Maddie Lees

Community Experiential Specialist

Hi My name is Maddie Lees, and I hail from Colerain Township (If you have heard of the Rumpke dump, you are in the right place #westsidebestside). At a young age, I fell in love with Jesus Christ and I knew I wanted to give my life to Him and encourage others to do the same. Also- just like most young girls, I had another love: horses. I guess you could call me your quintessential horse girl complete with the wacky equine inspired t-shirts, eclectic taste in Indie horse films, and everything in between. I started riding at the age of 6, owned my VERY own chestnut mare in high school, and then unfortunately had to stop riding when I was 17 to pay for college.

Throughout my high school and college years, I had the privilege to experience so many unique opportunities to be on mission for Christ and to delve into social injustices in our nation, and globally. I quickly fell in love with the urban setting knowing in my heart, that someday I would live and work in a neighborhood like Price Hill. Similarly, when I gave up riding when I was 17, I knew that my time with horses was not coming to an end, Jesus would fulfill those desires when He saw fit. So, I waited and prayed.

I graduated college in 2019 with a degree in Pastoral Leadership and after graduation I was certain that the Lord was going to whisk me away on a grand adventure as a missionary to foreign lands or maybe even call me to be a nun… or something. To my great dismay and confusion, He did just the opposite. In May of 2019 I packed up my college house and drove like a very true millennial, headed straight back to Cincinnati to live in my parent’s basement. Riveting. But the Lord had so many BIG  plans to use me as a missionary in my own city of origin. I worked for three years in varying  ministry roles, and though I felt like the Lord was using me as His instrument, I did not feel like I was truly where I belonged.

In June of 2022, I took a leap of faith and I quit my job, with a loosely etched plan of what may lie ahead. Jesus told me to wait because He had something big, so, I went about my life working to pay the bills, and praying for receptivity to His plan in His timing. And then- it happened. In a crazy turn of events that only the Almighty can orchestrate, the Holy Spirit led me to BLOC ministries to work with the Horses on the Hill program. As usual with our Abundant God, this ministry had it all: Horses and Jesus in an urban setting. You truly cannot make that stuff up, and I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for this mission He has called me into with this role!

"Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." -Psalm 37:4

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