For nearly 20 years, G.O.D. Int’l has given young people ages 17-27 the opportunity to go on mission with Jesus.
G.O.D. Intl’s Summer Internship (SI) program invites college-aged students to set aside undistracted time in prayer, worship, Bible study, cross-cultural training and teamwork development. It’s a unique opportunity to study God’s Word, experience other cultures and serve in impoverished communities. Former summer interns attest that this experience still shapes their view of how the Bible should inform their practice in all parts of life.
“It helped me learn that I needed to respond and that I could do something to address the poverty I was seeing daily. I learned that if I loved Jesus and said I loved my neighbor, then my life needed to reflect that statement.” - Elizabeth Kalama Kagay, SI 2009
“God taught me about himself in a new way, a way that changed how I considered the entire world around me. Introducing a real spirituality into my lifestyle, connecting with others that I was serving with, and pouring ourselves out for the poor was a paradigm-shifting experience for me, and I think about it almost every day.” - Walt Reynolds, SI 2019
Along with all G.O.D. Programs, Summer Internship incorporates this year’s theme ‘This is Who We Are,’ rooted in 1 John 3:1-3.
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 Jn 3:1-3).
Summer Internship requires many hands for a full effect. Interns will be taught by experts in culture, dance, music and language. They will learn to cook international food, and wash their clothes by hand as is done in the countries they’ll visit. Professional athletes will coach them in team dynamic and interdependence, and professors from the Institute for G.O.D. will teach them to make Biblical connections on striving for unity in order to endure inevitable conflict.
G.O.D. Summer Interns were welcomed at a community-wide worship service on Sunday, June 20. Interns introduced themselves and shared breakfast with the Community Church for GOD. Worship included both Spanish and Swahili songs in preparation for their time abroad, followed by a Father’s Day sermon by Gregg Garner.
In further defining the theme ‘This is Who We Are,’ G.O.D. Int’l Founder and CEO Gregg Garner says, “This is Who We Are is about the demonstration of the community of Christ with respect to being able to meet whatever needs are presented because we have one another.”
Summer Internship is just one area where G.O.D. Int’l strives to demonstrate that collaborative spirit, engaging the gifts of the Body of Christ to facilitate a life-changing moment for young people that they will carry with them the rest of their lives.
25 Summer Interns will travel with us this summer to El Salvador and Uganda from June 20-July 31.
As we prepare to host Summer Internship on our campuses in Nashville and abroad, we invite you to follow along on the journey. Summer interns will have blogs posted weekly on the Summer Internship website. We’ll also be chronicling their journey via Instagram and Facebook. Pray for them as they invite the Lord to speak to them through His Word, in order to gain a perspective from above (Col 3:1-2).
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