Ciera Lowery

 

Name: Ciera Lowery

 

School: Junior at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky

 

Degree: Major in psychology with a minor in art

 

I went on my very first missions trip with my family. We attended FamilyFEST^sm (sponsored by WMU^®) in Pittsburg when I was about 12 years old. We held a Backyard Bible Club at someone’s house. Starting in 6th grade, I became involved with the creative ministries at my church. We went on missions trips all the time! We went all over Kentucky and Southern Indiana, and made special trips to Florida, Virginia, and Kansas. We ministered to children and youth. I went on these trips throughout middle and high school. Last year, I went on a spring break missions trip to Mission Arlington in Texas with my college. We worked in apartment complexes, doing Backyard Bible Clubs, and serving in any way that we could. On May 16^th, I went to Brazil for two weeks with my college. We will work at the Alpha Omega Orphanage with the kids and do maintenance work around the orphanage.

 

Yes, my parents are very missions minded. My mom is the WMU director at my church and my dad is the director of missions for the Nelson Baptist Association. Missions has always been emphasized at home.

 

It keeps things in perspective. It helped me develop a servant’s heart, to not be as selfish. The example of my parents has been influential. They are always doing something to give to other people.

 

I was with the same creative ministry group for many years. I was able to build deep relationships which helped to shape my personality. I learned how to work together as a team. Since I had been in the group for a long time, I became a leader. I learned how to delegate and get the group to work together. That experience helps me now as I know how to be a leader.

I started Acteens in middle school and attended Exalt, as well as the National Acteens Convention in Nashville. My Acteens experience was a lot of fun. We could talk through missions more and how missionaries live their lives. It made me passionate about missions even when we stopped having Acteens. I was excited to be asked to help with Exalt. I have a passion for missions and to help others develop the same passion. I also have a passion for helping young women to see how valuable they are. I was really excited to participate in Exalt and hope to have more opportunity to work with young women in the future.

 

The biggest thing is self-worth. This is a problem partially due to the media and partially due to our ideas about ourselves. We don’t think we are good enough. People in the world think women aren’t capable of doing things. We have to convince them, and ourselves, that we can. That can be twice as much work.