“I’m Your Timothy”
If you had asked me years ago if I wanted to stand in front of people and lead, my answer would have been a simple no.
I’m naturally shy. I’d much rather be behind the scenes, writing than speaking. Even after marrying a pastor, I never imagined leading a national ministry. Standing in front of a room full of people made my whole body shake. Yet in 2017, when I was asked to lead KIDStory in the Philippines, I sensed God calling me to say yes…even though I felt completely inadequate.
Looking back, I realize God wasn’t just preparing me to teach stories. He was preparing me to invest in people, one of whom was a quiet, withdrawn sixteen-year-old girl named Angelah*.
When I first met her during a KIDStory training at a local church, she wasn’t interested in children’s ministry let alone attending church regularly. The pastor quietly pulled me aside and said, “We’d love to see her involved”, but they were unsure how to reach her.
Like others, Angelah was navigating challenges that were far bigger than most people realized. Family circumstances had left her longing for stability and connection. Beneath her guarded exterior was a kind heart with far more potential than she could see in herself.
After the training, I simply invited her to help me with an outreach for children. Then I invited her for coffee. Then we went jogging together. And little by little, we built a relationship.
Eventually she began sharing the pain she had carried for years. I didn’t have all the answers. I simply wanted her to know she wasn’t alone and that God still had a purpose for her life!
Together with another pastor couple who mentored struggling teenagers, we spent time with Angelah and two other young women. We shared meals, prayed together, visited children, and simply walked through life together. I affectionately called them my “Tres Marias”—my “Three Marias.” As Angelah began using the KIDStory methodology to share God’s Word with children—in outreach programs and eventually in her classroom—I watched God bring healing, confidence, and purpose to her own heart. Her grades improved, she discovered gifts she never knew she had, and week by week, as she shared Bible stories with children, God was writing a beautiful new story in her own life.
Having once told me she never wanted anything to do with children’s ministry, she now couldn’t imagine her life without it.
That led to one of the greatest PAYDAY moments of my ministry.
It was 2019 and we had been serving alongside Angelah’s church for three years. We were sitting together over coffee during one of our regular mentoring conversations when she looked at me and said, “Teacher Lala… I’m your Timothy.”
For a moment, I didn’t know what to say.
Her words carried a meaning deeper than mentorship. Like Timothy, who was discipled by Paul and entrusted to continue sharing the gospel with others (1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 2:2), Angelah was recognizing that God had used our relationship to equip her to reach the next generation.
As a pastor’s wife, I had wondered if anyone would ever carry forward what God had entrusted to me. I had quietly asked the Lord if there would ever be someone who would embrace this calling of not just teaching children, but loving them without limits, giving generously of their time, and sharing God’s Word simply because every child matters.
When Angelah called herself my Timothy, I was overwhelmed with joy. That night I couldn’t sleep. I kept thanking God.
I realized that discipleship isn’t built in classrooms but in fellowship. It’s built over coffee. During walks. Through ordinary conversations. By serving together. By sharing life and by faithfully telling one Bible story at a time.
Today Angelah is a professional teacher. During her beginning years of teaching, she even created lessons using the KIDStory methodology and developed STORY resources that taught children about character through God’s Word. She still invests in children, just as someone once invested in her.
Watching her flourish reminded me of something God had been doing all along not only in Angelah, but also in me.
The shy woman who never wanted to stand in front of people had become someone willing to speak, train, mentor, and encourage because God supplied everything I lacked. Like Moses, I learned that when God calls us, He also equips us.
I often tell new leaders that success isn’t measured by grades, titles, or recognition. It’s measured by the fingerprints we leave on children’s hearts and by the people who continue the work long after we’re gone.
That’s what Angelah became for me. She’s not simply a success story but rather evidence that God multiplies what we faithfully place in His hands.
When I look across the Philippines and see young leaders like Angelah now reaching children with God’s Word, I have tremendous hope. I believe the same passion God planted in me is being multiplied through them. Children are hearing the gospel and young leaders are discovering their calling. Miraculously, cycles of hurt are being replaced with purpose.
To every Kids Around the World partner, I want you to know that you are part of stories like Angelah’s.
Your partnership makes it possible for leaders to be trained, for StoryClubs to begin, for relationships to be formed, and for children – and even future leaders – to discover the hope of Jesus. Most will never meet Angelah. But because you said yes to investing in STORY, her story continues to multiply into the lives of countless children she now serves.
That’s my PAYDAY.
Not because of what I accomplished, but because I witnessed God transform two lives at once…a young woman discovering her calling, and a shy leader discovering that God’s plans were far greater than her fears.
Without Him, none of it would have been possible.
*Name has been changed to protect her identity.
As Regional KIDStory Leader in the Philippines, Lala serves with a deep love for children and a heart for mentoring those who will shape the next generation. She believes God works powerfully through simple acts of faithfulness—sharing life, telling His story, and investing in people one relationship at a time. Though she never imagined herself as a leader, she has discovered that when God calls, He also equips.