Cynthia Burton, San Diego, CA
2001 Alumni

When selected as a participant for the San Diego team in 1999 I was involved in a youth ministry in my local church. Using my gift for putting music to sign language, I had created a signing choir. I had many young people who loved being a part of creating something beautiful, but who also cherished the strong relationships that developed among the group. At that time, I also worked full time as the director of a resource center at the El Cajón Valley High School.

While I was completing the DeVos training I began to realize that the kids I was working with were gifted in many other ways besides learning to sign music. I just wasn’t sure how to develop those other gifts and potential in the ministry in which I was working. Slowly a dream began to take shape. God was calling me to develop a Christian youth leadership organization in the community that would train youth to identify their own gifts and leadership skills and nurture them into responsible leaders in their church, family, school and community. I chose that as the focus of my breakthrough plan—how to teach youth how to be effective leaders.

After completing the DeVos Urban Leadership, I began to talk about the project with anyone and everyone I could get to listen. It took many months of overcoming challenges, but eventually I was invited to try the training at the high school where I was working. It wasn’t the exact program I had envisioned, but what was exciting was that it was at a public high school! The integrity and spiritual component of the program was not compromised as the goal of the school was to approach leadership holistically.

Sometimes when we look back at our everyday lives God allows us a glimpse of the big picture. For me, I have one of those glimpses when I reflect back on how the Lord worked out the events surrounding the vision He gave me. The lesson for me is to continue to trust God through the process.