Summary: Denali grew up in the rural northwest. As a teenager she was caught up in the pressures of fitting in and the Baha'i Faith wasn't conducive to that. When she graduated from high school, she decided to go on a Baha'i year of service, which Denali explains is an opportunity for a young Baha'i person to give a year of service to help the Baha'i Faith somewhere. She chose Ecuador because it sounded like a great place to travel and she had certain expectations of what her experience would be like serving in Ecuador. The experience was much different than her expectations, and the hardship of the year of service actually confirmed her in the Baha'i Faith. She wrote a book about her experience titled Arising: A Year of Service Handbook for Volunteers. Before playing Denali's interview, I play an excerpt from the podcast Interfaith Voices by Maureen Fiedler. Maureen interviewed Rainn Wilson in one of her sessions. You can find the Interfaith Voices podcast at InterfaithRadio. org.
