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Followup — Students Minister Over the Summer
Original Feature
Learn how the students’ planned and prayed for their summer ministries. Read more
At the end of last semester, thousands of students embarked on their journeys of summer—work, camp, internships, travel, missions trips. Now, school has started signaling the end of these experiences. Read how 4 students, Sarah, Dan, Karen and Tyler, eternally invested their time these past few months.
Sarah Woolf
Class: 2009 Graduate
Major/Minor: History/Political Science
Ministry: High Point Camp and Conference Center
Location: Geigertown, PA
Position: Counselor
What was your most memorable moment from the summer?
Being able to lead a camper to the Lord or help them through a struggle or burden in their life is very memorable. Also, being able to use my own life experiences to encourage and guide them is a special feeling.What verse was especially encouraging to you?
Ps. 73:25-26: “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.”Did you have an opportunity to share the Gospel?
Yes. At High Point, we are asked to have a one-on-one time with each of our campers to present the gospel and get to know the campers and their needs more personally. Several times this summer, I had the privilege to see campers accept Christ as their Savior and learn things about God that they had never heard before.What lesson(s) did God teach you?
I learned this summer how selfish I really am. So many people around have great needs that I don't take the time to seek out because I am serving self. Also, emphasized in our staff spiritual training week was focus. My focus should not be on anything (self, work, even campers) if my focus is not first and foremost on Christ!
Daniel Powell
Class: Senior
Major/Minor: Bible/ Music
Ministry: Local church while working
Location: Vernon, CT
Job/Position: Swimming Pool Service
What was your most memorable moment from the summer?
One of my favorite times every year is Vacation Bible School at church. This year I was able to help teach the 5th and 6th grade boys class. It is always fun to see kids who have never been in church before and never heard the Gospel. This year one boy made a profession of faith in our class.What verse was especially encouraging to you?
The verse that was especially encouraging to me this summer was I Corinthians 10:13: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
This verse is special because God promises that he will never put us through a trial or temptation that we can not handle with His help. The Lord also gives us a way of escape in every temptation.Did you have an opportunity to share the Gospel?
I had the opportunity to share the gospel with a few of the people I worked with this summer. Usually there was between a half hour and an hour drive between jobs in which I was able to witness to my co-workers sometimes. One man I witnessed to was a Catholic. He did not really know what he believed so I was able to share my testimony with him several times and tell him how the Lord has worked in my life. He did not make a profession of faith this summer but he told me he would start to read his Bible.What lesson(s) did God teach you?
The Lord has been teaching me to be patient and wait for His perfect timing for things. Too many times I am tempted to worry about things and not just trust in the Lord for his timing.
Karen Greenwood
Class: Senior
Major/Minor: Dramatic Productions/Psychology
Ministry: Musical Missions Team
Location: Europe
Position: Soprano
What was your most memorable moment from the summer?
They say that you can never know someone until you have spent some time walking around in their shoes. This summer, some of my most memorable moments came when I was making friends in Germany and learning how to chill German style (remarkably similar to the American style). It seemed like everywhere I went people needed to go shoe shopping, so many of my memories from this summer involve spending time in other people’s shoes.What verse was especially encouraging to you?
One verse that I meditated on quite a bit this summer was Proverbs 10:22, “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” Frequently I would be awed by the fact that a bunch of poor college students could be traveling around Europe for 10 weeks without incurring any debt. It was then that I remembered how rich I am in Christ and could rejoice in the blessing of rich fellowship with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ from all over the world.Did you have an opportunity to share the Gospel?
Although I had many wonderful conversations with people all summer and passed out many tracts, there were only a few specifically evangelical conversations that I had in Europe. The first and most memorable one I had was with a man in Sinsheim, Germany. He was very confused as to how a good God could allow so many bad things to happen in the world, and I was struck with the reality that the most powerful way of debating even with an unbeliever is by using the Word of God.What lesson(s) did God teach you?
One thing that the Lord taught me this summer was the power of the joy of the Lord. We met many missionaries with many reasons to complain or even to mourn, yet these people had chosen to reflect the joy of the Lord in their demeanor. This was a challenge to me all summer long.
Tyler Jones
Class: Senior
Major/Minor: Bible
Ministry: Community Baptist Church
Location: South Bend, IN
Position: Church Intern
What was your most memorable moment from the summer?
Standing deep in a misty canyon at Turkey Run State Park, west of Indianapolis in Indiana, I watched as a storm began and water flooded into the canyon where I stood. I listened to the echoing thunder and watched the lightning and rain. Three friends and I waded up and down the canyon not caring whether we were getting soaked. It was a unique and beautiful sight. This was the most visually memorable moment of the summer.What verse was especially encouraging to you?
Psalm 57:1 “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.”Did you have an opportunity to share the Gospel?
God is so good to provide opportunities for witnessing. I did not deserve the privilege but I was able to start up an informal evangelistic Bible study with a couple in the South Bend area. Tim and Lynn were willing to have me over to study through some of the book of 1 John, and I was able to present the gospel to them both very clearly. Lynn was very interested in Jesus Christ, and I hope that God will use the future witness of others to lead her to a life lived for Him.What lesson(s) did God teach you?
God satisfies. He is what I need and He is all I need. Through my reading in Psalms this summer, I am beginning to understand God as David knew God. Also through my reading in Psalms this summer, I am beginning to understand myself as David did himself. God is truly great and exalted. I am very feeble and I need God. With a clearer view of God, I am beginning to understand that I do not need the things of this world but only Him.
