By COLLIN ZINK
A couple of summers ago, I was at a Catholic Youth Conference at Missouri State called Steubenville. It was a Saturday night, and thousands of Catholic teens and youth leaders were gathered in the basketball stadium adoring and worshiping Jesus present in the Eucharist (Blessed Sacrament). As I looked around the stadium, I saw a girl, Kasey Kaiman, who was literally on the ground, crying with joy, with her hand reaching out to Jesus as the priest walked by.
I walked over to her, gave her a hug and dried her tears, and that’s when she gave me a piece of paper with her Ministry “God Nod” on it.
Years later, her ministry has gotten bigger. So, I thought I would help her expand her ministry. This past week, I interviewed her to ask her more about it.
Q: Tell me a little about yourself:
A: I’m a small-town girl who fell radically in love with Jesus when I was 18 years old. I majored in marketing and theology as an undergrad, and now I’m getting my master’s at Ave Maria University.”
Q: What was the “light bulb” moment that you decided to start God Nod?
A: I actually never had the idea to start God Nod. I was a marketing and theology major in college and got a marketing internship at a Catholic parish in town. One of my tasks was to create a YouTube channel for them.
Well, I had no idea how to do that, so I started playing around on my own account. I uploaded a video of my testimony because I didn’t know what else to make a video on, and all of a sudden, it started gaining a lot of views.
I uploaded another video, and it grew from there. I got 25 letters from 5th graders telling me how much of an impact I had on their life. At that moment, I knew I couldn’t stop, even if it’s just for one of those kids.
Q: What do you hope to accomplish with this ministry?
A: I hope to inspire people to seek a relationship with Jesus. I want people to know that life with Christ is so much more than just going to church on Sunday.
Life with Christ is a life of abundance and Joy. Ultimately, I just want to do God’s will and let him take this ministry where he wants me to take it.
Q: How did you choose the name “God Nod”?
A: I first heard the name “God Nod” from a friend I met on a retreat. We were talking about God answering our prayers, and she kept calling them “God nods,” and I thought that was so cool, so I also started calling mine that. I ended up devoting a whole journal to writing down all my God Nods and would often look to it when I felt doubt. So, that’s where the name came about.
Q: What is it about your faith that makes it so awesome? (This question is so that those who are non-Catholic can understand more about Catholicism.)
A: My purpose for my channel is to lead people to live the abundant life Christ is calling them too.
I believe the best way to do this is to live this out by receiving as many graces as possible, and the way we do that is by receiving the sacraments frequently. Christ founded a church, and it is through his church that he wants to bestow his graces upon us. I hope that by watching my videos, people can see the amazing graces and blessings Christ gives us through his fantastic church.
Kasey not only has a YouTube channel, but she also has a Facebook page called “God Nod,” which she posts updates on.
-Collin Zink, a student at Northwestern, helped start the university’s Catholic Club.