WILD Quest Team

Members of the team are volunteers that offer advice, guidance and input to the development and functions of WILD Quest.  The team also contributes to WILD Quest retreats through various roles such as registration, planning, group leading, teaching and activity leaders.

Stacy Madden:  WILD Quest founder.

I became a Christian at the age of 12 but as a young adult I found myself in a place of self doubt, poor self-esteem and a belief that I didn’t measure up.  God has taken me on a quest to rebuild my belief systems about who I am in him, what he thinks of me and what I am capable of.  I am now at a place where I believe I am God’s workmanship in created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advanced for me to do.(Eph.2:10)   I believe that God is calling me to glorify him and spread his fame through encouraging women to believe that they also are a workmanship of God and He has good work planned for them as well.   I don’t believe God intended for women to sit on the side lines of the kingdom.  I believe we are called to participate in spreading His fame and fighting for His kingdom.  We each have special talents and gifts to offer that should be used for the purpose God planned for us.

The mountains are a place where I feel very close to God. I love being outdoors in nature surrounded by God’s handiwork and creativity.  I also enjoy action and adventure, and I like to push the “feminine envelope”.  I have a Masters degree in Nursing, and worked in the health care industry for 18 years.    Concurrently, I am active with women in ministry through teaching, mentoring, coordinating and leadership.

WILD Quest was born from merging my personal life’s journey and my love for the outdoors with the lessons that God has taught me through my own quest.  I believe God is now calling me to use my gifts and share my journey with other women.  I am passionate about encouraging women to start their own quest and seeing them become the woman God intended them to be.

 Sheri Jones 

I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior at age 16 but I didn’t fully understand what that meant until I was 32. I had a lot of regrets in my life that left me feeling guilty, worthless and ashamed. Through a series of experiences, I discovered the true meaning of God’s grace and forgiveness that has brought genuine freedom in my life. I have never been able to fit in “the box” that I thought I was supposed to fit in. I understand now what it means to be ME without feeling like I should be someone else. God made me the way I am ON PURPOSE and it is good. That is true freedom in Christ!

I had the privilege of being a part of the first WILD Quest and my experience there further deepened my understanding of God’s love and plan for my life. The symbolism in the outdoor activities with our life’s journey was, again, life changing for me! I am honored to be part of this amazing ministry and I am so excited to see what God will do through it for other women who have struggled with the same issues I have claimed victory over.

Karen Minchow

In the summer of my junior year of high school I was invited to attend Young Life Camp in Saranac, NY.   It was there that I first met Christ in a personal and saving way.  He showed me His great love and forgiveness.  Over the years, the passion in my walk with Him diminished as I strayed and began believing the lies that surrounded me daily-- I was different, unaccepted, judged, ugly, and had nothing of value to contribute.  These destroyers of self-esteem robbed me of the joy and acceptance that only Christ has to offer.

My entire adult life has been filled with many and varied physical/mental challenges.   I am a Captain/Firefighter/Paramedic with the largest fire department in Utah.  I have completed 13 marathons, a 208 mile bike race, a 206 mile relay race and am currently training for an Ironman Triathalon.  Although all of these activities provide physical victories it is the journey back to Christ through these challenges that has given me the greatest joy.  He has shown me how I am wonderfully and fearfully made in His image to reveal his fame.  To Him I am a woman of great beauty, passion, and purpose.

Attending WILD Quest not only renewed my passion for the outdoors and adventure (where I first found Christ) but also brought new life to my spirit.  I was challenged to again open up and let God reveal Himself to me.  Being reminded that God made me who I am for a purpose and being able to share my struggles and strengths with other women who are/have been struggling in these same ways is a joy.  I am still journeying with Christ and I am passionate about the opportunity to be a part of this ministry and help other women discover God’s overwhelming love and purpose for each one of them.

 Melisa Griffith

As a teenager I became heavily involved the ways of the world and thought that it was exactly what I wanted. Over the next 10 years, I became more and more engulfed in the world. It wasn’t until age 23 that God put some fascinating people in my life who introduced me to the Christian faith. I began seeing how unsatisfying my worldly life was and how far I truly was from being who I wanted to be; from who I was made to be.

One of the first Christian eventsI participated in was the Women’s WILD Weekend in 2009. I was told it wasn’t your typical metal chair retreat (I don’t sit still for long periods of time) and that it was full of fun, challenging activities. I remember leaving the weekend overwhelmed in thought about God and what he meant to me. And more importantly, what I meant to Him. Words like purpose, freedom, beauty, love, and fellowship began to form new meanings.

Being asked to team up with this group of extraordinarily WILD women who have such different gifts but the same purpose in mind was an amazing blessing to me! I have a huge passion for females, both high school and adult women. Being a woman is tough! We are created so explicitly in God’s image- he is ENTHRAWLED by our beauty, and because of this we are easy targets for Satan to use- with lies about ourselves and hatred/jealousy towards other women. Being able to watch ordinary women figure out who God is, who they were made to be in the kingdom of God and what it means in their life brings me a joy that I never thought was attainable!