January 2026
This month has felt pretty long with all the ice and snow we've had here in North Carolina. However, despite the weather, we've been able to get quite a bit in! Also, at the end we have an entire class update from the class of 2020-2021!
Leader Lunch
Every month I'm so humbled by the incredible leaders that spend time to speak to the Fellows and this month was no different! First, we met with Jon Musser with World Relief Triad. Then we were honored to meet with Dr. Tony Atala and took a tour of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Testimony Retreat
Every year we sneak away to the beach for a change of scenery and the chance to share our stories with one other in ways that many of us have not in the past. It's beautiful, difficult and healing. Fellows served up some delicious dinners and many games were played.
Bible Study and Pickle Ball
One of our weekly rhythms is Bible Study. This year we are going through the Gospel of Mark. The Rainey's have been our gracious hosts and when the weather is right, the Fellows enjoy playing Pickle Ball with David!
Snow Days!
One of the benefits of living on the beautiful campus of Crossnore is ample area to sled and play in the snow! Fellows got creative with cardboard boxes. Bloody hands cut up by the ice are not pictured.
Vocational Training
We had various trainings this month to help the Fellows understand their gifts, areas for growth and what potential careers may be best suited for them. We started with the CORE Assessment training led by Kelly and Grace at The Resource.
At the end of the month we did a two day training learning about various assessments, strengths/weaknesses, and a Biblical view of work. The Fellows were excited to host the Greensboro Fellows. Thankful to Cameron for leading us in this time!
Update on Class of 2020-2021
In the summer of 2020 we were unsure how we would continue with our host family model in the midst of a Global Pandemic. We were trying to piecemeal together a housing plan when God provided the property at Crossnore which was truly more than we could have asked for or imagined. It was a unique year as we took hundreds of COVID tests. I affectionally call this class the "year of love" as there were two marriages within this class and two Fellows married Fellows from different classes. Check out their updates below!
Sam Bishop
After I completed the Winston-Salem Fellows program, I stayed in Winston-Salem for two years. I worked in the college counseling department of Forsyth Country Day School, and I was blessed to stay connected to my Fellows friends and all the communities I love in Winston-Salem! I loved my college counseling job, but I especially enjoyed getting to know and care for the hearts of the people I worked with, so after some guidance from my mentors, I decided to go to Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando to pursue a master’s in counseling. I graduated back in May of 2025, and now I’m back in Winston-Salem working as a mental health counselor!
Caroline (Wolfe) Briggs
I can’t believe it’s been almost five years! Garrett Briggs (Fellows ’18) and I got married in December 2022 and moved to Shelby for him to complete nursing school, then returned to Winston in June 2024, where he’s now working as an ER nurse for Novant in Kernersville—a role he truly loves. Around that same time, my mom passed away after a long battle with breast cancer; we miss her deeply but are comforted knowing she’s with Jesus and that we’ll see her again. My dad is getting remarried this summer, which still feels surreal, but I’m grateful and excited to welcome his bride into our family. My sister and brother-in-law, Hannah and Mason Briggs, moved back to Winston last summer, and we’ve loved spending time together and spoiling our 8-month-old nephew, Harris. I recently left my marketing project management role after four years to step into a new chapter, and we’re thankful for the close friends and sweet community we’ve found at Hope Presbyterian (also my Fellows church!). There’s been a lot of change and growth, and I’m so grateful for the friendships from Fellows—past and present—and excited for what’s next.
AJ + Bailey (Yerby) Britton
After completing the Winston-Salem Fellows Program, we (AJ and Bailey) stayed in Winston-Salem for three meaningful years, where we began our professional careers and our marriage, all while remaining deeply connected to our Fellows community. That season laid a strong foundation for the life we’re building now in Boone, North Carolina. This year, we welcomed our son, Bear, and embraced a new chapter of growth and family life. AJ is currently pursuing his master’s in social work at Appalachian State University, and Bailey is caring for Bear at home while also helping with the books for a local bakery. We enjoy hiking and camping and enjoying all WNC has to offer.
Bryn (Lenkaitis) Childers
Post-fellows, I decided to stick around Winston-Salem- drawn in by how wonderful it is and by the certainty that the Lord still had more unfolding for me here. After two years of continuing my work in Community Development with Forsyth County Government, I transitioned to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, where I now serve as a Project Manager in Philanthropy overseeing communications/marketing pieces, and publications. I lived with my sweet fellows friends for years (slowly celebrating each of them as they got married one by one) before finally marrying my own honey, Dean, in February 2025. One of my biggest passions is art, and over the last year I’ve become a painting instructor at Sawtooth School for Visual Arts—an absolute joy and gift to my right brain. Other highlights include adopting our sweet old yellow lab, Lily, loving on lots of friends’ babies over the years, working towards my PMP certification and laughing until I cry alongside friends, family, and honestly anyone generous enough to entertain my goofy self.
Hayes Mabry
I am still living in Winston! Lots of things have changed since fellows like getting married in May of 2022 to Haley, changing jobs a couple of times from Budd group to Sunnyside Millwork and Lynnwood Builders where I do carpentry. I’ve been playing music with my brother and some friends as The Mabry Brothers. Been on some really cool trips all over the place as well as settling in and buying a house last year. I’m really thankful to be doing something for my work that I truly enjoy. Mostly, I’m thankful to be so blessed by God with the community here, a wonderful church, and our little family with our dog May.
Caroline (Filston) Maghen
During my fellows year, I fell in love with Winston-Salem and decided to stay! I even convinced
my brother to come do the program the year after I did. I accepted a 1-year position with Salem
Presbyterian Church which eventually turned into a permanent position as Director of Children
and Youth. I lived with fellows from my year and the year below me for several years and it was
the best! I met my husband Philip at church and we married in May of 2024. We stayed in
Winston Salem because of the wonderful community we’ve found with the Fellows, our church,
and the city!
Tori (Ellingson) Radcliffe
God has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams since I graduated Fellows in 2021. I tried to move to Raleigh but God had other plans and I moved back to my hometown in Alabama. I’ve played a lot of frisbee where I met a cute guy and fell in love. We got married, and I also supported my Fellows besties Emily and Caroline (CFil) marry their loves. I got my MBA and then got a job that lets me live my dreams. I traveled the world. I experienced loss and grief of a friend, grandparents and my beloved (old lady) puppy, but opened my heart and home to a new pup. My husband and I bought a house and made it a home. The Lord has been so sweet to me and I do not take any of this for granted.
Caroline (Rassenfoss) Souders
After graduating from the Fellows Program, so much change, goodness, and growth from the Lord has happened in my life. I moved back home to Louisville, Kentucky and worked at a local women’s boutique in a marketing and sales role. I found the sweetest church home with amazing people who have taught me how to follow Jesus more closely and make disciples. This is also where I met (2021) and married (November 2023) my husband, Caleb! Pretty quickly after our wedding, the Lord made it abundantly clear that Caleb had a calling to be in a vocational ministry. Fast forward to today: Caleb is now the Student Ministry Director and I serve with the 7th grade girls, which is such a joy! As he stepped into this ministry, I worked in an orthodontic office as a clinical assistant until we welcomed our baby boy, Cameron, into our little family this past November! I’m so thankful the Fellows Program not only brought me such sweet friendships but also helped prepare me for all this change that the Lord had planned!
Emily (Sandstedt) Starr
After my fellows year, I moved back to the Chicago suburbs and started working as a Human Resources Generalist. My husband Jacob and I got married in April of 2023 in Winston-Salem, and Ned married us! Since then, our lives are filled with performing in community theatre, trips to see our family across the country, and doting on our cat Coe. And of course, getting to travel and attend the weddings of my fellows class! I praise God for the friendships and spiritual growth I experienced through Winston-Salem Fellows. (PS: Thanks to my sister Christina, who paved the way for me to do WS Fellows four years after her. You’re the best sis.)
Megahn (Beck) Walker
Gosh, I cannot believe it’s been 5 whole years since Fellows. Quite literally one of the best years of my life. After Fellows, I moved back home to Birmingham, AL and married my college best friend turned husband. I spent two years getting my Master’s in Elementary Education, which is funny now because I taught 6th grade science for one year before pivoting to being the Creative Director for Mae Davis Interiors (a God story for another time). Ross and I welcomed our first baby, Beck, last May who has filled our lives with indescribable joy. I truly now understand just a taste of the Lord’s unconditional love for us through the love that I have for my son. I am forever thankful for Fellows and all the ways it impacted my faith and life.
Owen + Michelle (Howard) Wood
Choosing to become a fellow during the height of COVID-19 lockdowns was a bold choice. I (Owen) wasn't entirely certain what I was getting myself into. But it ended up being one of the most impactful simple choices in my life. I met my wife, Michelle, during the program, proposed in 2022, and we got married in 2023. We bought a house, so we're in Winston-Salem for the long haul! In 2024, we adopted a dog named Porky. After fellows, Michelle started working at Davidson Medical Ministries as a Community Health Advocate. She is in her fifth year, working as the Program Administrator of DC Connect, a program of DMM, which acts as a gateway to community resources in Davidson County. When she is not working, she’s caring for her grandfather whom she loves dearly. I stayed at my fellows job/organization for five years, and now work in Business Analytics at a company in Yadkinville. Outside of work, I've enjoyed playing lots of music around North Carolina and released a few projects out into the world, graduated from Leadership Winston-Salem in 2025, started my MBA at UNC Chapel-Hill as well in 2025, and am currently writing a book on personal branding and telling your story. We are immensely grateful to the fellows program for everything it's done in our lives, and love continuing to see the life-changing impacts that it has on its fellows and alumni.
Recruiting