Before I Learned How to Lead, God Taught Me Who I Am

What does it really mean to be a leader?

I thought I was going to Tanzania to learn the answer to that question.

Instead, God used that experience to ask me a much deeper one:

Who are you before you are a leader?

That question changed something in me.

I began to realize that before I am a youth leader, a volunteer, a facilitator, a coordinator, a student, or anything else I may become in the future, I am first His daughter.

And if I am going to lead, I want my leadership to come from that identity not from a title, a position, or the desire to simply be called a leader.

My name is Lauren Philip, I am 21 years old, and I am from Egypt.

Today, God has given me the privilege of serving in different places and with different people. I serve as a youth leader in my local church, a Technical Support Volunteer with YouVersion, a facilitator with the Whole Person Assessment (WPA) team in Egypt, and a coordinator in the discipleship committee at my local church.

I also currently work as a MEAL volunteer with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), where I have the opportunity to work with refugees and encounter stories of people who are going through incredibly difficult circumstances.

Looking back, I can see that God has been using each of these experiences to teach me the same thing in different ways:

Leadership is not about how important your position is. It is about how willing you are to let God use you where He has placed you.

Learning to Serve Through People

My experience with CRS has become an important part of this journey.

Through it, I have heard stories from people who are suffering and facing incredibly difficult circumstances. It has reminded me that behind the data, assessments, and reports are real people with real lives, struggles, hopes, and needs.

I have started to see God in even the smallest details of this experience.

I see how He places people in our paths and gives us opportunities to be a source of light, support, encouragement, and comfort even when what we can offer may seem very small.

I am still a volunteer. I am still learning. I don't have all the answers, and I cannot solve every problem.

But I am learning that making an impact does not always require having a big position or doing something extraordinary.

Sometimes it is simply being present.

Sometimes it is listening.

Sometimes it is treating someone with dignity.

Sometimes it is doing your work faithfully and trusting God to use it in ways you may never see.

Through the people I have met and the team I work alongside, I have seen how God can work through ordinary people to bring support and hope into someone else's life.

This has helped me understand that leadership is not only about leading from the front. It is also about serving from where God has placed you.

I believe God is using my youth ministry, church, volunteer work, studies, and the people I meet to slowly form me into the person and leader He wants me to become.

A Turning Point in Tanzania

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to participate in a leadership program in Tanzania.

I went there expecting to learn more about leadership, but God used that experience to teach me something much deeper.

It became a true turning point in my life.

I began to understand more clearly who God is, who I am in Him, and what it means to be a leader in today's world.

We live in a world full of people who are called "leaders." But God challenged me to think about a different kind of leadership.

What does it mean to be a leader who belongs to God first?

Before being a youth leader.

Before being a volunteer.

Before being a facilitator.

Before being a coordinator.

I am first His daughter.

I don't want to simply be a leader by title. I want to be someone who is real, who reflects Christ, who listens to God, and who allows Him to use even the smallest things in my life to make a difference.

That experience made me want to keep exploring, learning, and understanding how God sees me and what He is forming in me.

I want to learn how to see people the way He sees them, understand what He is asking me to do, and allow Him to use my life even in the smallest things to bring His light into the world.

I don't have all the answers yet, but I believe I am where I am for a reason.

Why YLG4?

I have now been selected to participate in the Lausanne Movement's Fourth Younger Leaders Gathering (YLG4).

For me, this is not simply another leadership event or conference. It is an opportunity to continue what God began in Tanzania.

YLG4 will bring together younger leaders from different cultures, countries, churches, and ministry contexts. I want to learn from their stories, hear how God is working through them, and allow those relationships and experiences to challenge and shape me.

I want to keep learning what it means to lead faithfully in a world that needs leaders who are not simply influential, but rooted in Christ.

I believe there is something God wants to teach me there, something He wants to form in me, and something He wants me to bring back.

What I learn through YLG4 will not stay with me. I hope to bring it back into my youth ministry, church, family, college, future career, and the communities I serve.

The Generation God Has Entrusted to Us

One of the things I feel deeply responsible for is the younger generation God has placed around me.

Through my youth ministry, I have the privilege of being around young people, listening to them, learning from them, and walking alongside them.

I don't have all the answers. I am still growing myself.

But I believe God can use someone who is willing to learn, listen, serve, and be faithful.

I want to become a leader who helps young people see that following Christ is not simply about religion or having the right answers. It is about knowing who God is, knowing who we are in Him, and allowing Him to transform the way we live.

I pray that what God forms in me will affect my church, my family, my college, my future career, and every community He places me in.

Sometimes we think we need to do something big for God to make a difference.

But I am learning that God can use the smallest things:

A conversation.

A young person who needed someone to listen.

A moment of encouragement.

A decision to serve.

A willingness to learn.

A simple “yes” to God.

I want to be faithful with those small things and trust God with the impact.

What I Am Raising

To participate in YLG4, I need to raise a total of $1,873, approximately 95,285 EGP.

My registration for YLG4 is currently on hold as I work toward raising the funds needed to complete my registration. I am trusting God to provide and inviting others to partner with me in making this opportunity possible.

Three Ways You Can Partner With Me

🙏 Pray

Please pray for wisdom, preparation, and an open heart as I prepare for YLG4.

Pray that God would continue to reveal who He is and who He is forming me to become.

Pray for my youth ministry and the young people God has entrusted to me.

Pray for my church, my family, my studies, my future career, and the people God will place in my path.

Most importantly, pray that I would not simply come back with more knowledge, but with a deeper relationship with God and a clearer understanding of how He wants me to serve.

🤲 Give

If you feel led to financially support me, any amount would be a meaningful part of this journey.

Your contribution would help cover my YLG4 program fees, travel expenses, and Brazil visa costs.

You would not simply be helping me attend an event. You would be investing in what God is doing in and through me, and in the people I will have the opportunity to serve in the years ahead.

📢 Share

If you are not able to give financially, sharing this campaign with someone who might be willing to support or pray for me would mean so much.

Sometimes one person sharing a story is what allows it to reach someone who was waiting for an opportunity to help.

Going With an Open Heart

I don't know exactly what God is going to do through YLG4.

But I know that He has brought me this far.

He has already used leadership experiences to change the way I see Him, myself, and the people He has entrusted to me. I know He is still forming me through every place He has called me to serve.

And I know that I want to keep saying yes to Him.

My prayer is that I will continue to grow not just as a leader, but first as His daughter.

That I would learn to see people the way He sees them, have the wisdom to recognize what He is asking me to do, and have the courage to obey even when the step seems small.

Wherever God places me in my church, my youth ministry, my family, my college, my future career, or anywhere else I want to be willing to let Him use me.

I believe sometimes God doesn't need us to do something extraordinary. He simply asks us to be willing.

Willing to listen.

Willing to serve.

Willing to learn.

Willing to love.

Willing to say yes.

And I want my life to be that yes.

If you choose to pray, give, or share this campaign, you are becoming part of this journey with me. You are helping me take the next step in what God is already forming in my life and in the lives of the people He has entrusted to me.

I am praying that together, we will see God use even the smallest “yes” for something much bigger than we could imagine.

Thank you for believing with me, praying for me, and partnering with me. ❤️

#YLG4