Our Team

Michelle Zhu

Michelle Zhu grew up in a small town in northeast Oklahoma. She was introduced to the Gospel as a preteen as she attended Awanas at the local First Baptist Church. For several years she struggled with the truth of a loving God who would send his son to redeem her from sin. Through the love of the church members investing in her life and the drawing of the Holy Spirit she placed her faith in Christ at the age of 13 as the Way, the Truth and the Life. She grew up and was discipled by her church family into a leader in her youth group and learned to truly love to study the Bible and apply it to every area of life. Receiving scholarships to Northeastern State University, she got her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education with the intent of becoming a teacher overseas as a platform for sharing the Gospel among people groups with little access to the Good News. After graduating in December of 2014 with her degree she worked for 5 months as a full-time substitute in her local school system. In July of 2015, her church family sent her out as a mid-term missionary with the International Mission Board to live in Central Asia where she helped homeschool 7 missionary kids on her team and served alongside career missionaries in her city until July of 2017. In August of 2017 she moved to Wake Forest to attend Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary to get her masters degree in Christian Marriage, Family and Individual Counseling with the intention of returning overseas with the IMB as a member care counselor. After graduating in December of 2020, she worked for 6 months in a preschool, working as a teacher for a two year old classroom before joining the HLA 3rd grade team. Michelle met her husband, Michael, while attending a small group in their church and got married in 2019. They live together in Wake Forest where they attend Richland Creek Community Church. They both have a deep passion and love for serving children to grow up to know Christ as Lord.