It took two world-level sporting careers, extreme highs and bitter lows, for Iona Rossely to be fully formed in her faith. Although she was one of the\fastest women in the world at her speed skiing, God outpaced her in the end.
“At the age of 25 I was living my dream – racing around the world as part of the Smirnoff Speed Skiing Team,” Rossely recalled. “In my first year I won two major titles – British Overseas Lady Champion and the 1986 New Zealand Ladies’ Championship. At this point in my life, I had no time for God, plus I wasn’t sure who He was. But that all changed after I fell in the World Cup qualifier in France at 160km/h and shattered my right leg into nine pieces.”
The worst thing that could happen to her just did, she thought. Her identity vanished.
“But then in a random decision to join a Bible study group. I met Jesus and knew that my life was going to change.” But it took longer for the change to happen. Fear got in the way.
“I met Jesus but my new faith wasn’t strong enough and I truly believed that God was going to take all the things I loved away from me and turn me into a clone,” she told The Other cheek.
So she plunged back into sport. “I ignored all the doctors’ warnings and went from training as a jockey, into show jumping whilst working for Rothmans Williams Renault Formula One Team. My fast-paced life had me going in circles – I was active, but I carried a large void in my heart.”
Slowly that void was filling as she read the Bible. But as he puts it, she does not do failure well. Her best horse suddenly became ill at the qualifier for the World Equestrian Games sending her into a meltdown.
“This was the first time I hadn’t qualified for the team in a major race. I could feel a darkness descend over me. I lashed out at God – why had he let this happen? While I drowned in self-pity, I had an experience like never before. An overwhelming sense of love surrounded me, and I knew Jesus was standing over me and, in that moment, I knew it was time to let go and let God completely into my life. I knew then I no longer wanted to live my life without him – I surrendered everything to him and in a twinkle of an eye, my burdens, obsessions and anxieties vanished.”
She did not become boring. She has discovered country living. Country church living. Helping others run their own race towards Jesus is her new goal.
Outside the village of Chillingham in the Tweed Valley, Northern New South Wales, on a 270-acre horse and cattle farm, she runs a church without walls. – the nearest bigtown is Murwillumbah.
The farm church is called Prayer, Praise and Pecan. The pecan bit comes from a giant tree that stands in lush green gardens surrounded by several rolling horse paddocks – where they meet.
The church lacks the sort of walls that keep some people out. “PPP core values are to promote Biblical beliefs in an environment that allows people to ask questions without feeling uncomfortable or judged,” Rossely explained. The Alpha course and weekly prayer meetings have helped the community grow.
A pecan tree has proved to be a fine place for let people ask questions. The two top questions Rossely told The Other Cheek are “”when are we meeting next?” and “How can I get to know Jesus better?”
Iona Rossely was a professional athlete who raced for Great Britain in Speed Skiing and then represented Ireland in endurance horse racing. She is the author of Racing on Empty (2020), her autobiography, and The Unexpected (2022), a guide to living in changing and unexpected times.
ionarossely.com