De Jesus, Kristina Esther Gaid

Kristina Esther Gaid De Jesus is an international Global Mission Fellow with the General Board of Global Ministries.

Kristina is a member of the North Carolina Conference. Growing up, she was actively involved with her local churches, attended Annual Conference as a lay delegate, and represented the NCCUMC Youth in the Conference Youth Committee. When she was in high school, she learned about the Global Mission Fellows at Annual Conference, and after discernment, believed that it would “best prepare [her] to both start working in the educational system and continue leading in the United Methodist Church.”

Kristina earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2024. During her undergraduate education, she majored in Human Development and Family Science, minored in Education, and affiliated with the Pre-Master of Arts in Teaching program. She volunteered for the Boys and Girls Club’s after-school program, and interned at a local elementary school.

Kristina was a member of the UNC Ballroom Dance Team, Southeast Asian Student Association, and Wesley Campus Ministry. Outside of school, she was a part-time childcare worker at a local church. She is a Board of Directors member and the Young People representative for the National Association of Filipino-American United Methodists.

Kristina described her personal spiritual growth as a process that started with her father, a United Methodist pastor, and her mother, a stay-at-home parent and substitute teacher. She had a weak relationship with God throughout her childhood, until her faith was tested during her first year in college. She recalled, “I slowly depended on and trusted in God more, and eventually joined the UNC Wesley Campus Ministry during my sophomore year.”

Kristina continued, “Reflecting upon my past as a United Methodist ‘preacher’s kid,’ and present as a graduating college student, I’ve always been establishing connections while being on the move. In the process, I learned that God transcends beyond buildings and borders, and works in us through other people.” She remembered her father saying, “We’re being shaped by the places we go to.”, and would add: “…and places are being shaped by the people we meet there.”

“I feel called to do more than just sit and listen to my father’s sermons, by going out into the world and being the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.”