group.”
Much of Grady’s identity was found through his time spent with his high school friends. They were overall a kind group, but didn’t know Jesus. They sought out worldly sin including drinking. He found a lot of comfort in his group, and felt that as long as he had them, nothing bad could happen to him.
Grady: “They made everything else in the world seem easy and I had such confidence in that. Once we graduated all my friends went away, and that summer I decided to go back to rodeo.”
Grady soon replaced his lost identity in his friends with the rodeo. He received a call from a college in Texas to bull fight in college and moved that summer. Everything was going well for a while, until he felt like he had lost his purpose.
Grady: “It was a ton of fun, until one day I hit a wall. I couldn’t figure out why I was there.”
Grady noticed the bull riders were living carelessly. They drank heavily every night, then rode recklessly the next day in ways that put both him and them in danger, as it was his job to keep them safe.
Grady: “They were wild kids. They weren’t focused on rodeo, so it was hard for me to stay locked in and do the best I could do. I felt like I was going to get hurt because they were getting bucked off at bad places and it was only me to help them at the time. I didn’t feel like it was the best place for me to be, so I went back home.”
Grady was still searching for a purpose and identity in his life, forgetting about the foundation that had been set for him in his childhood. Kenzie and Grady were also maintaining a long-distance relationship, and once he arrived home their relationship grew more serious. He continued to rodeo in Cody, but after a serious incident where he was knocked out, Kenzie asked him to stop working at the rodeo. Grady agreed, but was still searching for his purpose in life. The loss brought him back to his sexual sin and he began to view pornography again.
Grady: “It broke me after a while. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t figure out who I was or what the point of anything was. I didn’t have any of my old comforts, sports, rodeo, or friends. I confessed to Kenzie, all my sin, and from there I decided I was going to follow God. I was going to go full in. I realized this is something so good, and I gave my life to Christ, and have been following Him the best I can since then.”
Grady and Kenzie were married shortly after and are preparing to serve in Thailand and Burma. Grady had felt a calling to go to Thailand. Kenzie wasn't sure at first, but felt the Lord put Philippians 4:6-7 on her heart, and knew they were supposed to serve the Lord in Thailand. They recognized physical fitness as a way to serve those in Thailand and Burma, so that they could reach the people that need help.
While they were attending a service in Thailand with Free Burma Rangers, Philippians 4:6-7 was shared again. The speaker confessed that he was nervous about his son going off to serve on a mission in a war zone, but knew to turn his fears to God.
Kenzie: “If God calls us somewhere, we have to go. We shouldn’t be anxious about that, instead we should be giving our anxieties and our worries to Him and surrendering that to Him and turning our fears into prayers.”
Kenzie felt that God was speaking to her at that moment, that He was leading her to something greater.
Kenzie: “I’ve been so anxious my entire life, and God has called me to something bigger than my anxiety and that’s for me to minister to other people. The physical aspect means I can use the gifts He has given me, I can use my athletic ability in Burma. No matter the circumstances, I know the Lord is with me and that I don’t have to fear anything, and I need to give my worries to Him.”
Inspired by the Donnellys first visit to Outpost Church, Grady knew he was going to be a part of the mission in Thailand and Burma. During the first trip to Thailand, Blake Donnelly offered Grady and Kenzie a job. Everything lined up to help them go to Thailand, from the date of their wedding, to getting in shape with Crossfit, financial assistance, and comfort.
Grady: “You can’t really be wrong if you’re taking a step towards something that’s for your faith and stepping deeper into your relationship with God.”
Grady and Kenzie will spend at least the next two years in Thailand, trusting God to guide them from there. They look forward to growing in their faith and are eager to see where His will and plan will lead them.
To stay updated on the mission the Monfeldts are called to, or to learn how you can support them through prayer and finances, visit their website: https://www.monfeldtsbeyondborders.com
Outpost Stories
Grady and Kenzie Monfeldt: Called to Serve: Overcoming Fear and Finding Purpose in Christ
Grady and Kenzie Monfeldt are preparing to serve in Thailand with the Free Burma Rangers and the Donnellys. Their path to Jesus was not always a clear or obvious one, and both feel that their experiences in finding and surrendering their lives to Jesus have ultimately prepared them to answer the call in service to others.
Read the full story
Kenzie: “I had super bad anxiety, and it was kind of a generational thing: my mom had it, my mom’s mom had it…”
Kenzie grew up in Powell, but her family moved to Texas when she was in third grade. The move to a new state was difficult for her; learning to adjust to being the new kid in school and learning to make new friends didn’t come automatically.
Kenzie: “I was influenced by the people around me, and by eighth grade was following other kids into wild things.”
Kenzie’s family decided to move back to Wyoming the summer before Kenzie’s first year of high school. The change was difficult for Kenzie; she fell into depression and anxiety and wasn’t able to make connections with the girls at school. The stress of school caused Kenzie’s sleep habits, anxiety, and depression to increase. The drastic changes in her life began a pattern of struggle that would continue.
Kenzie: “My sophomore year got a little better; I got into people-pleasing because I wanted to have friends. I wanted to be accepted, so I fell into trying to impress people. (I thought) If I would go and drink, that would impress people. I would do things I didn’t feel comfortable doing, because that’s what people liked. I lost my identity and who I was in Christ.”
Kenzie’s family decided to move to Cody during her junior year of high school. Kenzie was a volleyball player in high school, and much of her identity was found in her athletics. The girls in Cody were kind to Kenzie and she felt like she had finally found her people and was fitting in.
Kenzie: “It still wasn’t the right friend group. I got into a lot of drinking to fit in and I was still trying to find my identity in the world.”
Still searching for her place in the world, Kenzie thought people-pleasing and her identity in sports and friends would solve her depression and anxiety. By the end of her junior year, she decided to try marijuana with a group of friends. By the end of that night, her anxiety was spiraling.
Kenzie: “It opened some kind of door within me that made the anxiety more severe. I believe it was God telling me to come back home. He was calling me back.”
While her younger years were spent attending church, Kenzie hadn’t made Jesus the priority in her life.
Kenzie: “I knew Jesus was there, but I wasn’t ready to submit to Him. I didn’t know what it meant, that submitting my life to Him would be everything.”
Kenzie began to search for worldly things to solve her anxiety. She would wake up in the middle of the night with near panic attacks and couldn’t stay in class without the anxiety increasing. She stopped spending time with her friends.
Kenzie: “I’d never had Godly friendships, so there wasn’t anyone to check on me. My relationships weren’t that close, so they didn’t care for me the way Christian friendships would.
The anxiety in her life continued its grip on her, until she began to hit her lowest point.
Kenzie: “I wanted to die, but I was so afraid of death. I secretly wanted to close my eyes and not wake up.”
She continued to search for answers for her illnesses. Everything from low blood sugar, cancer, and mental illnesses were considered. She was also beginning to experience migraines in the middle of the night and her parents would rush her to the emergency room to help her. Kenzie feared the worst, and asked for an MRI to check for a brain aneurysm. After the scan, the news was positive but baffling. Kenzie was completely healthy, but they still didn’t have answers for what was happening to her.
Kenzie: “I felt so helpless. At least if there was a diagnosis, we’d know what to do, there would be a resolution.”
Anxiety still held its grip on her, so Kenzie kept herself away from people, worrying that she wouldn’t fit in because people wouldn’t accept her. It was during this time she met Grady. She carried on hiding her anxiety from Grady, but he could tell something was off. Grady invited her to attend church with his family.
Kenzie: “I met Jesus there. Grady’s family showed me love in the way they lived their lives, and it was something I strived for. It felt so free.”
Kenzie persisted in attending church and learned what it meant to truly submit and surrender her life to Jesus. One night, she felt her heart turn to Jesus and prayed.
Kenzie: “I was crying on my floor. I prayed ‘Jesus, please heal me, please save me. I accept you as my Lord and Savior.’ He came into my life, and ever since then I haven’t had any panic attacks. It has been so freeing to think of that. I have found my rest in Him. I’m completely a new person because of Him. Jesus has fully restored me and healed me. He’s brought me so much peace and comfort, more than I could have imagined in my life. Jesus took the grip of anxiety off of me, and now I’m free.”
Kenzie gave her life to Jesus that night and began her walk with Him. Meeting Grady and attending church that day was the first in many steps to bring her back. Grady’s childhood was based solidly in Christ’s foundation, but like all children, he would need to choose to follow Jesus of his own accord.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 4:6-7
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 4:6-7
Grady: “I did grow up in a Christian home. My parents are Christian, and we’ve gone to church as long as I can remember. I never really cared about going to church, it was all about pleasing my parents and going along and hanging out with my buddies I had at church. I never had a relationship with the Lord because I hadn’t wanted one.”
The lack of relationship with Jesus led to sin, and Grady fell into sexual sin by watching pornography at an early age. The sin began to consume his life, and it was all he thought about. As he grew older, he found his identity in sports, and put all efforts and focus into impressing others through his performance.
Grady: “I put everything I hoped for into those areas of life. By the time my junior and senior year came around I let go of my sexual sin. Not because of any spiritual want, but because of my friend group.”
Much of Grady’s identity was found through his time spent with his high school friends. They were overall a kind group, but didn’t know Jesus. They sought out worldly sin including drinking. He found a lot of comfort in his group, and felt that as long as he had them, nothing bad could happen to him.
Grady: “They made everything else in the world seem easy and I had such confidence in that. Once we graduated all my friends went away, and that summer I decided to go back to rodeo.”
Grady soon replaced his lost identity in his friends with the rodeo. He received a call from a college in Texas to bull fight in college and moved that summer. Everything was going well for a while, until he felt like he had lost his purpose.
Grady: “It was a ton of fun, until one day I hit a wall. I couldn’t figure out why I was there.”
Grady noticed the bull riders were living carelessly. They drank heavily every night, then rode recklessly the next day in ways that put both him and them in danger, as it was his job to keep them safe.
Grady: “They were wild kids. They weren’t focused on rodeo, so it was hard for me to stay locked in and do the best I could do. I felt like I was going to get hurt because they were getting bucked off at bad places and it was only me to help them at the time. I didn’t feel like it was the best place for me to be, so I went back home.”
Grady was still searching for a purpose and identity in his life, forgetting about the foundation that had been set for him in his childhood. Kenzie and Grady were also maintaining a long-distance relationship, and once he arrived home their relationship grew more serious. He continued to rodeo in Cody, but after a serious incident where he was knocked out, Kenzie asked him to stop working at the rodeo. Grady agreed, but was still searching for his purpose in life. The loss brought him back to his sexual sin and he began to view pornography again.
Grady: “It broke me after a while. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t figure out who I was or what the point of anything was. I didn’t have any of my old comforts, sports, rodeo, or friends. I confessed to Kenzie, all my sin, and from there I decided I was going to follow God. I was going to go full in. I realized this is something so good, and I gave my life to Christ, and have been following Him the best I can since then.”
Grady and Kenzie were married shortly after and are preparing to serve in Thailand and Burma. Grady had felt a calling to go to Thailand. Kenzie wasn't sure at first, but felt the Lord put Philippians 4:6-7 on her heart, and knew they were supposed to serve the Lord in Thailand. They recognized physical fitness as a way to serve those in Thailand and Burma, so that they could reach the people that need help.
While they were attending a service in Thailand with Free Burma Rangers, Philippians 4:6-7 was shared again. The speaker confessed that he was nervous about his son going off to serve on a mission in a war zone, but knew to turn his fears to God.
Kenzie: “If God calls us somewhere, we have to go. We shouldn’t be anxious about that, instead we should be giving our anxieties and our worries to Him and surrendering that to Him and turning our fears into prayers.”
Kenzie felt that God was speaking to her at that moment, that He was leading her to something greater.
Kenzie: “I’ve been so anxious my entire life, and God has called me to something bigger than my anxiety and that’s for me to minister to other people. The physical aspect means I can use the gifts He has given me, I can use my athletic ability in Burma. No matter the circumstances, I know the Lord is with me and that I don’t have to fear anything, and I need to give my worries to Him.”
Inspired by the Donnellys first visit to Outpost Church, Grady knew he was going to be a part of the mission in Thailand and Burma. During the first trip to Thailand, Blake Donnelly offered Grady and Kenzie a job. Everything lined up to help them go to Thailand, from the date of their wedding, to getting in shape with Crossfit, financial assistance, and comfort.
Grady: “You can’t really be wrong if you’re taking a step towards something that’s for your faith and stepping deeper into your relationship with God.”
Grady and Kenzie will spend at least the next two years in Thailand, trusting God to guide them from there. They look forward to growing in their faith and are eager to see where His will and plan will lead them.
To stay updated on the mission the Monfeldts are called to, or to learn how you can support them through prayer and finances, visit their website: https://www.monfeldtsbeyondborders.com
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 4:6-7
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 4:6-7
Outpost Stories
Grady and Kenzie Monfeldt: Called to Serve: Overcoming Fear and Finding Purpose in Christ
Grady and Kenzie Monfeldt are preparing to serve in Thailand with the Free Burma Rangers and the Donnellys. Their path to Jesus was not always a clear or obvious one, and both feel that their experiences in finding and surrendering their lives to Jesus have ultimately prepared them to answer the call in service to others.
Read the full story
Kenzie: “I had super bad anxiety, and it was kind of a generational thing: my mom had it, my mom’s mom had it…”
Kenzie grew up in Powell, but her family moved to Texas when she was in third grade. The move to a new state was difficult for her; learning to adjust to being the new kid in school and learning to make new friends didn’t come automatically.
Kenzie: “I was influenced by the people around me, and by eighth grade was following other kids into wild things.”
Kenzie’s family decided to move back to Wyoming the summer before Kenzie’s first year of high school. The change was difficult for Kenzie; she fell into depression and anxiety and wasn’t able to make connections with the girls at school. The stress of school caused Kenzie’s sleep habits, anxiety, and depression to increase. The drastic changes in her life began a pattern of struggle that would continue.
Kenzie: “My sophomore year got a little better; I got into people-pleasing because I wanted to have friends. I wanted to be accepted, so I fell into trying to impress people. (I thought) If I would go and drink, that would impress people. I would do things I didn’t feel comfortable doing, because that’s what people liked. I lost my identity and who I was in Christ.”
Kenzie’s family decided to move to Cody during her junior year of high school. Kenzie was a volleyball player in high school, and much of her identity was found in her athletics. The girls in Cody were kind to Kenzie and she felt like she had finally found her people and was fitting in.
Kenzie: “It still wasn’t the right friend group. I got into a lot of drinking to fit in and I was still trying to find my identity in the world.”
Still searching for her place in the world, Kenzie thought people-pleasing and her identity in sports and friends would solve her depression and anxiety. By the end of her junior year, she decided to try marijuana with a group of friends. By the end of that night, her anxiety was spiraling.
Kenzie: “It opened some kind of door within me that made the anxiety more severe. I believe it was God telling me to come back home. He was calling me back.”
While her younger years were spent attending church, Kenzie hadn’t made Jesus the priority in her life.
Kenzie: “I knew Jesus was there, but I wasn’t ready to submit to Him. I didn’t know what it meant, that submitting my life to Him would be everything.”
Kenzie began to search for worldly things to solve her anxiety. She would wake up in the middle of the night with near panic attacks and couldn’t stay in class without the anxiety increasing. She stopped spending time with her friends.
Kenzie: “I’d never had Godly friendships, so there wasn’t anyone to check on me. My relationships weren’t that close, so they didn’t care for me the way Christian friendships would.
The anxiety in her life continued its grip on her, until she began to hit her lowest point.
Kenzie: “I wanted to die, but I was so afraid of death. I secretly wanted to close my eyes and not wake up.”
She continued to search for answers for her illnesses. Everything from low blood sugar, cancer, and mental illnesses were considered. She was also beginning to experience migraines in the middle of the night and her parents would rush her to the emergency room to help her. Kenzie feared the worst, and asked for an MRI to check for a brain aneurysm. After the scan, the news was positive but baffling. Kenzie was completely healthy, but they still didn’t have answers for what was happening to her.
Kenzie: “I felt so helpless. At least if there was a diagnosis, we’d know what to do, there would be a resolution.”
Anxiety still held its grip on her, so Kenzie kept herself away from people, worrying that she wouldn’t fit in because people wouldn’t accept her. It was during this time she met Grady. She carried on hiding her anxiety from Grady, but he could tell something was off. Grady invited her to attend church with his family.
Kenzie: “I met Jesus there. Grady’s family showed me love in the way they lived their lives, and it was something I strived for. It felt so free.”
Kenzie persisted in attending church and learned what it meant to truly submit and surrender her life to Jesus. One night, she felt her heart turn to Jesus and prayed.
Kenzie: “I was crying on my floor. I prayed ‘Jesus, please heal me, please save me. I accept you as my Lord and Savior.’ He came into my life, and ever since then I haven’t had any panic attacks. It has been so freeing to think of that. I have found my rest in Him. I’m completely a new person because of Him. Jesus has fully restored me and healed me. He’s brought me so much peace and comfort, more than I could have imagined in my life. Jesus took the grip of anxiety off of me, and now I’m free.”
Kenzie gave her life to Jesus that night and began her walk with Him. Meeting Grady and attending church that day was the first in many steps to bring her back. Grady’s childhood was based solidly in Christ’s foundation, but like all children, he would need to choose to follow Jesus of his own accord.
Grady: “I did grow up in a Christian home. My parents are Christian, and we’ve gone to church as long as I can remember. I never really cared about going to church, it was all about pleasing my parents and going along and hanging out with my buddies I had at church. I never had a relationship with the Lord because I hadn’t wanted one.”
The lack of relationship with Jesus led to sin, and Grady fell into sexual sin by watching pornography at an early age. The sin began to consume his life, and it was all he thought about. As he grew older, he found his identity in sports, and put all efforts and focus into impressing others through his performance.
Grady: “I put everything I hoped for into those areas of life. By the time my junior and senior year came around I let go of my sexual sin. Not because of any spiritual want, but because of my friend group.”
Much of Grady’s identity was found through his time spent with his high school friends. They were overall a kind group, but didn’t know Jesus. They sought out worldly sin including drinking. He found a lot of comfort in his group, and felt that as long as he had them, nothing bad could happen to him.
Grady: “They made everything else in the world seem easy and I had such confidence in that. Once we graduated all my friends went away, and that summer I decided to go back to rodeo.”
Grady soon replaced his lost identity in his friends with the rodeo. He received a call from a college in Texas to bull fight in college and moved that summer. Everything was going well for a while, until he felt like he had lost his purpose.
Grady: “It was a ton of fun, until one day I hit a wall. I couldn’t figure out why I was there.”
Grady noticed the bull riders were living carelessly. They drank heavily every night, then rode recklessly the next day in ways that put both him and them in danger, as it was his job to keep them safe.
Grady: “They were wild kids. They weren’t focused on rodeo, so it was hard for me to stay locked in and do the best I could do. I felt like I was going to get hurt because they were getting bucked off at bad places and it was only me to help them at the time. I didn’t feel like it was the best place for me to be, so I went back home.”
Grady was still searching for a purpose and identity in his life, forgetting about the foundation that had been set for him in his childhood. Kenzie and Grady were also maintaining a long-distance relationship, and once he arrived home their relationship grew more serious. He continued to rodeo in Cody, but after a serious incident where he was knocked out, Kenzie asked him to stop working at the rodeo. Grady agreed, but was still searching for his purpose in life. The loss brought him back to his sexual sin and he began to view pornography again.
Grady: “It broke me after a while. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t figure out who I was or what the point of anything was. I didn’t have any of my old comforts, sports, rodeo, or friends. I confessed to Kenzie, all my sin, and from there I decided I was going to follow God. I was going to go full in. I realized this is something so good, and I gave my life to Christ, and have been following Him the best I can since then.”
Grady and Kenzie were married shortly after and are preparing to serve in Thailand and Burma. Grady had felt a calling to go to Thailand. Kenzie wasn't sure at first, but felt the Lord put Philippians 4:6-7 on her heart, and knew they were supposed to serve the Lord in Thailand. They recognized physical fitness as a way to serve those in Thailand and Burma, so that they could reach the people that need help.
While they were attending a service in Thailand with Free Burma Rangers, Philippians 4:6-7 was shared again. The speaker confessed that he was nervous about his son going off to serve on a mission in a war zone, but knew to turn his fears to God.
Kenzie: “If God calls us somewhere, we have to go. We shouldn’t be anxious about that, instead we should be giving our anxieties and our worries to Him and surrendering that to Him and turning our fears into prayers.”
Kenzie felt that God was speaking to her at that moment, that He was leading her to something greater.
Kenzie: “I’ve been so anxious my entire life, and God has called me to something bigger than my anxiety and that’s for me to minister to other people. The physical aspect means I can use the gifts He has given me, I can use my athletic ability in Burma. No matter the circumstances, I know the Lord is with me and that I don’t have to fear anything, and I need to give my worries to Him.”
Inspired by the Donnellys first visit to Outpost Church, Grady knew he was going to be a part of the mission in Thailand and Burma. During the first trip to Thailand, Blake Donnelly offered Grady and Kenzie a job. Everything lined up to help them go to Thailand, from the date of their wedding, to getting in shape with Crossfit, financial assistance, and comfort.
Grady: “You can’t really be wrong if you’re taking a step towards something that’s for your faith and stepping deeper into your relationship with God.”
Grady and Kenzie will spend at least the next two years in Thailand, trusting God to guide them from there. They look forward to growing in their faith and are eager to see where His will and plan will lead them.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 4:6-7
To stay updated on the mission the Monfeldts are called to, or to learn how you can support them through prayer and finances, visit their website: https://www.monfeldtsbeyondborders.com