Meet Some Of The Interns
NATE
is passionate about students, and works closely with the programs for our middle school and high school students. He felt a pull into full-time ministry after a long-term mission’s trip in Australia. “When I was in Australia, I did so much growing up in my relationship with Jesus. Being there kind of confirmed my call to ministry. The internship at Grace Church has been an incredible opportunity that has helped push me to continue to grow and really prepared me for a future in ministry.”
One of his favorite aspects of his internship is the opportunities that he has to interact with and leading students in their walk with Jesus. “I get to hang out with middle school and high school students and intentionally pour into them and lead them towards Christ and help disciple them.”
Through this internship, Nate is hoping to continue to build on his previous ministry experiences. “The opportunity that has been given to me is just unreal because as I am pouring into these kids, I’m also getting poured into by other church leaders and other adults in the church that I work with every single day. It’s a super awesome stepping stone for my future.”
LAUREN
works with our POWER Kids ministry, and her primary focus is working with our Jr. POWER Kids, the four-year-old to kindergarten ministry on the weekends.
Lauren felt a call into ministry while she was in high school and knew that she wanted to dive wholeheartedly into vocational ministry. “I actually ended up in the program because I was offered an internship. I was planning on attending the main campus of Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana, but after being offered the internship, I knew God was asking me to stay and that He had a purpose for me here.”
“What I love about my job here in POWER Kids is that I’m able to invest into kids from a young age. Being able to see where they are in their faith and getting to teach them more about God is amazing. I love getting to see them understand that God loves them in the smallest ways.”
Through her internship, Lauren is hoping to use what she learns in the classroom in practical ways. “I’m hoping to learn more about what I want to do in ministry. Through these opportunities, I want to understand what it is that God is calling me to and I am sifting through the gifts, goals and passions that He has given me to understand more of the calling that God has on my life.”
JUSTIN
primarily focuses on middle school ministries, helping to lead the middle school services on the weekend. He felt a pull into ministry on a mission’s trip to Mazatlán, Mexico while he was in high school. “I was trying to figure out what it really meant to serve more at Grace. As I explored that, I quickly fell in love with the mission to make Jesus make sense to all people everywhere.”
“What I love most about Grace and working with middle school students is the opportunity to be able to impact, invest and make a difference in their lives. That’s what leaders did with me when I was growing up here. They took intentional time to build a relationship with me and invest into me so that I would know what a relationship with Jesus is like. Now I have the opportunity to do that for others.”
One of the reasons Justin is thankful for his internship is because of the opportunities he has to help point people to Jesus. “That’s what Jesus does for us, He meets us where we’re at so that he can take us to where he wants us to go.”
NATHAN
is a Junior at Copley high school and just completed his second summer as a 360 Intern. This year, through our 360 Internship program, Nathan and many other high school students helped to put on many events and camps, including the Grace Race, Jr. Camp, Bible Camp, and Sports Day Camps.
He has a passion to help teach kids and students about the life of Jesus. “I like that my summer wasn’t focused on one age group. We got to spend time working with multiple age groups, with kids from 3-year- olds to 6th graders. It was really cool to work with kids, trying to figure out a way to have fun with them but also teach them.”
When looking back at the past two summers, Nathan is thankful for the opportunity he has had to grow as a person and follower of Jesus. “I’ve learned to build accountability with people and to ask others for help when I feel tempted or I’m not having a good day. It has helped me to understand that I can meet people where they’re at, and that God can show me how to see the whole picture instead of getting frustrated.”