AJ didn’t wait until everything felt figured out to start serving. He just showed up, and kept showing up. Today he splits his time between leading K–2nd graders in Kids Ministry and helping with slides and photography on the production team. Two very different rooms, but the same heart behind both.
Before he was a believer, AJ already had a bent toward helping others. Coming to faith gave that instinct a new direction. “After finding Christ, I began to see how serving helps me show God’s love to others and pushes me to become more like Him,” he says. That connection between serving and spiritual growth is something he keeps coming back to.
“After finding Christ, I began to see how serving helps me show God’s love to others and pushes me to become more like Him.”
More Than a Role
Ask AJ what he loves most about serving, and he doesn’t start with the tasks. He starts with the people. Building real relationships with the people he serves alongside is one of the things he looks forward to most, whether that’s the production crew getting slides ready on a Sunday morning or the other leaders in Kids Ministry helping a room full of first graders understand who Jesus is.
In Kids Ministry specifically, there’s something he finds meaningful about being someone the kids can look to. “I really enjoy being a role model and leader for the kids to look up to,” he says. For a generation of young kids watching the adults around them, that kind of steady, present leadership leaves a mark, even when it’s hard to see in the moment.
He serves a couple of times a month, usually once or twice in Kids Ministry and filling in where he can for production. During the week, he also plugs into 99U, IBC’s college ministry, whenever the opportunity comes up. It’s a rhythm that stays flexible without losing consistency.
Watching Seeds Grow
One of the moments that has stood out most to AJ came during Lucid, one of our summer events for middle and high schoolers that brings the best parts of camp home without anyone having to travel. Serving there this past year gave him a front-row seat to something he hadn’t fully expected.
Students he had connected with at 1451 the previous summer showed up differently. Their faith had deepened. Their walks with Jesus had grown. The work that had felt uncertain in the moment had taken root.
“I witnessed firsthand how the students I had connected with at camp 1451 had grown in their faith and deepened their walks with Jesus,” AJ says. “It was incredibly motivating to see how the hard work and seeds we planted flourished and spread over time.”
“It was incredibly motivating to see how the hard work and seeds we planted flourished and spread over time.”
That kind of moment is hard to manufacture and impossible to predict. It’s one of the gifts of long-term, consistent serving.
Stepping Out and Trusting God
Serving hasn’t always felt comfortable for AJ, and he’s honest about that. It has pushed him into situations that were awkward or uncertain, moments where the only real option was to rely on God and keep going. Over time, that’s built something in him. “It has challenged me to trust Him more and grow in confidence, knowing He is leading me,” he says.
That kind of growth doesn’t come from sitting on the sidelines. It comes from saying yes when you’re not sure how it will go, and then discovering that God was already there.
“It has challenged me to trust Him more and grow in confidence, knowing He is leading me.”
Just Dive In
For anyone thinking about serving but not quite ready to make the move, AJ’s advice is simple and direct: don’t overthink it. “There are so many great serve teams that need help and that you would enjoy,” he says. “You will not regret giving back to the Lord and to your community.”
Wherever you can show up, show up. AJ did, and it changed him.