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Like many moms of young children, Kelli Arena knows details matter. She's mastered the art of packing her three children's lunches so Cameron, nine, Claire, seven, and Evan, five, get things just the way they like them—chocolate pudding versus vanilla, grapes versus carrot sticks.
But once Kelli scribbles the last "I love you" note on those lunchbox napkins and sees her kids off to school, this broadcast journalist switches hats to focus on the second job she's mastered: covering justice and intelligence for one of the nation's major news networks, CNN.
As the network's Justice Department Correspondent, Kelli's filed reports on the September 11 terrorist attacks and the United States' ongoing war against terror, as well as stories about child pornography and the rise of methamphetamine addiction. Most recently she covered the troubled dealings at the Justice Department involving Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.
Yet at the end of the day, Kelli says it's not her work as a journalist that defines her life and gives her purpose—it's her relationship with Jesus.
Producing Programs—and PageantsAlthough she was raised attending church, Kelli, a native New Yorker, didn't crack open the Bible until she was 24 and her mother had passed away. "At that point, I felt a new freedom to explore my faith," she says. "I realized I needed to make my own way instead of continue in a tradition my family had laid out for me."
She got connected with the New York Fellowship, a nondenominational association, where a staff member began to disciple Kelli. "We started studying the Gospel of John," Kelli remembers. "There were no questions too stupid to ask or thoughts too bizarre to express."
After Kelli embraced the gospel message, she began working with youth at her church while also working for CNN. "Every year at Christmastime I'd be in charge of the church pageant, so I'd be crazy trying to find five live lambs while still producing a television show," she says, laughing.
As Kelli rose in the ranks at CNN, her colleagues knew her faith was a priority. "I'd tell them, 'Look, you can Blackberry me all you want, but between 9 and 10:30 a.m. on Sundays, you're not going to reach me because I'm in church.'"
Shattering StereotypesThroughout her 22-year tenure at CNN, Kelli says she's never felt uncomfortable being a Christian. That may be partly due to her strong personality. "I'm a person to contend with," she explains. "So if you're going to pick on someone, it's not going to be me. I definitely don't shove my faith down your throat. But if you're willing to listen, I'm willing to tell you about it.
"I work with smart, thoughtful people, so I've had some spirited debates," she adds. "Some have a strong Jewish faith, while others are devout Muslims. I've had the opportunity to share why I believe what I believe."
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