Volunteer Spotlight: Ryan

Schooling/Occupation:

I graduated from Liberty University in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in Religion: Youth Ministry. I'm currently working from home as an independent representative for a medical benefits company.

Hobbies:

Writing, spending time with family and friends, keeping up with sports (especially the Indianapolis Colts)

Favorite UMA memory/story:

I have a lot of great memories with UMA so it's hard to pick a favorite. One that sticks out particularly well though is when I helped take a group of boys fishing. I'd only fished a couple times before and this particular group of kids were practically experts compared to me. When we got there, they started teaching me what to do, and kept giving me tips about fishing throughout the day. At first I felt bad that there wasn't more that they could learn from me, butthen I realized, that being able to teach me what they'd learned on previous trips meant a lot to them. This is one of my favorite UMA stories because I think it's a great reflection of the type of hearts the kids in this group have.

Favorite thing about working with UMA youth:

Definitely the relationships. It's neat to get to see the same kids each week and be able to build on what you'd done or talked about the week before, or on a trip. There's been a lot of growth and it has been really cool to watch the boys groups become less of a “group” and more of a team.