Amy Downing

Amy Downing likes balance. "I love kick boxing," she says. Her other love? "Chocolate chip cookies." They balance each other out.

Balance and discipline are traits she has learned are necessary in running all of the childrens' programs at CCTO. Amy knew the work would involve mentoring and encouraging kids. What she didn't know was that much of the job would be "to nurture the parents and adult volunteers."

The job seemed like a natural step for a woman who came from developing  children's books. But moving from book editor to managing 55 adult volunteers and sometimes hundreds of children has brought some surprises. Volunteers occasionally fall through. Supplies can run out unexpectedly. The biggest surprise? "God always provides." Every time something goes awry--like a volunteer calling in sick--a solution appears. "Someone will come up and say, 'How can I help?'"

Amy says her two most important jobs at CCTO are 1) making sure the kids know they're loved, and 2) helping adult volunteers find their "gifts", and matching those gifts to the right job. "All the rest just falls together," she says. "If we're out of glue on Sunday, it's not a big deal."

Amy says she became a Christian in the third grade. "I just remembering sitting on my parents' bed and accepting Jesus into my heart." Like all Christians, her walk in faith has had its ups and downs, but right now, she describes her relationship with God as "almost tangible. I'm talking to Him all the time...I know I need to listen more."

Her greatest struggle is to be in the world but not of it, to avoid "getting caught up in the world's views on what society sees as success...how busy your schedule is, who you hang out with, how 'good' your kids are...It's only when I am in the Word that I can step out of that craziness."

Amy believes her passion for children, books, and spreading God's love "will always be a part of my life." But she's learning to be patient. For example, the children of a neighbor had been coming to VBS for years, but they were never interested in anything more from the church. Amy waited. This year, the mother suggested the kids try Wednesday night Breakouts. They're now regular attendees who eagerly participate. "A God victory," she says.