Yolanda Rice

Yolanda Rice serves at El Camino Academy in Bogotá, Colombia where she is a first grade classroom teacher. Her work is focused on the school and community surrounding it, and she frequently has opportunities to support her co-workers, shower the students with Jesus’ love, and clearly communicate and pray with parents.

She first sensed God calling her to cross-cultural service while on a high school missions trip to an orphanage in Mexico. That experience – combined with many missionary stories from her grandparents, parents, and extended family – opened her heart to the possibility of missions work. After high school, she spent 2011-2012 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras as part of the STEP program. Through the program, she became passionate about teaching internationally and working specifically with English learners. She went on to receive a bachelor of arts in Elementary Education and Teaching Speakers of Other Languages from Eastern Mennonite University.

Her desire for cross-cultural missions and education was still very present after her graduation, but she didn’t sense a specific calling overseas yet. She spent the next five years as an English Learners teacher at a public school in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Teaching at a public school helped her connect with families from many different countries and become aware of the challenges of moving and living in a different culture.

Through a lot of prayer and seeking the Lord’s voice, Yolanda felt the calling to teach overseas at El Camino Academy in Bogotá. She spent the 2021-22 academic year at the school as a global volunteer and officially deployed as a BIC U.S. missionary in 2022. The values of the Brethren in Christ and World Missions resonate with her, and she appreciates the adaptability and support of working with a smaller missions organization.

She enjoys journaling, reading, cooking, and baking scones in her free time. Yolanda loves experiencing new things, learning from new cultures and people, and seeing how Jesus is working in their lives.