The Zone Gathering

Lanre Williams is an amazing leader and evidently an expert time manager. I really can’t figure out how she does everything that she does. She is always bubbling over with life and her love for God and people is contagious. Lanre has been co-leading a women’s group with Lisa Suwandi for the past year, and she will assume a new role as Team Leader in the OZ (Owen Zone) during the Fall Semester.

Today, we talk with Lanre about life, ministry, and etiquette.

How long have you attended NCC? What brought you to NCC?
I moved to DC almost 3 years ago and went church hopping for a while but nothing seemed to fit for me. I did a couple online searches and kept pulling up this wacky website about movie theaters every time I searched for non-denominational churches in the DC area. Finally, one Saturday night, I decided to explore the website and see what it was all about. I sampled a few sermons from Pastor Mark, liked what I heard, and realized they had services at one of the few places I could actually find! I visited Union Station the next day and loved it; been going to NCC ever since!

Tell us a little about the small groups and/or ministries that you lead and how that experience has impacted you.
I joined the women’s group the Monday after my first visit to NCC because the fall semester had just started and they met 5 minutes from my apartment at the time (notice a convenience trend here?) Been doing women’s group since; Lisa Suwandi and I have been co-leading a women’s group for just over a year now. I am not even sure how to describe the impact of the women that I have been privileged to learn and grow with in my life! Having come from a group that had such strong women of faith and prayer was amazing for my spiritual growth and now co-leading a group of such hungry and open women has helped me to really explore my faith and what it means to be a woman of destiny and a daughter of the Most High.

My first women’s group leaders also encouraged me to get into a ministry group so I serve on the hospitality teams at Ballston, and most recently, at Ebenezers. I love being able to be a part of welcoming people to NCC and getting to engage with people who come to the services. I have been so blessed by so many people of our church; I like feeling like a part of bringing some of that warmth to those who come through the doors. I also just love hanging out with the Ballston Hospitality team and Pastor Joel before and after Sunday services–we laugh a lot.

Where can you be found on Sunday mornings?
I am usually at Ballston on Sunday mornings, somewhere around the Connection Center… though now that I am also going to Ebenezers on Saturday nights, I sometimes hit the snooze one too many times on Sunday.

When did you start following Christ and what have been some of the spiritual turning points in your life?
I grew up in the church but church was just something we did and stories we learned. It didn’t really become personal for me until one Sunday when I was 12 and I watched my best friend get baptized; I went home that night and asked God into my heart. Since then, it’s been a journey of trying to learn to love God and hear God better.

The summer of 2003 was a turning point in my faith. I look back at it now, and realize how much of a drama queen I really am, but at the time, it seemed like everything was falling apart. I was out of college with no job, no real prospects, and rejection letters from all 4 graduate schools I had applied to. God finally had my attention and through Scripture and with the help of godly friends and family members, really developed in me a passion for Him and a desire to step into everything that He has planned for me. Baptisms are still huge for me and getting baptized by Pastor Mark in the Chesapeake in 2004, and every subsequent Baptism at the Bay has been monumental for me and a reminder of the work that God is doing and has done in my life.

Tell us a little about your background.
I am Nigerian-British by citizenship but I really don’t claim the British! I was born in England and my parents and little brother live there currently, but I was raised in East and West Africa– Ethiopia, Nigeria, Niger, and Togo. My little brother (who is so very much taller than me and thinks he is really grown) is 17 and finishing up high school and I have a younger sister in medical school on a Caribbean island. I came to the states 7 years ago and went to Michigan State University (I bleed green and white for the Spartans and for the Nigerian flag!) for a bachelors degree in Psychology, then moved to DC in the Fall of 2003 for a job. After 9 months, I finally got up enough courage to reapply to graduate schools. I got accepted to the same ones that had rejected me a year earlier (God’s timing is funny like that) and started a double masters program in International Development Studies and Public Health at the George Washington University; I am currently finishing up th e second of those degrees.

What is your favorite Scripture passage?
I really like Psalm 45:11–The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord– it is one that we talk a lot about in our women’s group and one I strive to remember daily. I also have to mention my love for the book of Isaiah, and Psalm 24 in the King James.

What are your favorite books?
I have so many… but here are some real gems: I am not but I know I AM by Louie Giglio, Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, How to Write a Proposal– I don’t even know who it is by, but it has been invaluable in my work and academic life! I am currently reading The Journey of Desire by John Eldredge and it is rocking my world (literally!)

What are your favorite movies?
Love and Basketball, Spanglish, Fun with Dick and Jane, The Constant Gardener

What is your favorite fast food?
CHIPOTLE! CHIPOTLE! CHIPOTLE! Though I am partial to the new Chick-fil-A milkshakes

What is something that most people at NCC would not know about you?
When I was 10, I realized that I was so much more cultured than everyone around me and decided to teach an etiquette course during lunch break everyday for all my classmates! I would bring in my little doll teacups and saucers and silverware and teach anyone who would listen to me about how to sip from a cup, hold your knife, etc. on the playground!

Tell us a little about your day job. What is your dream job?
Well, in between classes, I work for a non-profit organization doing health programming in West Africa. I deal mainly with reproductive health programs for people living with HIV/AIDS and providing small size loans for women in rural areas. I help draft and backstop our proposals, design programs, and help doing capacity building and for our staff in Africa. I travel primarily to our programs in Nigeria, Ghana, and Togo.

Honestly, I am pretty close to my dream job right now– I love the work and the people and I believe in what we are doing. I would eventually like to do some policy work too, though, helping to get more resources and attention to the right programs and the right places, but I am truly very happy right where I am.

Who is your hero? (besides Jesus or any other member of the Trinity)
There are plenty of people that I admire for their personal, professional, and spiritual lives but I think my mom is the only person would really qualifies as my true hero. She is such an amazing woman who battled the odds of growing up as the 20-somethingth child in a family in rural Nigeria and is today a strong, confident, vibrant woman of faith and perseverance. She recently went back to school after 25 years of raising my siblings and I and taking such good care of my father and is actively pursuing her dreams for herself. Her prayers covered me for many years when I was too lazy to pray for myself and she is still a ready listening ear.

What do you do in your free time?
Free time? What?! Okay, on the real– I love to talk on the phone– seems like I always have something I want to tell someone or someone I want to check up on. I love listening to music and dancing or just lounging around with a good book. I have also taken quite a liking to blogging, so I read and write online often.

In NCC:THE MOVIE who would play you? Who would play Pastor Mark?
I have to admit that I like James Spader for Pastor Mark, because I think both their comedic timing is perfect and they both have such expressive faces! It would be fun to be played by one of the emerging Nollywood actresses like Genevieve Nnaji.

What is your favorite Pastor Markism?
When he says something off his notes, catches our reactions, stops, gets that look on his face, does that turn around thing, and then picks up where he was before going off notes!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 at 9:34 am and is filed under Small Group Leaders, Spotlights, Team Leaders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.