My dream was to change the
world, I wasn’t sure how that was going to happen or what that was going to
look like, but I had the passion and I was ready for God to use me however he
saw fit. Little did I know what God had waiting for me just around the corner
I was working at a Life
Insurance company and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life but then God
showed me an opening at Freedom for Youth Ministries for a Carlisle Site
Director and I jumped at the opportunity. I could work with kids and do a bunch
of other things that I loved, how much better could that be?! So I applied and
God allowed me to get the job and in February of 2017, I started my dream job
as the Carlisle Site Director for Freedom for Youth.
Fast forward a couple months
and we had a fully running program for K-5th grade and had 20-23
kids regularly attending every Thursday night to hear about Jesus, get a free
meal, and get help with their homework. I loved it and every single week I
looked forward to Thursday nights. But then one week I just didn’t want to do
it anymore, I was discouraged and Satan was trying so hard to get me down so I
cried out to Jesus and in a way, that only he can do he helped me to
re-evaluate why I was doing this and what my vision was. I told Jesus that day that
I was doing this because I wanted to change the world, because I wanted to
serve him and I wanted to help these kids that I had come to love so very much.
After I was done telling him my plans he very gently showed me his plans, he
gave me 23 kids (and still growing) for 2-3 hours every week and now my job was
to teach them how to change the world.
God had given me the tools I
needed to teach these kids and so that’s what we’re doing in Carlisle now, we
are starting to change the world. Each one of my kids has a heart of Gold and a
servant’s heart. They love deeply and care deeply. They believe they can change
their world and I have no doubt in my mind that they will.
What are these tools that they
need you may ask? Well, most importantly they need Jesus. They need to know
Jesus loves them and have a personal and growing relationship with him. Some of
the other tools they are learning are kindness, love, honesty, integrity, thankfulness,
joy, and self-control, to name a few, and we teach those every week at Freedom.
So, my new passion is to Train
World Changers and watch with pride and joy as God uses them to change the
world.
If you have questions about
Freedom for Youth and what we are doing or if you would like to get involved,
please contact Katelyn Short at kshort@freedomforyouth.org.
What an awesome thing to see the hand of the Lord working in your life Katelyn. You most can and do change the world one child at a time!
ReplyDeletePraise the Lord for your ministry! I pray for you everyday! I miss you and hope things continue to go well for you!
ReplyDeleteI got a big smile on my face when I read this. It has been a big blessing for me to work beside you at FFY and to have the freedom to talk with these kids about Jesus and to help sow seeds of gratitude and kindness into their lives.
ReplyDeleteWhen the enemy tries to discourage you cling to Galatians 6:9-10 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.