Kierra Higgins
What an exciting and crazy adventure it has been as God has led me to this job at Empowering Lives! During my freshman year at Azusa Pacific University, God radically broke my heart for the poor and I felt a calling to help relieve poverty in this world that I couldn’t ignore. In the summer of 2002, I went to Kenya with a team from my school to partner with ELI and experienced the most amazing month of my life. I fell in love with the people, the culture, and the land, and I definitely left a huge portion of my heart there. I didn’t know if Kenya and ELI would be a permanent part of my future, but I hoped and prayed that they somehow would.
Two years later, God clearly revealed and confirmed His calling for me to help relieve poverty in Africa through ELI. What a ‘God story’ followed: I graduated and joined ELI staff to help run the U.S. office right as the current office administrator had a baby and cut back to part-time. God blessed me beyond my wildest imagination with this opportunity to join ELI, and truly fulfilled the deepest desires of my heart. My first year with ELI as the office administrator served as an incredible learning time as I gained knowledge of how the organization runs and all the stateside work that goes into running a ministry in Africa. I loved supporting our staff overseas and handling the tasks that make this ministry in Africa possible.
For the coming year, God is calling me into a new and exciting role as ELI’s Short-Term Team Coordinator. On top of attending to many of the office demands, I am organizing, preparing, and training the numerous short-term teams and interns who plan to serve with ELI this year. I will spend this spring coordinating all the logistics for the trips and preparing the teams. And then, from May through September, I am heading to Kenya to help host the teams and interns while they serve. I will be helping bring them from the airport to the village, connecting them with projects and ministries during the day, processing/debriefing with them, and just caring for them in any way I can. When I return to the states in the fall, I will do follow-up with returning team members and begin planning for next year’s teams. I am so excited about this coming year and for all that God has in store! Truly He is a God who works in ways beyond our wildest imaginations!