My name’s Erin and I’m a 2nd year Christ in the City missionary from Garden Plain, KS.
What brought you to Christ in the City?
After a spring break mission trip with Christ in the City back in 2020, the Lord placed a desire on my heart to search for the beautiful moments to encounter others and to allow those moments to wound me when approached in an intentional, loving, and healthy manner. During my short week at Christ in the City, my heart ached because of how beautiful each encounter was that I experienced, whether that was with a friend on the street, a missionary or another college student also visiting, or even encountering parts of myself that I had been blind to. Within each of these, I learned that there are not many differences between myself, the fellow missionaries, or even those who live on the streets. Each of us has a desire to be happy, to be known, and to be loved. Each of us has our own poverty, materialistic or not. Each of us has a desire to be encountered. The Lord kept revealing to me that there is no better way for me to live those truths out than to serve with Christ in the City!
How has Christ in the City helped you grow?
The growth that has happened this year while being at Christ in the City has been tremendous, but I have noticed that the biggest growth this year has been learning how to let myself be loved. Our hearts were created to love others, but it has always been harder to let myself receive the love that I was created for. The Lord proves to show me that I am loved by my friends on the street, my community members, and countless others around me. He has shown me that it is very simple to allow myself to be loved, I just need to be secure in His love, which will allow me to receive it from others with open arms. It has been such a gift to learn how to grow in allowing myself to be appreciated and desired in the way that God longs for us to be. This act of allowing myself to be loved is still a continual growth and I cannot wait to see what love is going to come in this next year at Christ in the City.
A bit about me
What I am passionate about reveals a lot about me. These things include: taking time to wonder is not time wasted, the stars are designed to be gazed at, rain is meant to be played in, Kansas sunsets hit different, milk is good for the tastebuds, the Lord loves so well through daily prayer, people matter, a smile goes a long way, adventures are meant to be taken, & life is better when lived simply.