CALLED TO SHEPHERD:

Junior Katie Starr never doubted that God woke her up early that March morning. She opened her eyes an hour before her alarm with one persistent thought: Shepherd Community Center.

The Indianapolis nonprofit wasn’t even on Katie’s radar until Pastor Jay Height mentioned it while speaking at her church, Mt. Sterling (Oh) First Church of the Nazarene, the previous October.

“I hadn’t thought about it in months,” Katie recalls. “All I could think about was Shepherd Community. It was kind of weird, so I called my parents.”

Her parents, Phil and Melanie Starr, encouraged her to reach out. Within weeks, Katie connected with Shepherd’s staff, interviewed, and accepted a position — still unsure what God had in store. That divine nudge and a call that wouldn’t let go led to a summer that would stretch her faith and clarify God’s calling on her life.

FINDING STRENGTH IN STRUGGLE

At first, Katie wanted to go home. She sat in a brightly painted room in the middle of Indianapolis, surrounded by children she had just met, trying to take in the whirlwind of activity around her. Katie expected a camp counselor experience, but found herself in structured classrooms, teaching science, art, health, PE, and Bible to inner-city children.

“I remember thinking, what am I doing here?” Katie said. “I felt so out of my comfort zone.”

But just as quickly as the doubts came, so did her anchor: the joy of the Lord is my strength.

Working with children from difficult backgrounds while navigating new relationships and independent living pushed Katie to depend on God daily. Also, for the first time, Katie found herself completely away from family support. In Indianapolis, she was on her own.

“You’re in the inner city with kids from rough lives — it is hard. I learned I can’t do it without (God),” she said. “Since I knew God wanted me there, I had to rely on Him.”

More challenging than teaching was learning to balance love with authority. Initially wanting to befriend every child, Katie quickly learned leadership requires boundaries.

“I wanted to be the kids’ friend, but you’re also the adult,” she explains. “You have to draw lines, and sometimes you have to not care if the kids don’t like your decisions.”

GROWTH THROUGH SERVICE

Katie went to Shepherd hoping to discern between education and nonprofit work. Though she grew in her love for children, the teaching experience revealed important truths.

“I’m comfortable up there, but it’s not my passion,” she realized. “I’m finally at a place where I can say I don’t think teaching is what I’m called to do.”

Rather than disappointment, though, this experience brought God’s peace and direction to her previously uncertain future. The confidence Katie gained from following God’s prompting has transformed her willingness to step outside her comfort zone.

Katie carries those lessons forward with clarity about her calling, confidence in her leadership, and a deeper faith in God’s provision.

“I would be more willing to do things on my own now because I know I can do it — with God’s help.”

Katie’s early morning wake-up call led to a summer proving God’s faithfulness. Her experience demonstrated that when God calls, He provides the strength to answer.