Photo by Dylan Spainhower
By Sydney Schwenke
Twenty-two-year-old Ashley Tucker is passionate about serving God through her service to local underprivileged kids.
Ashley graduated from the University of the Cumberlands in May 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and is now the Graduate Assistant for Appalachian Ministries. “Not only does Appalachian Ministries allow you to impact a child’s life, but you have no idea how much the children will impact your life,” Tucker said.
Ashley describes Appalachian Ministries as a VBS-style children’s ministry that goes into underprivileged neighborhoods (called sites) to show children the love of Christ through partnering with local churches so that the people in the church can also pour into them.
Tucker first got involved in Appalachian Ministries (AM) when she talked to the former director Caitlyn Howell and got placed in a site at Jellico. She showed up at the site on her first day of AM and had no idea what to expect. Though she had never worked with that demographic of kids before, she used to work in her church’s children’s ministry, so she expected it to be similar. “When AM got there, [she] had no idea what [she] was doing, but the kids were so sweet, and [her] site leaders Emily Foster and Preston Miller helped [her] to know what to do. [She] mainly learned through observation. Preston pushed [her] to do more, lead more, and take the initiative. And [she] did.”
Something that Ashley says she wishes she could have told herself then is not to be shy but to just knock on the doors at the site and get to know the children’s parents sooner. By the spring of 2022, she had joined AM leadership and started stepping up and officially being a leader.
Ashley says the most challenging thing about her job is hearing about some of the kids’ tough home lives. Sometimes, it means watching them leave the site so that they can go to a more stable home. “You know it’s best for them, but you don’t get to see them anymore. [She] wants to help them and protect them. But [she] knows it’s not [her] place to help them out of a situation. It’s [her] place to love them in that situation. If any kids needed a place to go, [she] would help them in a heartbeat.”
The most rewarding thing to Tucker is watching the lightbulb turn on in the kids’ heads when they realize who Jesus is and who He is to them. It’s when they understand the Gospel for the first time. And getting to help them start their life as a Christian is also so good.
Ashley talks about a meaningful experience she has had because of AM, “Through specifically working with the children, [she] got to have a conversation with a little boy this summer alongside William Haggard. [They] explained salvation and the trinity and that this wasn’t a decision [they] were making him do but that it was completely up to him. He accepted Jesus, and now [Ashley] picks him up every Sunday, and [they] go to church together.”
A challenging experience Ashley had during AM was her opportunity to lead the AM summer team this past summer. “When [she] got the job as a graduate assistant, [she] was helping lead under someone, but this summer [she] had to learn to lead not only the kids but also college students, along with arranging activities and communicating with local churches. [She] had a lot of support, but it was a learning experience,” Tucker said.
She wants to do something like AM long-term as a career. “[She] doesn’t know what it looks like yet. It could be that [she] goes to another college and starts a program like AM because there is a need everywhere. [She will] go where the Lord calls and serve wherever that is.”
Ashley Tucker is a servant-hearted leader who goes beyond expectations to show honor and love for those she works with, and especially to children in Williamsburg.
