Kurt is a great friend of Loom and a committed Woven Investor. He and his wife, Donna, traveled with us to East Africa last year and have faithfully partnered with Loom and the Local Experts ever since. This week we sat down with Kurt and asked him some questions about his experience as a Woven Investor.
L: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
K: I was born in Aberdeen, Washington but grew up in Puyallup. I met my wife, Donna, in tenth grade geometry. It took two and a half years to convince her to go out on a date with me and another year to convince her to go out on a second one!
I’ve been in the lumber business for 41 years, during which I”ve worked for 11 different companies. Now I work for a Canadian lumber wholesaler. Technology has changed a lot during that time, but I always like to say that thankfully dialing a telephone is one thing that has remained the same.
L: What is something that keeps you up at night, something you are passionate about?
K: I am passionate about people relationally knowing each other. I believe in the individual-ness of everybody — everyone has a unique story and I love hearing it. I’m also passionate about people’s relationship with Christ growing through relationships with others.
L: How did you first learn about Loom? What interested you (and your wife) about joining for a CCW trip?
K: [Loomers] Lance and Jeanette met Donna and at Sunday School many years back. As a retired teacher, she was interested in the Celebrating Children Workshop right away. So it was really through her involvement that I have now become involved as well.
L: What was the experience of the trip like? What do you feel you learned from the experience? Who did you meet that inspired you?
K: The trip was amazing; I got to do what I wanted to do, which was make connections and build relationships. Really everyone I met was such a wonderful experience, and building so many relationships with Local Experts was so impactful I can’t really pick one.
The biggest thing I learned was this: Everybody’s got a story, and a story of how God bursts into that story. You can’t compare stories or put value on them. God doesn’t do that. He meets these people in places that we don’t understand. Part of our growth process is how we relate to that.
L: How have those experiences continued to impact your life today?
K: I think I’ve realized that there’s a lot of great stories if we put ourselves in the position to hear them. We have to be humble enough to be willing to listen.
