The great adventure of missions is the opportunity to serve our fellow man th rough the healing touch of chiropractic and the message of hope through Jesus. We believe this calling is a global responsibility, which is why we actively serve on international, national and local levels.
For me, missions started with reaching people who'd never had access to care like this at all.
Through my work with Epik Missions, I've traveled to Guatemala and Ghana, bringing chiropractic care to communities who, in many cases, have never been adjusted in their lives. I've also traveled to Guatemala with Lawrence First Church, partnering with Salud Y Paz to provide clean water, shoes, and chiropractic care to the indigenous communities surrounding their clinic.
On a typical trip, a team of eight to ten of us will spend ten days in the field — and we'll see and adjust more than 10,000 people in that time. I wish I could fully describe what that looks like: people who've lived with pain their entire lives, encountering relief for the very first time, often with no preconceptions about what chiropractic even is — just an openness to a message of hope and healing. Every team member who's gone on one of these trips will tell you the same thing: we get back so much more than we ever give.
If international missions are about reaching people who've never experienced chiropractic care, my national work has been about something a little different — caring for the people who spend their lives carrying a message of hope to others.
Over the years, I've had the opportunity to provide chiropractic care to touring Christian artists and bands, including Dave Matthews Band, Jeremy Camp, Chris Tomlin, TobyMac, Kari Jobe, Hillsong, Brandon Heath, Mandisa, Lecrae, Tenth Avenue North, Building 429, For King & Country, and artists on the Winter Jam Tour. I've also had the chance to care for touring productions like Hairspray and Wheel of Fortune LIVE!
Touring is grueling in ways most people never see. Artists and crew spend months living out of buses, performing night after night, carrying physical strain that builds up far faster than it can heal — all while pouring themselves out for an audience that needs the hope they're bringing. When the opportunity arises to care for someone on that journey, it becomes a way to serve that work directly: helping an artist or tour member stay physically able to keep doing what they're called to do, night after night, city after city. It's never just an adjustment — it's a small part of helping someone keep carrying a message that's changing lives far beyond Lawrence.
My heart for service didn't start overseas, and it doesn't stay there.
Years ago, while preparing for a mission trip to Uganda, I started something called Mission Fridays — a way to raise awareness and support for our international work right here at home. What I didn't expect was that this local effort would take on a life of its own. For several years afterward, Mission Fridays became an ongoing way to channel support to organizations including Sixty Feet, Project Lydia, First Step, and the Insight Center for Women.
That season planted something that's still true today: my commitment to serving Lawrence didn't end when Mission Fridays did. I remain actively involved with the University of Kansas Lied Center and KU Club Sports teams, Lawrence Public Schools, Body Boutique Women's Fitness, and my church family at Lawrence First Church. Whether it's a touring musician, a Lawrence Public Schools student-athlete, or a family in Guatemala who's never seen a chiropractor before — the mission is the same: bring hope and healing to people who need it, wherever they are.