A few weeks ago, Josh shared his story with us, and in this episode, we talk to his wife, Katie. Katie and Josh are from New Bern, North Carolina. They started dating when they were only 16 years old, and Katie finally convinced Josh into proposing when they were 19 years old. They were engaged, but it took them three years to finally marry when they were 22 years old. They have now been married 12 years and they have three children. A daughter that is eight, a son that is six, and a son that is three...
A few weeks ago, Josh shared his story with us, and in this episode, we talk to his wife, Katie. Katie and Josh are from New Bern, North Carolina. They started dating when they were only 16 years old, and Katie finally convinced Josh into proposing when they were 19 years old. They were engaged, but it took them three years to finally marry when they were 22 years old. They have now been married 12 years and they have three children. A daughter that is eight, a son that is six, and a son that is three years old. Katie has a bachelor's in Exercise Sports Science from Elon University and a bachelor's in Nursing from Duke University Nursing School. Katie is still a registered nurse, even though she is currently a stay at home mom. Katie and Josh are heavily involved in the Summit Church, the Apex campus, and she leads a women's Bible study at Summit and also a high school girls' small group. She and Josh are involved in an adult small group and with Global Hope India and Your Choice Pregnancy Center in Raleigh. Katie is also a lead singer in a local band named Secret Drive.
Katie shared some stories from her mission trips. The first time she went to India was in January 2015. She went with GHI where her husband, Josh, was the lead. It’s a great example that a young newlywed couple with young children at home can actually still go on missions. To date, Katie has been to India twice where she got to lead a team on her second trip. In 2018, she signed up to go on a women's trip to Haiti with the Summit Church. Her most recent trip was to Johannesburg in South Africa where they went to places that tourists would not normally go to. They did street evangelism and did not have a hard time talking to people since most of them knew the English language. They would tell them about Christmas and ask them about their traditions. Then they would go straight to the gospel and tell them that Christmas was actually the celebration of the birth of our savior and that it is for everyone, not just Americans. They would then invite them to Bible studies, which is what the missionaries who live in Johannesburg do. They continue that relationship with them throughout the year, and that turns into a discipleship relationship.
She talks about some of the challenges that she faced as a result of going to an orphanage of special needs children in India. She found that the most challenging part of the trip was changing her and her team’s mindset. They wanted to make an impact on the lives of the children in a matter of five short days. They realized that they just needed to change their mindset and focus more on loving and impacting. They were moms that ended up really pouring their lives out into other moms and people that were in motherly positions within the ministry. This is a reflection of how even if you plan everything out for a trip, mid-trip God will do a paradigm shift and say, “you know, you're here for the children, but you're also here for the staff and your greatest impact maybe even left in the staff and then it is going to be left in the children”.
Katie shares that going on missions have changed her life so much. She has not seen more growth in her walk with Christ than she has when she has been going on mission trips. She has seen this growth through the evidence of how much she now sees her need for a savior, just how good God is and His kindness through everything that she has walked through. Katie talks about how it’s amazing to also see other people grow through going on missions by leaving their comfort zone and putting their faith in God. She also shares about the costs involved in following Christ. There are rewards, but the costs are also just as real. Benefits do outweigh the cost, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't a cost involved. Despite all the costs, it all comes down to the great commission and the urgent need that everyone has to be reconciled to God through his Son, Jesus Christ.
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Global Hope India: For over 20 years we have been watching God radically transform thousands of Americans & Indian Nationals through missions. We’ve taken nearly 1,000 Americans on short-term mission trips to India. We work with 12 long-term indigenous church planting partners located in North, South, East, & West mainland India as well as Northeast India. We empower the Church in India to make Christ known through leadership, child, & village development projects. Global Hope India is a federally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in Morrisville, North Carolina. All gifts are tax-deductible. More about GHI.More about Missions Changed My Life Podcast.
Meet Pastor Kevin: Pastor Kevin is Founder and Executive Director of Global Hope India and your host for Missions Changed My Life Podcast. He’s a poor kid from rural North Carolina, but get this… He just returned from his 50th trip to India in 20 years. If he doesn’t yet hold the Guinness Book of World Records for the most trips to India then he’s got to be close. He’s flown over a million miles to 27 different countries. He’s taken nearly 1,000 people on mission trips to India. Global Hope India has seen thousands of Indian Nationals and Americans radically transformed by God through missions. The miracle continues! More about Pastor Kevin.
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