My name is Mary Kenny, and I grew up in Oakland, California. I attended the University of California, Davis and after graduating, worked for several years.

During that time I was involved in my local church serving in youth ministry, but also felt that the Lord was leading me into foreign missions. I left my job in 1997 to go on a short-term missions trip called Interface with New Tribes Mission. On that trip, I spent three months in Papua New Guinea, where my perspective about missions and God's view of the world was greatly challenged. After returning from Papua New Guinea, I enrolled in New Tribes Bible Institute in Waukesha, Wisconsin. I completed Bible School, then went on to phases two and three of New Tribes Mission's training-the Missions and Language Institutes.

God used the time in the training to give me a firm foundation in His Word. He has called us through Scripture to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations of the world. This call is relevant today and is not yet completed. My decision to serve with New Tribes Mission is based on this conviction, and my desire is to be involved firsthand in world evangelization.