Buenos Dias mis amigos! Thanks for checking out the “about me” section of my blog. I’m never good at these things, these “about me” type writings. “I like long walks on the beach, candle lit dinners, curling up with a good book, etc, etc, etc…” Nope… This is how I feel about it:
Honestly, I’ve already rewritten this thing many severals worth of times (totally making up words and stuff here). Quite frankly, I have so many ideas of what to write that I’ll probably write many much blogs, some of which may repeat a bit, but it’s all good!
My name is Jared Knight, or “Buff Jesus” as my Honduras mission team called me. I come from Salisbury, just north of Charlotte, NC. It’s a small historic town, one of those towns that after spending your entire life in, you just want to leave (or maybe it’s just me?). I’ll be celebrating my 30th birthday this October and I’m honestly ready to leave my 20’s in the dust.
I think at this time I’ll just do bullet points.
- Hey look, a little black dot!
- I have been to several different colleges for several different fields of study.
- I have a B.A. in Youth Ministries (basically a piece of paper)
- I LOVE music! Seriously, music is like the blood that flows through my veins….hmm……maybe that is a hyperbole…
- I love all kinds of music: GRUNGE, metal, rock, blues, Jazz, bluegrass, old skool hip hop, Adult Contemporary, Christian, acoustic rock, Weird Al Yankovic….he’s in a category all his own…
- I play guitar, trumpet, some piano, and really anything I can get my hands on. I just got a djembe I am beating on!
- If you can’t tell already, I’m an artistic person. I draw and also write. I have had a few poems published. I’d love to start doing spoken word videos and youth lesson videos. Maybe one day!
- Currently I am a teacher assistant with a middle school special education class. It can be frustrating, but rewarding and fun at the same time. I honestly could never do general education anywhere between kindergarten and college. I’d be fired in the first 5 minutes and it’d look like this :
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- I have been a volunteer youth pastor and have also played guitar and sang in a few church praise bands.
- I’m a very outdoorsy type guy, another reason I can’t wait to live out of a pack for 11 months!
- I love history. When I was a kid I wanted to be an archeologist like Indiana Jones. Honestly, I wanted to be a lot of different things!
- Favorite food: buffet (yes, buffet), followed by bacon and eggs (and eggs go with everything, at least when I cook)
- Favorite Animal: Dragon….because, why not?
- I LOVE CARTOONS!!!
- I want to be a Pro Wrestler when I grow up (haha….grow up…yea right). I even have my Character all worked out! My stage name would be Johnny “The Rev (reverend) Slam” Zion (although I considered using my last name because Knight is a pretty AWESOME last name!) I’d be like this cool Christian vigilante and would be a positive influence for the youth that watch. But…….good luck getting the WWE to go along with that
- Also when I grow up, I’d love to make it as a recording musician and film actor. I guess we’ll see what happens…
- This is starting to sound like a lame dating site profile, so I’ll end the bullets here…
I have always felt a calling into some type of ministry, but never knew quite what to make of it. There has always been a desire to travel overseas for missions. In 2014, God opened the door for me to spend a week in Honduras. IT WAS AMAZING! I was fortunate enough to take this trip twice. It taught me so much, and served to add fuel to the desire of serving overseas.
Now at the age of 29, God is opening up the door for me to do just that!
For 11 months I’ll have the opportunity to minister to the lost and lonely of this world. I, along with my fellow racers, will get to be the hands and feet of Jesus for those in need, those who are hungry, dirty, trapped in poverty and human trafficking. It is NOT a vacation. No, not even close. It is a year of living “like the least of these”. It is a year of abandonment relying on God to guide us every single step of the way. I and my fellow racers will go hungry. We will go thirsty. We will have our struggles, but we will also grow.
Why am I doing this? Well, I just want God. I want more of Him and less of me. I want to be the hands and feet of Christ. I want to see my God working first hand, to spread His Word, His Love, and to walk closer with Him, trust deeper, and love Him more fully. Was that a run on sentence? 🙂 I want to be transformed into the man God created me to be.
My prayer is that I do not return home the same person I am now. I want to be used by Him to bring hope and healing to a hurting world. However, I can’t do this alone. I, and my fellow racers, need the support of others to reach those in need. If you would like help support this cause, please click the “donate” tab to the right hand side of the screen. All donations help, no matter how “big” or “small”. Above all else, prayer is absolutely needed.
Thank you and God bless!
-Rev Slam
