This post was written by Ali Brown. To learn more about Ali, read about her current adventures in Klemtu by clicking here.

Outreach has absolutely transformed my life and strengthened my relationship with Christ in ways I could have never imagined. I started coming to Grace at the end of my senior year of high school and really committed my life to Christ at that time, but after four years of a lackluster spiritual life in college I felt lost and confused about how to make my faith my own. I came back home after college to figure out what I wanted to do as a career and discovered God had only just begun his work on my life.

Reconnecting with Grace has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. After diving into some social justice books with my Bible study, a passion for outreach was ignited within me and I decided to check out some of the opportunities Grace had to offer. I saw in the navigator that Grace was going to start serving at Wheeler Mission every Sunday afternoon and I thought that would be a great place to start seeing if God really had wired me for outreach.

Just like most newcomers to Wheeler, I started out strictly serving food behind the line because it was more in my comfort zone and I didn’t have to worry about how I was going to relate to the men in a one on one conversation. After a few weeks, however, I was amazed at how God opened my eyes and revealed that these men really were exactly the same as me–the only difference was their mistakes happened to cost them everything they had. I have developed some of the most genuine, caring relationships with these men, even though I only get to hang out with them once a week for two hours at a time.

I never considered myself a leader and always felt more comfortable being guided by others in my spiritual journey, but I’m now co-leading at Wheeler and love having the opportunity to share with others my passion for this wonderful mission. Even though I will be leaving Grace in the fall to start medical school, I know my faith is now strong enough to grow outside the walls of Grace and away from the comforts of home. I have always wanted to be a medical missionary and treat sick people around the world, but I now have a passion to provide free health care in homeless shelters and to other underserved populations wherever I end up practicing medicine.

I am so thankful that the outreach team at Grace has helped me realize my spiritual gifts. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.