Counting on Kevin

Kevin David loves his job working for The Salvation Army as a campaign coordinator in the Supporter Engagement and Fundraising (SEF) team at Territorial Headquarters. But life hasn’t always been plain sailing. Kevin has discovered that when you lean into some of life’s most challenging and disappointing seasons, greater intimacy with God is to be found.

I was born in the Philippines and raised in a Christian family. We moved here to New Zealand when I was 11 years old. My parents were good at guiding me and teaching me about God. I liked knowing someone greater than us was in control.

I grew up in West Auckland and went to Green Bay High School. As a teenager I didn’t go to youth group, but I loved church, and I loved the people. But as I got older, I wasn’t quite sure where I sat with it all. I remember thinking, What is this?

I was 20 when my grandmother invited us to Glen Eden Salvation Army. It was very different to what we’d known. As a family we were so used to big churches where we didn’t really connect beyond Sundays. Now at this new, smaller church people wanted to know us and it was realistic to get to know people outside Sundays, so we became part of the community.

My relationship with God deepened at Glen Eden, as we—my whole family—started to realise that we could serve God. Serving is such a key part of my faith now. I got involved in helping with the Aspire youth programme at the local intermediate school. That gave me a new lens for my faith, and I started to realise that it’s one thing to have faith in God, but another thing to ask, What am I doing to serve the person next to me?

I don’t think you have to wait for a ‘calling’ because there is always an opportunity to serve—there are always doors open. Most of the time we pray for opportunities, but really they are right in front of us. We just have to say yes. Opportunities to serve and love people are right there. We’re not asking God, we’re just saying yes.

I remember the first Amplify creative arts camp I went to. I was in my mid-twenties by then, helping as a driver and serving as an older head around camp. Amplify was … wow! I came home realising that I had really missed out as a teenager.

My job meant that I couldn’t be committed as a youth leader, but when it came to events, I was able to serve. I met other leaders who were quite involved and learnt how they served, either at their corps or in their communities. I think when you serve alongside someone and they share why they are doing it, you take some inspiration from them and that adds more to the experience of serving together.

I also love anything creative! At university I studied graphic design and interior design. I’ve also worked with coffee and roasted The Salvation Army’s Hamodava coffee for a few years. In the background I did website work, photography and video, and some content creation work. I also started my own clothing line as a bit of a side hustle—I design the clothes and sew the samples. And I worked for the Foodbank Project for a while before moving to Wellington at the beginning of 2023.

I worked in the Youth and Children’s department (now Next Gen) which I loved, but then made the move to SEF, which is a great fit for my skills. I love my team, and we’re quite a tight-knit family. I’ve joked with friends that THQ (Territorial Headquarters) is our corps (church). Whenever we sign up for stuff and we come to the question of what corps you belong to, we write THQ corps!

Worship is important to me. I love communal worship, but I also love worshipping by myself. It’s great to worship with other people, there’s a real beauty in that, but worshipping alone—just me and God—there’s a different intimacy to it. It’s worship that fuels my service and fills my cup. And prayer? I’m not a very good group pray-er, but on my own, prayer between me and God is just conversational and easy.

One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in my journey was when Glen Eden Corps closed. I learnt through that difficult time that seasons change. I also got to see the good things God does through times like those. What got me through was learning that the most important thing is loving people. It can’t be the organisation, or the shield, or even the church itself, it must be the people. During tough times, the focal point of our love and care has got to be loving one another.

I’ve also learnt that if you try to avoid disappointment then you’re choosing not to have any real relationships, because disappointment is part of life. And for me it’s during those times that I first learnt to sit with God and stick close to him through the hurt. When you get to the other side of those seasons, and the next challenging season comes along, you know that there’s a way through because you’ve been through something tough before. As I get older—I’m 32 now—I know it’s not just about getting through things; I’m starting to appreciate what you learn from life’s challenges along the way. There will always be happy days, but when you go through adversity you learn that God is always there.

Check out Kevin’s clothing line on Instagram: @kevincclo