HER STORY: VICTORIA LEIATO
her |həː, hə| pronoun 1 used as the object of a verb or preposition to refer to a female person : Her passion for God is inspiring.
Last night was an incredible kick-off to our first-Wednesday night fall gatherings at Equipped by Faith! We worshipped together, took communion, and heard from the beautiful heart of our newest staff member, Victoria Leiato!
Victoria is our newest staff member and has been a wonderful addition to the EBF team. She has 9 years of varying experience within churches, non-profits, and para-church ministries—but her focus has always been on discipleship and women's ministry. Not only has she been helping us to organize our volunteer and leadership roles, but Victoria has been developing an EBF discipleship program with biblically-based principles and tools to help all of us grow in our relationship with Jesus.
But what we love most about Victoria is her heart and passion for truly knowing God. She loves His Word and keeps it tucked away in the deepest places of her heart. She loves Jesus and she’s passionate about other women knowing Him too. We were so encouraged by her message last night, we wanted to share some of our interview questions with her below!
Q&A with Victoria Leiato
1. What do you think you were put on this earth for? Biggest dream?
I believe that I was put on this earth to bring people one step closer to Christ. If that means having to use my words, my organizational skills, my career, my marriage, fashion, scholastics, or whatever arena I’m present and gifted in—I will shine. I strongly believe God purposely gives each of us skills and talents we are passionate about that help us stand out to reach certain people for His glory.
2. What are some of the obstacles that you have had to go through to get to this point?
In the last year, I have gone through a biblically-based therapy group. It was in this very group that I came to understand the true accumulating impact of my parents divorce, my relationship with my dad, and my relationships with friends and family that have really messed me up. I think everyone can relate to a degree. However, it was the pain and hurt I experienced through each of those circumstances that really led me to run into the arms of Christ. Running to God doesn’t perfect all of my issues—the weight of sin still has its full-blown impact. For instance, even when I forgive and move forward, I still have to live with the absence of my father—emotionally and physically. Choosing to run to God builds my character and trust in Him to comfort me through recurring pain. My issues aren’t erased, but God works through those situations by empowering each of us through His spirit to remain steadfast, joyful, and loving toward others—when we decide to rely on Him. I mention my therapy group because it is in the last year that I have been able to fully process, grieve, and find closure over my loss and wounds so I can really move forward. I now realize that the very obstacles God has been allowing me to experience since my childhood are the very things that He is using for His glory.
3. What motivates or inspires you?
Encountering Christ drastically transformed my life because I knew what the Gospel was capable of doing and there was no way I could keep it to myself. That being said, people motivate me—knowing there are people who need Christ motivates me, unreached people groups motivate me, knowing there are people who are not experiencing all that God meant for them to experience motivates me, and people who do everything in their power to further the kingdom of God inspire me!
4. What do you want to be remembered by?
I want to be remembered for leading well and doing what is right. To lead is to be a servant to all. I have always been humbled by the words in the verse, “The son of man came to serve, not to be served.” I’m constantly reminded that I’m called to serve all those around me the way Jesus did. That means serving when I don’t feel like it, when they don’t deserve it, when they need it, or when it is simply the right thing to do.
5. What advice would you give other women searching for their purpose, passion, and faith?
Something I recently learned is that as children we dream of the impossible, and as our exposure of the world widens, we begin to naturally seek out the things we love to do. Schedule out a morning to take a personal inventory of your past and present passions, victories, and the people you have built relationships with throughout those experiences. This simple activity will really help you understand what you have always been inclined to do. There’s actually a verse like this for parents and communities to teach them how to raise kids saying, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Which leads to the second part of this activity: ask close friends and family to honestly share what they have seen you are good at over the years. Put your personal inventory and community feedback together and pray about it! Ask the Lord for His revelation—this will require you to spend anointed time with the Lord.
6. What has been your greatest achievement in life?
Knowing God and following Him in obedience. I have traveled the world through missions obeying God’s call to go. I have received countless blessings in the right timing because I followed Christ and He has even exalted me in front of my enemies. The list goes on and on, but I’d say the greatest part of knowing Christ is knowing that I will consistently be experiencing the fulfillment of His promises forever.
7. How does what you do reflect what God placed on your heart to share with the world?
Part of my role working with Sabrina is coordinating and organizing a lot of the activities we do at EBF—one of which is our discipleship program. For those who plan on attending an Equip Group, we will be implementing some amazing tools that will equip you to grow closer to God and encourage you to be more like Christ in your everyday life. I get to come into work each day and use my skills in organizing—and I love that!
8. What books are you reading?
The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omaritian and The Idiot’s Guide to Decluttering Your Life.
9. How do you stay encouraged and faith-filled?
I try really hard to be in the Word daily and spend time with God. I’m super plugged into my church community and serve weekly, I go to my weekly accountability group that I mentioned earlier, and during my free time I love listening to podcasts like Proverbs 31 ministries or Typology by Ian Cron.
10. Favorite scripture of the moment (or ever)?
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7
Thank you Victoria for your heart for God and your passion to see people come to know Him more! We are so grateful for you and all you’re doing to help Equipped by Faith grow through our monthly Equip Groups, Bible Reading Plans, and upcoming gatherings! It’s going to be a great season!
XO-
Equipped by Faith