I was born and raised in North Dakota (USA). I went to Bible College in Canada and met my husband of now 50 years at that college. After Bible College I attended nursing school and worked as a nurse to pay for my husband’s education to become a minister. In 1981 we moved to Phoenix, Arizona. I began working as a preschool teacher and daycare provider at that time and continued that until September 2001. About 1995 I started teaching adult Bible and at that time began to spend at least 2 to 2 ½ hours a day in prayer and meditation. My husband encouraged me to try my hand at photography. In the early 2000’s I started a spiritual direction training program and meditation was a big part of that. I spent much quiet time in nature and I began to find my spirit renewed, restored and growing in new ways. I began to write and illustrate my writings with my photography and sometimes the other way around. I have self-published 4 books and continue to write from time to time. I served as a part-time chaplain at two retirement communities, one about 15 years and one about 5 years until about 3 years ago. Since 2004 I have served as ¾ time minister at our house fellowship doing 90% of the ministry. Since Covid I record my sermons on YouTube and we do a zoom church service with sermon discussion and prayer/sharing. Our group has grown even adding attendees who live in other cities/states. I also lead two women study groups via zoom. I also have been working some retreats for women whose lives have been impacted by incarceration (their own or a loved one’s). Another avenue that also links up with our church ministry is helping special needs refugees get settled here in our city through Catholic charities. We have two adult sons, one married with two daughters and one who is single.
June Friesen
