For National Volunteer Week, it’s a privilege to introduce some of the dedicated hearts that make KYCK possible. Today, the spotlight is on Hannah, who joined the committee last year!
1. Can you please introduce yourself and your role in the KYCK committee?
I’m Hannah Killen, and I’m the newest member of the KYCK committee, I joined last year and am learning and helping out wherever I can but focusing at the moment on elements of the program.
2. Coffee or tea?
Ooo honestly until recently I drank both equally by the litre but nowadays it’s gotta be tea.
3. What is your favourite worship song?
Now if Olivia Dean released worship music that’d be top of my list but until then, I always come back to Build My Life by Pat Barrett.
4. Did you attend KYCK as a teenager?
I came to KYCK as a youth, and I’ve got to be honest, I couldn’t tell you what the talks were about. But I do remember the car ride chats with my leader driving and my friends in the back, and the veryyy late nights cramped on blow-up mattresses, talking through our big, unanswered questions about God.
KYCK was a big step for me in realising that being a Christian isn’t something to be ashamed of or something you should be scared to share. I felt so much bolder after KYCK because I grew closer with people from my church, and it gave me the courage to tell others about Jesus at school in the weeks, months, and even years that followed.
KYCK was a big step for me in realising that being a Christian isn’t something to be ashamed of…
5. Why do you volunteer?
I’m passionate about young people encountering the powerful life and person of Jesus, and I think that learning about Jesus and being in Christian community should be fun, full of creativity, and bursting with life. I want to be part of seeing that happen.
6. Do you have a favourite KYCK memory?
The first time I came as a leader on the Saturday night.
When the invitation is given for those who’d like to follow Jesus to head out the back, it’s that moment before everyone returns that really undoes me. Just thinking about it… the image of heaven rejoicing as we stand together in the shed, it feels like a taste of heaven. And that’s what fuels me to keep going in ministry and to be bolder in sharing Jesus.
Just thinking about it… the image of heaven rejoicing as we stand together in the shed, it feels like a taste of heaven.
7. What’s your favourite KYCK merch item?
Can’t go past the iconic hoodies – every year they just seem to get better.
8. Tell us how you met Jesus?
It was more a case of Jesus meeting me. I grew up always knowing He was real, but it wasn’t until my early teens, after watching a lot of hardship and suffering in my family, that I started to really doubt whether He cared about me at all.
In that mess, when I felt lost and confused about where Jesus was in all the pain my family was going through, He met me there. He showed me that He wasn’t distant or laughing at my suffering, but sitting with me in it.
In that mess, when I felt lost and confused about where Jesus was in all the pain my family was going through, He met me there.
He’d already been through it on the cross, showing His love, not to shame us for our sin, but to show us that we can’t do it on our own. He’s the one who brings us forgiveness.
9. What’s something you love about KYCK?
The list feels endless but you can’t beat the community. It’s getting to see the universal church come together under the banner of Jesus as Lord, and it’s a beautiful thing to see this cross generationally (that being, bums in seats from ages 13 to 60+).
It’s getting to see the universal church come together under the banner of Jesus as Lord…
10. Finally, if you could go back and tell your teenage self one thing, what would it be?
Don’t idolise people or things over Jesus. Everything and everyone pales in comparison. Don’t get caught up chasing people’s approval or trying to measure up, you already have the Holy Spirit with you, speaking truth as you read God’s Word.
Don’t idolise people or things over Jesus. Everything and everyone pales in comparison
