Hey friends!
I am 23 and grew up in a small town just outside of Austin, TX
called Liberty Hill.
I started going to the local United Methodist Church with
my mom and Grandma when I was six and was baptized when I was eight, though at
that point I’m not sure if I really understood what it meant. When I was about
ten we stopped going to church and I really started to have many doubts including
a loving caring God’s existence. That changed when I was 14, when my
grandmother was killed in a car wreck. Now I know that may not make sense,
because my grandma died, my doubts stopped? Well like
most things it was a process. Grandma had a big role in my life as she lived
right across the lawn from my house as I was growing up, she was like a third
parent. I started to look for something to take the pain away during my
freshman year of high school and ended up back at the same UMC that I had grown
up in. I finally asked Christ into my life when I was 16, at that point I still
had many doubts but I felt this wave of peace wash over me and all I could
think was its going to be ok, I’ll take care of you. I continued to grow in my
faith throughout high school but I felt like I was on a roller coaster of one
retreat putting me on a spiritual high and then a drought until the next
retreat or mission trip.
At UT (University of Texas at Austin) I became part of a campus ministry (Texas Wesley!!) and finally
learned what it means to be constantly seeking the Lord. It’s something that I’m
convinced I will be learning the rest of my life and still struggle with now.
For me, missions in high school were something that I loved to do because it
put me in touch with God and was often the only time I would feel him in that
season. In college though that all changed because I was surrounded by a
community of people who loved Christ and were seeking him at some level
everyday. I did missions because I felt called to them or just wanted to help
people in general. I felt God calling me into ministry and even at times
specifically missions throughout high school but during college I somewhat lost
sight of that. I wanted first of all to be a nurse and then changed my major to
nutrition, all while thinking of but never verbalizing the ways that I could
best serve people and still be studying about the human body and how God
created it to work.
My third year of college I had a few friends go with AIM
to South Africa and Swaziland. As I kept up with them by reading their emails
and blogs, I began to also get passionate about Africa, mainly southern Africa.
The next spring, two classes that I took really began to shape what I will be
doing this September. I took International Nutrition and the History of
HIV/AIDS in Africa at the same time. My heart was broken for the people that have
to deal with this disease on a daily basis and for the generation of children that
are growing up without their parents and only have a grandmother left to raise
them if they are lucky. I began to look into the programs that are going there
to help with the crisis and thought about Peace Corps and others but I can’t
imagine going there without being able to pray for the people that we are going
to help and without going with a community of believers that can lift them up
together.
So here is where I find myself, 23 years old, doing my best to pass
this last semester of classes and trying to raise funds to get to South Africa
and offer the help that I can with God’s love.
Hi Katie. Wow, it sounds like you have a heart for God that cannot be shaken. That is awesome! I look forward to sharing this awesome experience with you!
Heya… it’s been a while 🙂
I’m really glad to see that you’re doing so great! I really hope for the best for you… it seems like you turned out to be a pretty good egg. 🙂
Best wishes!
Hey Katie! I’m from Ausin as well! I will say however, that I will be attending Texas A&M after this year of missions work (but I’ll overlook the whole school thing, haha! After all, the whole body of Christ thing is a little more important, right?!) I enjoyed reading about your life and passion for those with HIV/AIDS. That’s awesome. I hope to be going to Uganda (or Swaziland). I don’t have my blog up yet, but hopefully that will happen soon! I look forward to meeting you in Atlanta! God Bless
Katie,
Aunt Elizabeth was my Aunt. Uncle Jim was my Mother’s ( Mary Edna Graves Giles),brother.
Aunt Elizabeth used to send me cards and notes and I was able to know you for all of your young life. How she loved you.
One of my best memorys was One year I had gone to My Grandmother’s House. Minnie GIles -and Aunt Thelma, Aunt Elizabeth and Mother wanted to go to the Melissa Cemetery to look up people they had known when they all were young women. When the three of them got together you have never heard all the laughing and kidding each other. It was the best sound I ever had. Oh how I loved them all. I wish you well in your future life
Sherry Bruner –