Meet Cause 4 Life Intern Kait!
In this three-part series, our corporate intern, Grace Shaffer, gives you an inside look at why and how some of our other interns came to serve in our Cause 4 Life internship program. Learn about our other interns, Samantha and Rachele.
Sometimes, God uses big events to reveal life’s callings. And sometimes, He reveals a life calling at recess in junior high. For Cause 4 Life intern, Kait Gregory, the moment she realized that she was called to serve people with disabilities was at recess. In seventh grade, a boy with a disability approached Kait, looking for a friend. At the time, Kait didn’t have a degree in special education, nor was she specially equipped to serve the boy she barely knew. But Kait did the best thing she knew how to do: she befriended him. “That was the first person I interacted with who had a disability,” Kait recalled. “And I just knew I wanted to be his friend.”
The friendship she developed in the seventh grade kindled her life mission.
“I think that was the moment when God put on my heart that these are my people,” Kait determined. “I later took a test on career aptitude, and the results said I should be a special education applicator. I guess, loving people with disabilities started really early for me, and it’s never really stopped.” Motivated by her passion to love on people with disabilities, Kait decided to study special education. In college, she eagerly jumped at every opportunity to build on her experiences with disabilities in hopes of one day being a special needs coordinator for a church.
Though creating awareness for disability ministry has remained a burden on her heart, she claimed that the journey has not always been easy. “A big thing I struggle with is to get church leaders to see the need for disability ministry and to support it,” Kait expressed. “It’s not something people normally see unless they’ve been affected by it personally.”
When Kait discovered that Joni and Friends offered internships, she was thrilled to receive training through a Christian worldview. The four-week internship provided opportunities that have both empowered and encouraged her to continue in her life calling. While she hopes to be a leader in the disability community, Kait intends to maintain a level of hands-on ministry in her work. “I never want to get to a point where I’m hands off with the people I serve,” she resolved.
During her internship, Kait has experienced several opportunities to grow as a leader including serving at a Joni and Friend’s Family Retreat and adapting curriculum to train teachers in the Dominican Republic. Kait was especially impressed by the hands-on aspect that the Joni and Friends ministry maintained: “The people at Joni and Friends have interactions with people that they’re serving (like at Family Retreat) even though it’s really easy to forget to be around people who they serve and love.”
Interacting with the people at Joni and Friends has strengthened Kait to continue on the path the Lord has set before her. “It’s encouraging to know that there are people out there who want to support my passion,” Kait said. “It’s easy to get discouraged by the fact there are so many with disabilities who are unreached, but to see Joni and Friends doing such amazing things is encouraging. I’ll definitely remember when the times get tough again.”
As Kait returns home, she hopes others will be inspired to get involved in disability ministry, encouraging them to remember, “You’re never going to be alone. You shouldn’t be afraid of getting involved and doing things on your own because it’s not as scary as you think it’s going to be.”
