About PJ - Petah-Jane | Identity. Healing. Purpose.

I tell stories. I write, I teach. I walk pilgrims called to ancient ground. My work is a witness to what God is doing in Egypt, in the world, in Scripture, and in the people He is calling out of the noise.

Out of Egypt

I first travelled to Egypt in 2012 — a New Age, agnostic, tired single Mum to two teens, with 30 years of HR and corporate life under my belt. From the very first minute, Egypt inexplicably felt like home.

On the 15th of April 2016, a Khamsin — the same seasonal east wind God used to part the Red Sea — stopped the tour I was leading on the Nile. The whole itinerary unravelled. We were rerouted back to Cairo.

The next day, after four years of pleading with me, my Egyptian guide, friend and business partner, Abdou finally got me into the Christian District of Old Cairo. We went down into the underground cellar where the Holy Family had once sheltered on their flight from Herod.

In a plot-twist no one saw coming, including me, I went down into that cellar a New Age agnostic and came up a believer in Christ.

In the years that followed, God would use this land to define my purpose, refine the gifts He gave me, and reveal the meaning of my name. He brought me out of Egypt so I could help others find their way too.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.” — Leviticus 26:13

When God Proves You’re Called by Name

I always hated my name. As a child I was mocked for being named after a boy, and teased for the spelling no one could write. It was a burden I never asked for. Until I learned what it actually meant: Petah — the opening of the door to the Tent of Meeting. Jane — the grace of God. My name, in full: the opening of the door of the tent to God's grace. No wonder I felt so burdened carrying it before I understood it. No wonder I was in deep rebellion for most of my life. And no wonder I used to paint so many doors in watercolour. But in the end, it was a tree God used to call me home.

WHAT I'M WATCHING RIGHT NOW

The same year I came to faith in Coptic Cairo, Egypt’s parliament passed the Church Construction Law. In the years since, over 3,800 churches have been legalised.

His Excellency Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt has attended Coptic Christmas Mass every year since 2015 — the first sitting Egyptian president to do so. The land Isaiah called blessed is being unsealed in real time, and I am eyewitness to it.

The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying,
“Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork,
and Israel my inheritance.” Isaiah 19:25 NIV

What I Believe

I believe in one God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — three persons, one God, Creator of the known universe.

I believe that Jesus Christ is fully human and fully divine, my Lord and Saviour, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. As a seeker for most of my adult life, unknowingly, it was that verse — John 14:6 — that was instrumental in bringing me to faith in Christ as a born again believer. It was June 2020, and I was saved three months later.
I believe the Bible is the inspired, authoritative Word of God. It is the foundation of everything I teach, write, and share.
I believe we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus alone. Not by works, not by striving, not by earning it. By grace.
I believe the spiritual gifts are active today — poured out on sons and daughters for the building up of the Church and for the good of humanity. They did not cease with the apostles. They are alive and operating, and I have seen them at work.
I believe the Holy Spirit is present, active, and personal. He has been part of my formation since I was saved, and long before I understood what He was doing. He teaches, reveals, corrects, and comforts — and He is not finished with me yet. My own salvation was a miracle, but then to see Him pour out His Spirit on my husband and my daughter separately, five years later, was incredible. Without knowing, they both bought a Bible on the same day, to seal their faith.
I believe that God is not done with His people — all of His people. I hold the future loosely and trust that not all things can or should be known until the Son of Man comes, as Jesus Himself told us.
I believe that Christians can disagree on secondary matters and still be one body. The non-negotiable is this: Jesus and God are one. Everything else is conversation.
I am not aligned with any single denomination. I learn from many streams — evangelical, charismatic, reformed, Orthodox — because I believe different traditions have preserved different pieces of the same revelation. The synthesis matters more than the labels.
I regularly attend a Baptist church on Bribie Island, where I live. I am planted, I am in community, and I am under teaching.
I am still forming. I change and grow as I go deeper into Scripture. That is not drift — it is Spirit-led and rooted in Scripture.