What Lessons I Still Hold Onto from My Internship Over 10 Years Later
You want to know the thing we look forward to most each summer? Summer Internship - and we’re not even going on it! So why are we so psyched about an experience we are not even going to experience? Because we know the impact it has on people for the good of God’s Kingdom. However, if you’ve never been on G.O.D.'s Summer Internship then read these testimonies so you can get excited about it too - or better yet, go on it yourself!
It not only changes the way people think about life, but how they choose to live it. With a deep dive into exploring the Bible while getting immersed in a variety of ministry scenarios, you’ll be faced with a new understanding of what it means to live out God’s Word. Will the internship impact you? Only if you let it. Some are not quite able to handle it, but for those who let the teachings and experiences penetrate their heart, it will create an experience which can mark you for the rest of your life. Don’t believe me? Check out this testimony by Brynn Buchanan:
Internship: A Lasting Impact
“I’ve graduated, I’ve gotten married, I’ve had children. And those events have been very significant and life-changing, but for me, there’s one thing I did, one decision I made, that’s marked me more than any other moment. Global Outreach Development International’s Summer Internship Program.
“Without a doubt, nothing has affected the course of my life like summer internship. First and foremost, I was taught the Word. And the Word, when received, is life-altering. Learning God’s Word gave me the opportunity to have vocation. And vocation is what human beings long for. Something to give their lives purpose and meaning. The majority of people look to location or occupation to give them such. If I could just live where I want to live, if I could just have the job I want to have, then I would be happy. But without vocation, location and occupation aren’t satisfying.
“I promise you, until you learn God’s word and align your life’s agenda with God’s, you will not find what you’re looking for. Summer internship can offer you just that. It did for me. It has for others. Though not many, because not many want to pay the price to let God, not culture, teach them. I won’t lie, it’s a humbling, and often humiliating process, to subject yourself to an education that the world can’t teach you. But it’s worth it. If you let it, it will cause you too to talk about your life in terms of before internship, after internship. And you will have no regrets about that.”
Internship can plunge you into some difficult situations which, like Brynn said, can be quite humbling. But these situations can cause you to evaluate yourself in light of God’s word, seeing where it is you need to change and how to do so in a way pleasing to God. This helps give people the direction they need, by showing you know what steps you should take in order to do life God’s way. Take this experience from Brett Madron, who had an experience on internship which helped shaped the course of his life:
Internship: Reflecting on Who You Want to Become
“In 2006, I ventured into a Summer internship program with GOD International that took me to 5 different countries to spend time serving the most vulnerable people I had ever met. So many memories. When I reflect on that Summer, my few days in a rural AIDS hospice in Jamaica always linger with me.
“I sat with a man named Anthony who was 39 years old and incapacitated from a stroke he had suffered from complications with HIV. He couldn’t talk. I sat bedside with Anthony for 5 hours a day for 3 days. I had never stared suffering in the face so hard in my life. I was used to asking people questions and letting them talk. Anthony couldn’t allow me to do that.
“And so I talked, awkwardly I’m sure, about my life, about what I thought might be of encouragement to him from the Bible. I tried to make him smile and laugh and imagined what life he thought he was missing as he looked out the window of the hospice and saw everyday affairs continuing on without him. I helped bathe him and saw the effects that being bedridden was taking on his body.
“After those 3 days, I recognized a few things. People like Anthony need someone who is willing to sit with them. But more than that, I knew I had a lot to learn if I was going to walk into the life of someone like Anthony and try to make a lasting impact. My encounter with Anthony caused me to re-evaluate how I really wanted to spend my life.”
The Summer Internship gives experiences that will impact who you are and cause you to re-evaluate what it is you want to do with your life. Not only does it impact the direction of your life, but it helps you learn lessons on how to live life each day to the fullest. Lyssa Loeffler reflects on a lesson she learned during internship which impacts her every day:
Internship: Living in Each Moment
“During internship, we didn’t get a detailed schedule of events. I didn’t know what activity was next, when the current activity was going to be over, or what tomorrow might hold. At first this was challenging for me because I was used to a tight schedule and knowing how my day would go. Not knowing what was next could have brought anxiety and initially it did for me because I wondered how my needs would be met. But I learned through this process of not knowing the schedule that I could be free to be in the moment instead of being anxious about the next.
“I found freedom once I relinquished my desire to know the schedule. I found myself being present, enjoying the moment that I was in, praying through needs in front of me and seeking the Lord for his direction. The Lord calls his people to “not be anxious about anything and in everything to pray.” Life is filled with a lot of unknowns of what might be next, what might happen - the good and the bad but one thing remains steadfast through all life's circumstances - The Lord. He is faithful to take care of his people, to meet their needs and to lead them and guide them with his word.
“During moments when I could have been worried about what was next I found myself immersed in times of bible study, prayer, fellowship, and service and through it all my needs were met and even more that I could have imagined. Today much of my day has some sort of schedule, but I have learned to seek the Lord through it all, to not worry, to wait on his leading, and to let him use me as I seek to be present in the moments he gives me. This practice is not automatic but it takes intentionality. During internship leadership was intentional to remove the schedule from my list of things to worry about and it freed me to trust the Lord in the moment. Those moments were gifts that still have an impact on how I do today!”
In our age of information, we often think we know about something just because we’ve read about it on the internet. However, to actually live in the moment and go through the challenging scenarios internship sets before you will alter the way you understand life. Something only reading a book or watching a movie about won’t be able to offer. No, it’s definitely not easy, but real change never is, but it’s often what we need in order to become more like Jesus.
Internship: Learning about the Heart of God
“While there were many teachings and experiences from internship, one of the lessons which impacted me most was learning in a new and deeper way God’s heart for humanity. But on internship, you don’t just “learn” things - you experience it. We traveled to Guatemala and the Philippines to make new friends and gain a better understanding of God’s desire to help people. If we interns wanted to learn God more and share his heart, it meant we had to do something for our new friends who were facing hardships like poverty, lack of education, sickness, etc. However, we also learned it’s not just about the "what to do”, but "the way to do it,” which spurred in many of us interns a strong desire to learn the Bible so as to find out what Jesus meant when he said he was the way. Internship was my first time to visit the Philippines. I’ve now been living here for the last ten years trying to do what I was taught on internship with friends I made on that trip.”
Word of caution: This internship is not meant for just anyone. If you are not wanting to serve God with all that you are, then this likely is not for you. It will test you, push you to your limits, and require you to grow. You won’t just get out of your comfort zone, you’ll be challenged and need to expand it -becoming a different person on the other side of that change. God’s word will open your eyes in a new way to give deeper understanding to what it was Jesus was doing and what it is you can be doing to help bring about his Kingdom.
Still interested? If so, then check out the G.O.D. Summer Internship website to learn more, and download their free e-book: 10 Mistakes People Make when Deciding on Their Mission Trip. If you want to read some more about the impact G.O.D.’s Summer Internship can have on you, then check out these other testimonies by Josie Putnam Milliron, Leah Sherrod, and Amelia Harrison.
Sources:
Madron, Brett. “Giving One’s Life for Those in Need.” Global Outreach Developments International. 14 June 2016 (visited 19 February 2023).
Buchanan, Brynn. “The Moment that Changed Everything.” Global Outreach Developments International. 2 December 2015 (visited 17 February 2023).
https://www.godinternational.org/god-intl-blog/2015/12/the-moment-that-changed-everything?rq=Brynn
