My name is Kait McMahon, I am 25 years old, and I was an intern in IGNITE class 9. The IGNITE program is a year-long commitment that gives young people the opportunity to come together and live out the purposes of Christ, and to love like He did. I joined the Potter’s Field IGNITE program because I wanted to grow in my relationship with Jesus. I knew that God had an incredible year in store for me, but what I didn’t know was that He would use this year to transform me, for the rest of my life.
The first phase of the IGNITE program was the training in Guatemala. Training was a crucial time where I was able to get rooted in God’s Word and become prepared in my heart and mind for the upcoming time out on the mission field. For three months I was able to attend classes geared toward missions, learn from pastors from all over the country, and participate in PFM’s Kids Club in Antigua. Not only was training a time of great personal spiritual growth but growth together as a class. God took 11 people from 11 different places and backgrounds and knit our hearts together. We found strength in the unity of our bond in Christ and ultimately our common purpose of wanting to know the Lord, and make Him known. By the time we were assigned our country teams and had our commissioning night, we were all ready and excited to see what the Lord was going to do!
Kait serving at Potter’s Field Kids Club in Guatemala during IGNITE training
I was sent to Kenya for my six months of field time, which turned out to be a blessing beyond anything I have ever experienced. My team and I had a full schedule of teaching both from the Bible and academics. We spent most of our time teaching at the Potter’s Field Christian Academy in Rongai, but we were also able to teach at a special unit, a children’s home, at tutoring sessions, at Sunday school, and at schools in the surrounding communities. Every Saturday we helped to run a Kids Club where there were upwards of 300 kids in attendance! Every week as these awesome numbers of children came to Kids Cub to be fed a meal and hear the gospel, I was reminded of how powerful our God really is. Seeing His Holy Spirit at work often left me in awe.
Being in Kenya for six months allowed me the time to form real friendships with the Kenyan teens, and I found great joy in ministering to and discipling some of the teen girls. It was such a blessing to learn all about their lives, hear their prayer requests and praise reports, and to help them through struggles and celebrate with them in their victories. It was a beautiful thing to see these young people begin to put their hope in God and grow in their faith.
“The children were my favorite part of my field time in Kenya.”
It was truly a privilege to be among the Kenyan people. The children were my favorite part of my field time in Kenya. The love God grew in me for the children of Rongai gave me glimpses of how our Heavenly Father loves us. The Bible talks about this love that is “long and wide and high and deep,” and being with these children allowed me to experience this four-dimensional love. I had my own set of trials on the mission field, but it was this love, and the joy that it brought me, that was my constant source of strength. My field time taught me so much, but above all, God used my time in Kenya to teach me about His love. The love of God knows no bounds. It pushes us far beyond what we ever thought possible. In Christ, I am confronted with the beautiful truth that I can always go deeper into love, and in Kenya, I learned that I want to spend my life chasing its depths; I want to learn of it, live in it, and share it with the world.
After the six months of field time in Kenya, our class was reunited in Montana at the Potter’s Field headquarters for our re-entry phase. Re-entry was a time of re-connection with our classmates, reflection of our field time, and rest in the Lord. We also had the unique opportunity to serve at the first Potter’s Field Kids Club at PFM’s newest location in Browning, Montana on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. Throughout our time in re-entry, we were able to share our experiences serving in the country we were assigned to and again had the opportunity to be taught by Spirit-filled pastors like we had been in training. After pouring out and giving my field time everything I had in me, the re-entry phase of IGNITE filled me back up and l felt refreshed, renewed, and ready to go into the final phase of the IGNITE program of serving at my home church.
Kait serving at her home church, Calvary Chapel North Shore, in Danvers, MA
My final two months of the IGNITE program were spent at my home church, Calvary Chapel North Shore in Danvers, Massachusetts. Being able to come home and immediately begin to serve at my home church was a blessing, and it gave me the opportunity to be a blessing to the church that sent me out. Serving those two months at my home church also helped to give me direction in where I believe the Lord would have me serve long term. Since finishing my two months I have begun to help with the administration in media, in ladies’ discipleship, and I am now a Sunday school teacher for the 5-11 year-olds at my church.
The IGNITE program lives up to its name. It has ignited a fire in my heart to live for the Lord Jesus Christ. Potter’s Field Ministries gave me the opportunity to live for a year as a missionary, but this year has given me the desire to live a life of mission, and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to be a part of this program. I am thankful for Pastor Mike, and his continual encouragement to “stay busy about our Father’s business.” I am thankful for the PFM staff in Montana and around the world who persevere in selflessly serving the Lord. I am thankful for the PFM sponsors, whose finances the Lord uses not only to feed and teach thousands of children but also to reach far beyond our human eyes’ scope. And ultimately this past year in the IGNITE program has made me eternally thankful that we have a loving God who truly can do exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine.
Kait during her six months serving on the field in Kenya
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