Rachel Weisz
Associate Staffing Manager, Idaho
About Rachel
Growing up in Anacortes, Washington, as the child of a former staffer and surrounded by Youth Dynamics staff, I was aware of YD from a young age. I’ve always loved the outdoors and grew up hiking, kayaking, skiing, and camping. On a YD trip down the Owyhee River as a fifteen-year-old, I experienced the profound power of wilderness space to allow for an experience with Jesus. I served as summer staff at Stonewater every summer of college, and have continued to volunteer frequently until joining the YD team full-time.
I have a BA in Christian Theology with a focus on Youth Ministry and Christian Scripture from Seattle Pacific University. In college, I wrote my honors thesis on wilderness in scripture and the efficacy of wilderness youth ministry, and was thrilled to find and discuss both scriptural support and significant empirical data to support and understand my own experience doing ministry in this way.
Before coming on staff at YD I worked in traditional church youth ministry, as well as youth mental and behavioral health services. Experiencing Jesus alongside others in the wilderness has changed my life, and I am more and more convinced that shared experience, adventure, and the space to be still enough to listen for God’s voice are uniquely powerful. I can’t wait to share all of these spaces with you!
