What is your ministry?
I am setting up a prayer ministry for our church. The hope is to make prayer a more integral part of our church life. The idea is to organise prayer days, start a regular prayer group, serve the church through prayer, and possibly set up a prayer room people can come to spend some time with the Lord, either through guided prayer time or at a more peaceful place than maybe some of their everyday surroundings.
When did you trust Christ?
I made my decision to follow Jesus when I was about 18 years old. I attended several evangelistic English camps throughout my high school years and heard the gospel through them every year. I loved talking about life and God, but I didn't want to be a Christian—the relationship piece of it all didn't make sense to me. However, that summer after high school, God made it very clear to me that He was real, and I knew I couldn't just ignore that. But it took me about a year to get to a point where I could first accept God's grace and then slowly forgive myself, as well. After that, I was able to comfortably call myself a Christian and started really enjoying getting to know Him through the Bible. I've never looked back.
What have been the defining moments of your Christian walk?
There are several people who have mentored me at different times. Their continuous pointing me to Christ has made a big difference in my life. But I would say the most defining moment was reading the Bible in the form of a six-month read-through, beginning to the end, with a group of people. God has revealed Himself to me in amazing ways through that. I have also seen God be faithful through the hard times in my life. I can look back and not only see Him being good and faithful throughout the history we read about in the Bible, but I see Him being good and faithful in my own life.
What do you hope to gain from participating?
The Forum was incredibly encouraging for me and has helped me think through some next steps for my ministry. The entire week felt like God was making introductions and I got to have the exact conversations I needed at that point. It was helpful for my ministry, but it was also incredibly valuable for my personal growth in my relationship with God, and incredibly encouraging to see Christians from different backgrounds come together as brothers and sisters and celebrate what we have in common. It was one of the most encouraging weeks I can remember.
What is your leadership role or what were your past leadership roles?
I used to be involved with youth and young adult ministry, mentoring youth, and leading Bible studies and group discussions. I have led a women's Bible study and Bible read-through groups.
Why should someone invest in your ministry?
I love God, and I love sharing that love with others. God has been giving me opportunities to encourage those around me with the gifts He has given me. I have always seen the need to build up the church and have always enjoyed being part of that, but God has been giving me more and more of a heart for the lost. I've always said that when I hear Him call, I want to respond, and I want to step into whatever it is He calls me to do. I'm excited to learn more about what that looks like and see where He leads, and when God is doing something, I think it's worth investing in it.
