The Cathey Anderson Memorial Fund
On December 22, 2015, Cathey Anderson, Beloved friend and founder of The Freedom Challenge, passed away. Today in her honor along with her family I want to announce the Cathey Anderson Scholarship Fund. Please watch the video below to hear from Cathey and read from her daughter Callie Carson as she explains the heart behind the scholarship Fund. The ability to apply for a scholarship for one of our 2018 Challenges as well as the opportunity to give to the fund will begin Monday, January 8. Cathey loved women and enjoyed seeing the inner transformation in them as they gave to their sisterhood throughout the world. I am grateful to keep her legacy alive through this Scholarship fund
"At a summer conference in 2010, my mom (Cathey Anderson) was posed with the question from a speaker: “Where are you allowing your fears to stifle your faith?” She knew immediately the answer-her fear of heights. Multiple times in her life she had attempted to summit Mt. Whitney and was never able to because her fears held her back from achieving that goal.
The following September, my mom tried yet again to summit Mt Whitney one last time. This time she knew that she would not allow anything to sway her resolve. God and my dad, would faithfully get her to that peak. It was on the drive home after this breakthrough that the Lord planted the vision of the Freedom Climb (now known as The Freedom Challenge) in my mom’s heart, mind and soul.
Fighting for freedom and justice
The first thing she said to my dad upon receiving the vision was: “God wants me to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro with women to fight for freedom and justice.”
And so it began. In January of 2012, 48 women from around the world gathered to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to be a voice for the voiceless and fight for justice for vulnerable women and children around the world.
Since 2012 there have been many more mountain peaks summited by hundreds of climbers and thousands of women and children are being set free. God’s heart and the vision continues to expand and grow as the battle for freedom and justice is fought.
Memorial Fund
The Cathey Anderson Memorial Fund is specifically for women who have a passionate desire to be part of this movement by sharing their own stories, raising support and helping educate the world on the devastation of human trafficking and modern-day slavery.
My mom’s heart from the very beginning was that this call to women would be a daring experience for them that would encourage growth. Signing up for a challenge would mean putting themselves in the shoes of enslaved women and children imagining the pain they face each day. Because this vision was born from a place of being freed from a fear that she battled her entire life, my mom also desired that those invested would learn to face their fears and experience the same freedom. Freedom from the lies they believed their whole life. Freedom to speak up and use their voices to be a beacon of hope, love and perseverance.
Stepping out in faith
My entire family desires to keep my mom’s memory, legacy and heart alive. We pray that this fund motivates women to participate. We pray that whoever receives assistance would be encouraged to step out in faith and work hard to raise awareness about modern-day slavery. We also pray that they would receive freedom in areas of their lives where they have been in bondage.
Ultimately my mom wanted every man, woman and child to understand that Jesus is the Lover of their soul and came to bring salvation, redemption and freedom to this world. -Callie Carson
Cathey Anderson explaining her vision for Freedom Challenge: