Today I got a fun opportunity. I was going to mention it before, but then I wasn’t sure I wanted people knowing… and then I ran out of time to mention it this morning.

I volunteer off and on for a ministry called Act Together. (I mentioned it last December when I coordinated sponsors for the children for Christmas.) It’s a neat ministry – committed to helping at-risk kids in the north metro Atlanta area. It’s not just about handing out necessities, but also coming alongside and supporting the families so they can get back on their feet. Also, it’s a ministry that encourages the whole family to volunteer, and even has projects that are tailored to young children to be able to help volunteer.

They had the chance to go on the radio and talk about it, so I volunteered because it sounded like fun to me! Actually, I really enjoy public speaking but don’t get a chance very often. Today was the day! The radio program was called Valley of Vision, and I and one of Act Together’s board members went to the studio to have a live interview.

Here’s me in the studio. Not a great picture, but I had to use my left hand to take it and that’s difficult to me. I wish I could have gotten a pic of all the studio equipment!

This program was three hours long, interview interspersed with live worship (Tony Southerland sang – awesome voice). I was soooo nervous and felt very unprepared. While I’ve volunteered a number of times, I haven’t worked much one-on-one with the children, nor do I know a ton about the ministry as a whole (mostly just about the specific areas where I’ve helped). I think it probably would have been good if I had known more. :-) I also had trouble with the deer in the headlights effect! The first question the DJ asked me, I completely froze. I think the first hour I didn’t do so great, but by the end I was much more comfortable. The three hours actually went a lot faster than I expected.

It was fun being in a radio studio, though. We had headphones and talked into fancy mikes. We chatted with the DJ off the air while the music was playing. I told him all about being a missionary kid and growing up in Peru, and he was very interested and on-air, he asked me more about that. I enjoyed getting the chance to talk about that and Wycliffe. :-) And I think I was able to relate it back to the ministry – how kids are kids, no matter where they live. They just want to have fun and be loved.

It was a fun experience, and I’d love to do it again. But perhaps with something I feel a little more knowledgeable about… Like, cloth diapers! :-) (Is there a radio station out there that wants to bring me on to talk about cloth diapering? Because that would be so much fun!)