Willing to Minister - NBC Student, Pastor Kim Duey
Several years ago, a man wanted to buy his wife a very special Christmas gift. He knew learning to play the drums was on her bucket list, so he did some research and found a beautiful set to surprise his wife Kim on Christmas day.
A few years later, the local Nazarene church needed a drummer for their worship band. The pastor looked at Kim and asked, “You have drums, right?”
She was not sure what to say. Yes, she did have that set, but she had given up on learning the instrument out of fear of being disappointed in her dream. Could she learn to play for church? She did not know.
That was in January. By Palm Sunday, thanks to God’s grace and some YouTube instructional videos, she was ready to join the band!
“Whatever the Lord wants me to do,” Kim says, “I’m willing to do!”
Kim Duey has attended the Harrisonville, Missouri Church of the Nazarene for 25 years, during which time she has served in every position but one. “Serving was how I grew up.” Yet she never felt a particular call to ministry – at least not the way her three brothers did before they entered the pastorate. Instead, hers came later in life, as a series of yeses to God.
The incident with the drums is just one of many times God has given Kim the chance to serve, and she has willingly stepped forward. Six years later, she still takes her place as the percussionist with the worship band.
Now she also serves as the Connections and Care Pastor at Harrisonville COTN while she pursues ordination by training at NBC. She started her training through the district, then “I became aware of NBC, and I love it!” She’s never been a computer person, but now that she has got the hang of it, she sets aside time each session to dive into the materials.
Meanwhile, she is still ministering in her community. “People just need to know somebody cares because they care, not because they’re the mom or aunt,” Kim says, so she loves doing ministry one-on-one. Over the last year, Kim and her husband, Robert (President of Creative Contours, a lawn maintenance and landscape company in Peculiar, MO) have been able to care for employees through traumatic life events and the daily plodding of life. When an employee’s house burned, they cared for him. When outside work slowed down in the cold weather, they cared for the crew.
One-on-one ministry paired with a verse of the week program that, over the winter, often morphed into hour-long Monday devotions with the crew, helped to bring one man back to church after more than 30 years. He has also helped to reach his adult children, extended family, fellow employees, and more!
Whether it is studying for the ministry, pastoral care, or learning to play drums at 55, Kim Duey is happy to do whatever God calls her to do.
Ms. Michelle Avery, NBC Manager of Communication
Published: 07/20/2023
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