Katie is a dynamic, attractive bundle of energy. She is always on the go, working part-time as a secondary school teacher and looking after her seven year old twins, as well as supporting her busy husband. If you popped round to her house, you would usually find the teapot brewing and something delicious cooking. Katie is one of the leaders of the outreach team at her local church and organises her own spontaneous events and yet always manages to make time for her friends, with her goal being to prioritise her non-Christian friends. If I tell her that she sounds like superwoman, she would shake her curly haired head and laugh out loud, as she is never afraid of admitting her vulnerablities and laughing at her own mistakes, I had to bully her to agree to this article!!
She is our September ‘Dangerous Woman’.
I asked her how she would define evangelism and she said it is often more about listening than talking, with love being the greatest goal and tool. Whilst she is in demand at church for her leadership and organisational qualitites, she is careful to make time to be involved in her local school, neighbourhood and community.
‘Being at church events is great, but commiting to a netball team at the local sports club is vital for me to meet others and build friendships’.
Katie became a Christian whilst a student and is good at remembering how alien the church and faith can feel to some.
She is the leader of the Christmas crafts event, which sees more than one hundred women flood into the church building for a night of mulled wine, gentle live music and contemporary Christmas crafts. Most of the church girls bring a group of four or five non-churched friends: they say it is the easiest event to invite others to. Naff tinsel, fake robins and plastic bags are banned- the preparations for this event start five months in advance.
Katie is also gifted at setting up spontaneous kitchen table meetings. When the extent of the hurricane in Haiti emerged, Katie texted her friends, invited her neighbours and baked some cakes. Two days later her kitchen was full and £600 was sent off to the disaster relief fund.
At the moment Katie has two close friends who are going through a very hard time, it is not suprising that her favourite Bible chapter is Isaiah 35 –
‘Encourage those who have weak knees. Say to those who have fearful hearts,’Be strong and do not fear…He is coming to save you.’