Hey everyone! It’s been a little while since I’ve written an update
So this one maybe a little longer & a little bit more real, but hang in there. :)
As most of you know, I started the year in the Dominican Republic, with my sweet co-leader and our super rad team of 11!
After we debriefed our students in Mexico, I came back to campus and began serving in our creative media department. This was such an awesome opportunity as I grew and developed my skills and passions for media and design.
Serving in our DTS department here at YWAM Montana has been such a joy and privilege- there’s opportunity for leading in different capacities, serving, and stewarding what the Lord places before me individually and on teams throughout the campus.
Right now I’m one week away from completing a 6-week leadership training course called DTS Equip. Equip is designed to take leaders (specifically DTS & YWAM leaders) and train and equip them to approach leadership through becoming disciples first, learning to steward all that God places before them through a greater understanding of intimacy with God. Something I’ve been pondering is the idea that we are called to first be disciples, and then go out and disciple other people.
One of my greatest takeaways so far has been the idea that “Christianity without discipleship is Christianity without Christ.” I know, that’s a blunt statement; it implies so many things.
If we as individuals just come together on a Sunday (or Wednesday or whenever) and never create space for transformation (which happens in community) we must consider, are we pursuing relationship or individualism? Are we embracing the work He wants to do within and through us? We as the body of Christ have a DEEP need to be connected, to serve, and to grow within the context of community. Jesus’s people were disciples- they made mistakes and grew as they followed Him together. For me, it’s been a stretching but beautiful process of following Jesus as He calls me deeper into community.
This blog is titled “Growing Pains” and it comes through a process of just that. I know we’ve all felt the growing pains in relationships. People always seem to be coming and going. Maybe we’ve loved people in different cities and countries, or we’ve said hello and goodbye too many times to count. Many of us have even wrestled internally with the question “Is it worth it?” “Is this love worth the risk?”
Well, in the past few months, Jesus has been showing me why love is worth the risk. This doesn’t mean I’m some professional now or that I’m no longer a dysfunctional human, no. But what it does mean is that I am beginning to understand that my ability to love isn’t to be done so in my strength. 1 John 4:19 says that “We love because He first loved us”. My perspective changed from asking IS it worth it, to WHY is it worth it. Jesus is showing me that moving deeper into community & relationships is worth it because He is in the center of them. Oh how this has moved my heart. Having this revelation means that I must respond to it.
Now, I get to practically respond to this. An opportunity was presented to me a few months ago, by the 2021 Fall school leader (and a mentor/friend of mine). The opportunity was for me to be one of two assistant leaders for the DTS this fall. This might not seem like that much of a difference within a school, but in reality, this responsibly comes with lots of implications in my mind. It means more room to make mistakes. There’s a risk for failure on a more public level. It means taking the risk and taking a step deeper into community. I get to choose, will I let fear outweigh the beauty of how God wants to move in, through, and beyond myself?
I recently wrote up a ‘vision statement’ and though it’s still in the works, I feel like it’s a small stepping stone that gives me the ‘why’ and ‘how’ I say yes to things with Jesus.
I have a heart to create space for all people to know God, make Him known, and respond in faith to the call- ‘Go and make disciples' through worship, teaching, and serving- to and from every people and place!
But living according to this vision statement requires community. It requires risk. It means depending on people, loving people, and making sacrifices for the benefit of others. It also looks like slowing down enough to understand where we are and what God is doing within us. Jesus has been asking me to slow down and allow the ‘dirt to settle’ within my heart. This has been such a process- some days are harder than others, but through the slowing down I’ve been able to express all of this in some really meaningful ways. It’s been expressed through loving people more deeply, taking time to listen, walking in more boldness sharing Jesus, and in a sweet project, I’ve been working on.
This project has been a work in process- taking about the last three years to even begin to take shape. It reflects the ups and downs of this walk along with others, Jesus, and myself. Within it, is represented tension, give and take, love and risk, goodbyes and hello’s, and so on. As I said, it’s a process, and it’s still in the making, but after prayer, I felt lead to just give you a little peek into it and let you know I’ll be sharing more about it in the near future. That’s all I’ll say about that for now. ;)
With community, I’ll be walking towards the growing pains, discipleship, and the very present need for the Gospel. That’s what I’ll be doing for the next few months (and whole life..lol). BUT I just have to say, (if you’re still reading) thank you. I could not do this without the family of Christ that have surrounded me. They have believed in me, supported me, prayed for me, and been the hands and feet of Jesus alongside me. If you’re one of them- thank you for walking with me through the growing pains of the last 10 months, year, or many years that I have been following Jesus. I can’t and DON’T want to do this without you.
I am especially grateful to be surrounded by a group of people who have such a heart for discipleship to happen in the lives of students, the nations, and even myself. You are a people who empower and also stand behind that vision statement that I mentioned earlier. YOU get to be the practical advancement of God’s heart on the move.
Thanks for catching up with me,
-Ky
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