When Kimberly describes her ministry, she doesn’t talk about titles or tasks. Instead, she paints a picture — a three-tiered high tea stand, the kind that makes even a humble ham sandwich look like a delicacy. “That’s what I feel like I do in ministry,” she says. “I get to present people at their best, championing them to step into what God has for them.”
It’s a fitting metaphor for a leader who not only elevates others but was herself lifted into greater confidence, clarity, and calling through Arrow Leadership.
Kim grew up in a vibrant, multi-generational Christian home. The kind where faith was a given, not an exception. “There was a Bible verse on the back of the toilet door,” she laughs. “I feel like I became a Christian every time I went to the loo.” From an early age, she felt called to serve, and by her late 20s, she was on staff at a Baptist church. Her transition from teacher to pastor was intuitive but unstructured, a calling she felt, but couldn’t yet articulate.
That process was given a boost in 2010, when Julian Dunham and others in the Baptist movement tapped her on the shoulder and invited her to participate in Arrow’s Emerging Leaders Program, with Arrow 9. “I had no idea what I was getting into,” Kim recalls. “But they said, ‘We think you’ll love it. We’ll fund it.’ So I said yes.”
What followed was nothing short of transformational.
Arrow didn’t just offer Kim leadership tools. It gave her language for what she was already doing instinctively. More than that, it named her as a leader. A moment of external recognition that deeply impacted Kim. “Up until then I thought I was an effective leader because people knew me and loved me. But Arrow showed me I was actually gifted and called, not just liked.”
That naming, that affirmation of leadership, has stayed with Kim and now fuels how she leads others. “It was so powerful for me. I’m committed to doing that for other people. Calling it out. Naming it. Championing it.”
Arrow also helped shape Kim’s spiritual rhythms and reflective practices. “There were disciplines and habits we practiced that hadn’t been part of my life until then,” she shares. “The emphasis on reflection and formation grounded my identity as a leader in Christ, not just my role or job.”
But perhaps the most enduring impact of Arrow is the community Kim stepped into. “I still have deep relationships from my cohort,” she says. “They opened up new ministry opportunities and helped me see leadership on a national scale. Now, wherever I go around Australia, I meet someone from Arrow. There’s this sense of shared vision, shared calling and knowing some high quality people.”
In the years since completing the program, Kim has become a core part of the Arrow ecosystem through mentoring, teaching, coordinating, as a regular leadership partner for Arrow participants, and right now on the program team for Arrow 30. Her investment isn’t just a return of what she received; it’s a multiplying ripple effect. “Watching others go through what I went through… Seeing the light go on for them… It’s incredible,” she says. “It reminds me again and again: Arrow matters.”
And she’s not the only one who thinks so. Recently, after speaking at a women’s event four hours from her home, a woman approached Kim and said, “We’ve been donating to Arrow for years — we were at Peter Corney’s church [St Hilary’s Kew]. It’s so good to see where our money goes.” The woman gestured to Kim with pride.
Kim laughs retelling the story: “That was before I preached. I didn’t talk to her afterward in case she wanted her money back!”
But the truth is, no one would ask for a refund. Because Arrow is doing exactly what it set out to do: fuel the future of Christian leadership in Australia.
This June, Arrow Leadership is inviting partners to join us again in that mission. Through our EOFY appeal — Fuel the Future: Fund the Next Story — we’re aiming to raise $50,000 to support the next generation of Arrow leaders. Leaders like Kim. Leaders who will go on to shape churches, movements, and communities around the country. Leaders who will, in turn, raise up others.
Kim is one of a thousand stories. With your help, the next thousand are waiting to be written.
Fuel the future. Fund the next story. Give today.
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