Coming into the internship I was
super excited. Everyone that I had talked to about New Hope Church and Pastor
Greg could not say enough about either. To top it off, I was going to New
Orleans and Alaska! To go along with my excitement, however, was also plenty of
skepticism and nervousness. I was nervous about being thrust into positions of
leadership and responsibility in such a big church in which I was unfamiliar. I
was nervous that I wouldn’t live up to my expectations (which I mostly put on
myself I think). I was also very skeptical of working in a big church. I had
been to several larger churches and had never felt comfortable. I had never
seen a big church function well.
Soon after the internship started,
my fears were alleviated. I was welcomed in with love and excitement. Tim,
Joanne, Randy, Gayle, Mel, Donna, and Pastor Greg all made me feel welcomed and
wanted. I met with Pastor Dave, and he informed me that many people had been
praying for me before I even came down from Fargo. That was extremely
encouraging.
My Apprehensions replaced with
anticipation, I dove into the fastest 11 weeks I have ever experienced. I began
by interviewing several of the full time staff: Reed Soderstrom, Jeff McCourt,
Andrea Tyson, Holly Nimchuck, Mary Tessmer, Cathy Johnson, Dave Rodquist, Herb
Janes, Jeremy Deck, Kyle Biggar, and Bryan McWhite. All of these wonderful,
Godly people had a ton of wisdom and experience to pass on. I could write 20
pages on what I learned from them by simply discussing life over some coffee. I
will spare you, however, and just give some of the most impactful and practical
advice.
First, when serving in ministry,
remember that your first ministry is yourself. Never run yourself ragged, and
always put your personal walk with God first. Next, your family comes second.
If you cannot lead your family in truth and wisdom, how can you expect to lead
the body of Christ? To go along with this, intentional time off the clock is
important. Make sure that you take time to recharge your batteries. Make sure
you take time to foster your relationship with God and your family. Read
together. Worship together. When you have yourself and your family in order,
turn to the church. When looking at how to handle the church, communication is
key. Make sure you communicate well with staff as well as with the
congregation. Another necessity for a vibrant ministry is a specific goal or
mission. Churches have limited resources. A church cannot support every
ministry or every missionary or every trip that there is. They must take care
of the resources that they have, and sometimes (most likely quite often) that
means telling people that their endeavor does not fit into the ministry scope
of the church.
The last two things that I was consistently
reminded of during the meetings were to cover everything with prayer, and to
earn your right to be heard. Jesus took time to pray and so should we. Jesus,
being God in nature, still chose to set time aside to pray. He prayed long and
he prayed often. He prayed for his disciples and he prayed for God’s will to be
done. It is extremely important that we should do the same. How do we earn the
right to be heard? Well, it starts by living your life in a way that glorifies
God publically and privately. I think of 1 Peter 2:11-12, which says to resist
the passions of the flesh and keep focused on Christ so that when others try to
talk bad about you they will see your good deeds and glorify God. People will
be watching. If they see a man that fulfills the desires of the flesh at the
expense of living righteously, then he no longer has credibility. If, instead
they see a man who is faithful even in the little things, receiving grace, and
extending love, then that man has earned the right to be heard. This is essential
to effective ministry.
About three weeks into the
internship things really began to get busy. I went to the Challenge youth
conference with the senior high youth. This was a great experience for me. I
had never been to a conference of this magnitude. Over 5,500 people were there!
I had the privilege of leading a small group of 4 students who were entering 9th
grade. As the week progressed, walls were broken down and the students were
able to be vulnerable in front of each other. I got a close look inside the
mind of a 15 year old. The gospel was presented, relationships were built, and
God was glorified. It was a beautiful thing to be a part of.
I got back from Challenge on
Saturday, and started music and drama Camp on Monday. For MAD camp, I was in
charge of the mini messages in the morning. She gave me no criteria or material
other than saying it would be good to include Jonah somewhere and to try to
keep it around 10 minutes per day. This was a unique challenge, because I have
never had to prepare a series of sermons (for 5 days), especially with such a
loose agenda. I decided to go through the book of Jonah chapter by chapter with
them and relate it to the Gospel. The sermons were prepared, given, and heard.
Nobody confronted me for doing anything wrong or inadequate, so I think they
went well. MAD camp came and went in a flash, and was followed by VBS. I was in
charge of running the elementary school games for VBS. The games went smoothly,
but the best part of VBS week was seeing the whole children’s ministry team
work together so well. They worked with each other, covered for each other, and
encouraged one another the whole week. It was a clear picture to me of what
teamwork can look like and should look like.
VBS ended on a Friday. Sunday rolled
around and it was travel time again. This time to the last frontier, Alaska! 14
people went on the trip, 9 adults and 5 children. We were able to serve with an
organization called Graceworks. The mission of Graceworks was to provide
children a meal, a safe place to play, and the gospel at a park close to their
house. The ultimate goal was to make disciples and get them hooked into a small
group with one of the local churches and eventually move on to another park
where the gospel has not yet been presented. It was amazing to see the
relationships that our team built with the children in the park in just one
short week. It was truly a joy to watch. On Friday night in the park, our last
day, we held a block party for the kids and their parents. We served up 240 hot
dogs, had a bouncy castle, did face painting, twisted balloon animals, and presented
the gospel. The Lord blessed the planting and tilling that had been happening
the previous 9 weeks in the park, and 6 people accepted Jesus as their Savior
that night! It was interesting to come into a harvesting situation like that on
a short term mission trip. It was also a unique experience to watch the joy on
the faces of parents and kids serving together.
I could go on and on about Alaska,
but I will spare you the more intricate details. I returned from Alaska to find
the last week of my internship staring in my face. The time had flown by! I
experienced a whirlwind of opportunities in such a short time: working with
infants, preschool, and elementary school kids, sitting in on counseling
sessions, wedding planning, and team meetings, leading games, small groups, and
large groups. I have been truly blessed to have had so many great opportunities
and experiences this summer. I would like to thank you, Pastor Greg, and New
Hope Church for taking the time to invest in me as a person, and training me
for a future in ministry. I would recommend this internship to anyone who is
planning on serving in ministry in the future.
With a
grateful heart,
Burke
