[1] She went to Dandenong High School,[2] and later completed a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne.
Ling was spiritually inclined as a young woman and had been active in youth church groups.
[1] At that point, the Methodist Church in Australia did not allow the ordination of women to the pastoral ministry.
[3] Ling completed a Bachelor of Ministry degree and then worked full-time as a deaconess in Ballarat, Victoria.
[1] In 2019, she was featured in a show called Beachside Stories at the Gasworks Theatre in Albert Park, Victoria.