About mE

My name is Lydia Parish. 

I’m an Expedition Leader with Overland Missions who likes to create media & share stories about what God is doing around the world. 

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Lydia’s passion for missions began when she realized the reality of people not knowing the life changing truth about Jesus! Ever since she was a toddler, Lydia had a love for God and a heart for the people in her community. When Lydia was 10 years old, she designed a business, which she called “Helping Hands” to make sandwiches for the homeless. Not only did she create this business, but she drew the logo, and recruited volunteers with the help of her parents to make this a reality.

As she entered into middle school and high school, her father became a head campus pastor (it is now a no longer existing campus). Through that time in her life as a pastor’s kid, there were many learning experiences and trials. But, the Lord spoke to her in powerful ways through visions of a future where she poured out her life to help others see the truth of the gospel and their identity in Christ. All she wanted to say was “yes” and filled her days with any type of serving she could do in the church. She was multifaceted and loved leading worship, teaching in kids ministry, doing live sound production, and leading a student group.

The most difficult years of her life began when she was going into college as her family stepped away from the ministry and underwent a six year long separation that ended in divorce. During her college years, it seemed as the devil was given open doors to reek havoc on her family. Many traumatic events occurred, which brought Lydia to a breaking point, but the Lord was always with her and again showed Lydia how faithful he was. After that period, she was encouraged to study the Word in depth, and a joy came over her that she could not explain – it was only from the Lord. From being filled with that unexplainable joy in the midst of difficult circumstances, Lydia was inspired to share Jesus and committed any ongoing creative class project to reference the gospel.

Her final project short-film was about “Living the Call” which was peer reviewed by her classmates and inspired great convo about the gospel amongst her new-age friends. Also, she sought to encourage Christians to “Live the Call”, which was the name of a campaign business she made with a close friend to bring awareness of the need for people to share the gospel to the nations! After Lydia graduated college with a Bachelor of Science in Visual Communication Tech and transitioned out of her industry job working at a local TV station in 2021, Lydia is now pursuing missions full-time as an Expedition Leader for Overland Missions since January of 2022.

In the last few years, Lydia has been able to travel to 15 countries leading expeditions and gathering content for testimonies about what the Lord has been doing around the world. One of her favorite experiences was being one the photographers representing Overland Missions for the Chief Mukuni Ceremony in Zambia for his Royal Highness, Munukalia Mukuni (Emperor) in 2023. Overland Missions was honored to MC this traditional ceremony as well, for this ceremony is one of honor, culture, and history. Many different provinces were represented & over fifty other chiefs attended.

Lydia is continuing to follow the Lord’s direction for her life as she is working with Overland Missions. She is seeking to carry out the vision the Lord has instilled inside her to “share the gospel to all nations.”