By Kathryn Trice, Executive Director
Throughout Scripture, God often reminds his people to remember; to look back and remember His faithfulness. Otherwise, it’s far too easy to forget his goodness and forget where he’s taken us. To put this into practice, fellows were asked to reflect on their 9 months in the program and to put into words how they’ve grown and where they’ve seen and experienced the Lord’s faithfulness. Below are snippets from the Charlotte Fellows Class of 2024. I hope you enjoy…it was most definitely a rich year!
“My decision to do the Charlotte Fellows after graduating has made for the most transformative season yet. I am coming away with a deeper understanding of God’s heart for his people, me included. I have a deeper appreciation for the ways the Lord provides community and how we were made for relationships. I have a stirring in my heart to continue to find ways that the Lord is calling me to love my neighbors as myself and serve the greater community of Charlotte.”
“Through Fellows, my vision for life has been expanded and normalized. I had crazy visions for what my life might look like (I’m a dreamer) and those still excite me. But these past 9 months, I’ve gotten to see the joy and struggle of real life in a real city in real time, and that has been beautiful…I’ve seen real people working real jobs living for the real Jesus. It’s wild and mundane and radical and practical.”
“The community around me has promoted personal growth. It has challenged me to be authentically who I am, knowing my limits and sticking by them unapologetically. It has allowed me to see my shortcomings and celebrate the strengths that other people have in the room. This program has allowed me to explore who I really am without fear of judgment.”
“So much was learned and redeemed through my time with my host family. Growing up, I rarely heard adults in my family apologize to anyone. My host parents have shown me what it looks like to parent in a way that exemplifies humility. They have never made me feel like a burden and have been invested and curious about my life. The Lord has brought healing into my story with the ways they have put no pressure on me to be home or have expectations for me to do things to “earn my stay.” Their home has been a sweet respite.”
“In seminary class, ‘common grace’ was often discussed in how God uses non-Christians to teach Christians what God loves. It is incredibly humbling to think about what that means in how we are to treat our neighbor. To think of God humbling us by using non-Christians who have better talents than believers is fascinating to me.”
“My job has provided professional growth I could not have anticipated a year ago. In my work environment, I was pushed to bring up the hard things I don’t want to address, but that need to be addressed. I’ve learned to be more direct in a professional setting when my tendency is to soften my wording.”
“Counseling has given me more perspective towards others, more of a framework for myself and how I operate, and an understanding of how to hold both our dignity and depravity.”
“Leaving this program, I hope to focus more on who I am over what I am doing.”
“I have had phenomenal mentors. I feel like I can call them anytime to heed advice on situations. The best part is that they would always ask me “How are you inviting Jesus into your daily circumstances?” or “What have your conversations with God looked like?” when I am looking for answers. It is so valuable to have mentors who are pointing you towards God.”
“All of the hardships that occurred this year were the catalysts God put in my life to give me a reason to turn to him for my strength and joy. I can feel the work of the Spirit creating a bigger capacity in me to love others.”
“I have learned to sit in the in-between. I always want to see things as black and white and want to make decisions right away. But I am learning that there is beauty in Jesus meeting us in the waiting and in the in-between.”