Meet Kristi Davis, Our New Elementary Coordinator

October 1, 2021 | Uncategorized

Almost every week, we send out an email to our church family which highlights a key event, ministry, or element in the upcoming worship services.  Below is the text from the email from September 23, 2021.  If you would like to receive our Weekend Preview email, click to sign up.

 

Today we are excited to announce that Kristi Davis has been hired as our new Elementary Coordinator.  We caught up with Kristi this week to find out a little bit more about her, and we learned that Kristi grew up in a Christian home where church was always a priority.

 “My dad was in the military and we moved around a lot,” Kristi says. “Whenever we got to a new town, one of the first things we did was find a church home.”

Kristi said her family attended Sunday School and church regularly and the Bible stories she heard at church were reinforced by her parents.

Kristi pauses here in the story to emphasize, “This is one of the reasons I believe the bridge between church and home is so important.”

One night when she was six years old there was a terrible storm outside her home.  Kristi remembered how Jesus calmed the storm in the Bible.  She went to her mother and told her, “I want to ask Jesus into my heart.”  She explains that this moment represented the fruit of seeds planted in her heart throughout her childhood.

As she grew in the Lord, Kristi had a desire to serve children from a young age.

“Children’s ministry has always been a passion of mine,” she says.  “I started helping in kids ministry as soon as I was old enough to serve on Wednesday nights when I was in middle school.”  She goes on to explain that she was a counselor in high school at Camp Joy El, and she went through their leadership training. “From there it’s always been something that God has always placed on my heart.”

Camp Joy El would become an important landmark in her life for another reason – it’s where she met her husband of 17 years, Ricky.

“I was late to chapel one evening.  Normally I sat in the front, but this night I slid into the back row right next to him, and he asked, ‘You want to get snacks together later?’”  She laughs when she describes that Ricky was concerned there wasn’t a big chance for them to make a strong connection because she was wearing a hoodie from an out-of-state college.  He tried to play it cool when he suggested she put her information into his new Palm Pilot.  When he saw that she was a local girl, he had renewed hope.  The rest is history!

Kristi and Ricky have three children. Their oldest, a daughter, is Madison.  Their sons are Brandon and Justin.  She and Ricky also have a passion for being foster parents.  She said they were first impacted by hearing stories from others, and their hearts became tender to the needs of at-risk kids.  The next step was to ask their children how they felt about the idea.  They recognized that it would need to be a family undertaking because it would impact their lives in a major way.  All three kids wanted to do it.

They invested in foster care about 2 ½ years ago, and it’s been a challenging but rewarding season of family ministry.

“It’s our family mission field,” Kristi says.  “It isn’t easy but God has taught us so much.”

She says they have been able to see some of the pain that goes on in the foster community and the hurt that many of the children experience.  “It has been very eye-opening to us, the things that go unnoticed in the lives of these kiddos, and also very difficult to face.  These families need a community to come around them and support them.”

For children’s ministry, Kristi says the elementary age has always been where her heart is most in-tune.  “Kids absorb so much; they are like little sponges.  The great thing about working with elementary kids is you have a big connection with the parents as well.”

She goes on to share, “With kids ministry, you are starting to set up the building blocks of faith—that has always been a big focus of mine, to consider how can we start to make a strong foundation for them?  It’s really fun! I love working with small groups too; you can build on what they’re learning and then that prepares them for middle school and high school ministry.”

Kristi is excited to start her job here at King Street Church this very week, and her coworkers are thrilled as well.  Becky Hann, Director of Children’s Ministries, says, “I’m looking forward to partnering with Kristi in ministry to kids. She is going to be a great addition to our team. She loves God and has a humble spirit about her. I’m looking forward to seeing how she will use her gifts and talents to help draw kids closer to Jesus!”

Kristy previously served for 12 years at another United Brethren in Christ congregation and is glad to be connected back into a UB church.  Earlier in the year Kristi felt that the Lord was calling her into a new adventure, but she had no idea where or what that might be.  After hearing about the opportunity at King Street Church she felt several prompts from the Lord nudging her in this direction.  She applied and says, “It was just amazing to see how quickly things lined up. God’s timing was perfect for us.”

Kristi, we couldn’t agree more about God’s perfect timing!

Please be praying for Kristi, Ricky, and their children as Kristi transitions into her new role.  As you see them, welcome the Davis family to KSC and let them know how grateful we are that God has called them to our church!

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