MEET THE TEAM

CHRISTI MCCLAIN

Group Leader

Over the past 12 years I have been engaging my story and the stories of many others. I have had opportunities to receive training and care through the Allender Center as well as Open Hearts Ministry, and I have co-led many small groups over the past decade. I believe that our stories need our understanding, not our judgment. We all experience harm, and our wounded hearts are so often dismissed or despised, when what we need is care and kindness. Having a safe community of fellow travelers has been life-changing on my journey, and I hope to offer care to others who desire greater freedom.

LOIS LANE

Group Leader

Sharing my life stories over the last several years with people who cared and genuinely listened has changed my life. This was a new experience for me. It was scary and difficult; it made me sad and angry, yet it has been the most freeing experience of my life. I now see where the beliefs I formed about myself came from. I no longer make excuses for others. I have come to see how being loving, caring and nurturing is a choice in life, and without these things, I blamed myself for not being enough. I always aimed to please; always did just one more thing hoping to receive approval and love but inevitably I just became frustrated, defeated and exhausted.

Through Journey work, the Allender Center coursework and reading Dan Allender's books, I have learned to care for others and also to care for myself. I have learned to care for my soul and be an advocate for the little girl I was back in Chicago, Illinois. I am hoping you will accept our invitation to experience true caring and listening in a safe environment and experience the taste of redemption.

TEASHA DECAIRE

Group Leader

My first introduction to group work was in 2010 when I attended The Story Workshop at The Allender Center. I was the youngest in my group and felt incredibly out of place. As I began to share my stories of trauma and shame, I feared I would be misunderstood and rejected. Instead, I was embraced. Each group member covered me with kindness and compassion and walked alongside of me as I engaged my story of harm. It was at this moment that I began to understand the power of telling my story in a safe place with others who were willing to take a risk and do the same.

Over the last 13 years, I have had the honor of participating in several groups, including The Journey Begins and The Journey Continues with Open Hearts Ministry. I am excited to be a part of the Narrow Gate Team and walk alongside those who are ready to take a risk and hope for more.

DALE HODGESON

Group Leader

I first started doing group work in 2001. It was a married couple’s group. I believe it was in this setting that for the first time in my life I connected to a human being. I am still amazed at the people who have been willing to disrupt me and invite me to a pathway back to my heart. I have been fortunate to receive training at the Allender Center in Seattle. We, as a team have been utilizing their online coursework to guide our current story/redemption work.

I have also been blessed through training at the Open Hearts Ministry in Michigan. My time there as a participant and as a leader have been life changing. After 20 years of doing this kind of work I am always deeply moved at how God designed our bodies to respond to spoken heartache in community. I am so grateful for those who have allowed me to engage in their heartache. I am a believer in the human need to have a witness.

I am so excited to be a part of a team that is committed to doing their own story work and committed to offering a space for care to the Tucson community.