Julia Mitchell

Julia received her M.A. in TESOL in 2008 and two years later embarked on a one-year teaching adventure in South East Asia. That one year turned into eleven, as the country of Laos and its warm-hearted people captured her heart. In 14 years of teaching — both stateside and in Laos — Julia has taught students aged 3 to 60, motivated by a life-long love of learning, play, and relationship-building. In 2017, after years of internal wrestling over her sexuality, Julia decided to walk away from God and faith. But it was in the midst of those prodigal months that God’s relentless love pursued her, showing her that sexual brokenness can be the very thing that brings us to God. By God’s providence, an email for an Online Book Study landed in her inbox, changing the trajectory of her life. Starting with Surprised by the Healer and 10 rectangles on that Zoom screen, Julia started to believe that perhaps she wasn’t made wrong after all; that these struggles and questions could be used by God, for His glory, to write a greater story. Now, as an intern at Authentic Intimacy, Julia is passionate about sharing this message of healing and hope, through writing, leading Online Book Studies, and building relationships. She hopes her story might be an invitation for others to experience the unlimited patience of Christ in their lives too.