Summer is a time for breezy vacations and picnics, long walks and laughter. This three-month school break is a needed respite, even if that means working long hours for minimum wage at grocery stores and greenhouses. For some students, however, summer is a time to reach beyond themselves, use what is in their hand, and invest their time into causes bigger than themselves.
This week, Bob Jones University’s Center for Global Opportunities will host its annual REACH Week. Dedicated to local and global ministry opportunities, various organizations like churches, camps, and non-profits will set up booths around campus, displaying their particular outreach ministries. Students are encouraged to talk with the organizations about how to use their summers for gospel impact. Along with stands, some ministries will lead chapel messages and special meetings on Wednesday, a day that will feature sessions throughout the day instead of regular classes.
Karis Henson, a senior communication major; Hope Combest, a political science senior; Laurel Miller, a sophomore studying communication; and Josiah Gearhart, a junior biblical studies major, shared about their opportunities from this past summer. Their answers have been lightly edited for style and length.
What were you involved with this summer?
Josiah: I worked in Salt Lake City, Utah, for Plant Camp. It’s a week-long missions experience in Utah where students learn from preaching and teaching, have opportunities to share their faith and serve local churches. My specific role was organizing our door-hanging efforts. I printed and organized flyers and directed groups on where to hang them. Throughout the summer, we were able to hand out about 43,000 invites to church.
Hope: I had the opportunity to be a fellow for a Christian organization called Salt and Light Global as a part of their Wilberforce Fellowship. This group is based in Lansing, Michigan, and they focus on protecting individual liberties, protecting religious freedom, and engaging culture through legal and political work. As a fellow, I met weekly with the other fellows and organization leaders to discuss how a Christian should approach different social issues. Through this fellowship, I was also given the unique and incredible opportunity to assist with two amicus briefs for the U.S. Supreme Court.
Karis: I served as a communication intern for Plant Atlanta, a ministry of Lebanon Baptist Church in Roswell, Georgia. I had the opportunity to develop and practice a communication plan for the church, run weeks of Plant Camp, and serve in various other ministry capacities. This was a unique opportunity to combine my communication experience with church ministry.
Laurel: I worked as a hospitality coordinator at Student Life Camp, which is a traveling camp ministry of Lifeway Christian Resources. My job involved administrative computer work, facilitating meetings for student pastors and life group leaders, monitoring our help desk before and after each worship session, and helping when needed in leading games and tearing down our worship room equipment.
What was the second-best thing that happened to you this summer?
Josiah: The second-best thing this summer was the friendships that I was able to make. We had a team of seven interns and three full time staff, and we had a lot of fun together. We grew really close, and I can’t wait to see them again. But we’ll be back before you know it.
Hope: I was able to go to Lansing for a day to attend a House committee meeting on election integrity, which allowed me to incorporate my previous summer internship as an election intern with my current position.
Laurel: The second-best thing that happened was getting to travel to Colorado, Texas, New Mexico and North Carolina for our camps and driving a 26-foot Penske truck from location to location.
Who did you impact this summer?
Josiah: One group would be the unsaved people that my team at Plant Camp interacted with. We passed out about 43,000 door hangers, washed 220 cars, passed out 8,000 water bottles, had 2,750 conversations in local parks or downtown and hosted 250 people at various carnivals and camps. The total number of people who we interfaced with was 140,650. That’s about 4% of the state of Utah, which is more than double the number of Christians in the state. After one of the weeks of camp, Paul Campbell, the Lead Pastor at Gospel Peace Church let us know that they had multiple first-time guests in back-to-back weeks, simply because they received a door hanger. Praise God! And personally, I was able to share the Gospel with a handful of people and got to see some of them come to church the following Sunday.
Hope: I very quickly realized that God had a different plan for me with this fellowship. Instead of being a major impact on Michigan politics, God challenged me through the weekly meetings about the way I was using the opportunities He has given me to engage with culture as a Gospel Light.
Karis: I loved connecting with the people in my church this summer and practicing the things I’ve learned here at school. One of my favorite memories from the summer was our week of Vacation Bible School where we hosted over 180 children from the church and the surrounding community – it was an incredible outreach, and I was able to lead one of the elementary school kids I worked with to Christ!
What did God teach you this summer?
Josiah: God taught me two big lessons. The first is that I don’t need to fear being rejected, forgotten, abandoned, or unwanted, because God chose me. He calls me his son, his friend, and He loves me. So, I can walk honestly before other people because I don’t need their approval or love to have joy or satisfaction. Secondly, nothing here on earth can satisfy me fully. Only a relationship with God can make me whole.
Hope: This summer taught me the importance of sharing the gospel and reaching people for Christ no matter where I am in life. I had the opportunity to share the gospel with people from the community on a weekly basis. It was an amazing privilege to pour into girls in the church’s youth group, reach out to people in the community and share the love of Christ with the people I encountered.
Karis: Being so involved in ministry this summer taught me that even in my brokenness, God still wants to use me to further his kingdom. I’m so thankful for the opportunity I had to serve with Plant Atlanta this summer!
Laurel: God taught me that doing ministry means sometimes doing hard things that you may not want to do. When you’re doing something out of a heart of selflessness instead of pride, it makes those difficult tasks more enjoyable.
Why did you work there this summer?
Josiah: My home church (Hampton Park Baptist Church) has a really neat relationship with Gospel Peace Church out in Logan, Utah. For the past four or so years, we’ve been supporting a couple of their pastors financially, as well as sending out teams for the week of Plant Camp at Gospel Peace Church. I was one of the campers on the team the very first summer, and I’ve been back out to Utah every summer since!
Hope: I interned as a fellow this summer because as a current political science student and an aspiring law student, it is important for me to build my resumé and gain relevant experiences. However, I was only able to intern this summer with the Wilberforce Fellowship because God provided me with this opportunity.
Karis: This was an internship opportunity that was dropped in my lap unexpectedly. I had been praying specifically for ministry opportunities this summer as I would be fulfilling my communication internship requirements, and God provided far above what I could ask or think!
Laurel: I worked at Student Life Camp because it combines both the fun aspects of summer camp with the opportunity to work behind the scenes and let the church leaders take charge with their students instead of us staff members counseling like at a typical camp. I also chose to work there because we get to travel all over the country with a group of fellow college students who I quickly became best friends with.
