Intern Experiences

Intern Experiences

I had a life changing experience serving as site director in Crownpoint, New Mexico. Not only did I get to learn about the Navajo culture, but I also learned a lot about myself and what it means to be a servant leader. As site director, I spent a lot of time being the liaison between the site and Next Step, as well as contacting youth leaders and helping them in their trip preparation. I was able to grow a lot as a person by taking on these types of logistical responsibilities. However, there was still plenty of time to hang out and have fun getting to know the students! Having deep conversations with the kids and talking to them about their hearts was by far the most rewarding part of the summer. I played drums in the praise team as well which was just plain fun. Looking out into the crowd and seeing high school kids raise their hands in worship brought me to tears at times. It was such a beautiful and rewarding summer. It was stressful as times but God ALWAYS worked everything out for His good.
—Jessie Breymaier, Site Director

To put two months of an intense, fast-paced summer into a few sentences seems laughable, but none the less, I will attempt to create a picture of what the summer was like. Each Sunday was filled with the expectation of a new group, and the anticipation of what the Lord had in store for this particular group, because each group was vastly different but they have all come for a similar purpose. To serve and to seek God. It was my job to help create an atmosphere, along with my other Next Step Staffers, for the students and their leaders to have such an experience. While I was prepared as the worship assistant to lead them into the presence of the Lord, I was not prepared to be blown away by the love and passion these students (and the community members) had for the Lord. As each day passed in the week, their hearts shown more and more the love they had for the Lord, for each other, and the community. It was humbling to watch them press in closer to God as they were with us in the middle of the desert. Then, the dreaded Saturday would come, where we had to say our goodbyes, but each group left an impression on my heart that I know I will carry with me always. For me, this summer was a summer of God placing a deeper love for all different people I encounter and finding that that 'love is the greatest of these'.
—Vanessa Foelker, Music Assistant

I honestly had no idea what to expect going into this Summer. I do realize now, however, that I went in one end and came out the other a completely different person. The team that I was grouped with (yes, even Azad Al Quida) were all great, upstanding Christians that helped me grow in my faith. Additionally, the community that we were working in gave me great insight that the living conditions of some families, even in our own country, are far from ideal. Spending time with these families, and helping them to see a little hope in the future was well worth giving up my summer for. I definitely recommend a summer internship with Next Step to anyone who is just a little unsure of the direction their life is heading; You'll have a much better idea after the Summer is over.
—Ty Ford, Worship Band

Explaining my experience as a Next Step intern seems like an impossible task. Those 10 weeks of my summer are by far the best and most emotionally intense weeks of my life. I had no idea what to expect going into the summer, and coming out of the summer I could have never imagined it would be so incredible and forever life changing. Each day was a blessing; getting to know the residents at the All Saints Camp, being surrounded by an incredible and loving Next Step staff, working with hundreds of students and youth leaders, and serving a great God. The hours of sleep were few, and the days were defiantly busy but I learned to rely completely on God and He provided the energy for huge things to happen. The experience was beyond fulfilling and not a day has passed since I left the Bahamas that I have not thought about the love and joy the amazing summer was filled with.
—Heather Burbine, Site Assistant

My summer in South Dakota was unlike anything I have ever experienced. I was challenged Spiritually by each member of my amazing team who became as close as family toward the middle of the summer. I had so many great experiences from changing the lives of kids through speaking each night to learning construction while helping the residents at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation during the day. Nightly worship was amazing and while things can become routine, it was a great time for me to be able to refocus my thoughts and question my motives for being there. I grew so much and can honestly say I will never be the same because of my experience as a Next Step staff member!
—Chris Scott, Teaching Director

My summer with Next Step Ministries is definitely a summer I will never forget. Being a second year intern you are always excited to see what new challenges God is going to give you. You can never be fully prepared for what God is going to do through you and your team while serving a community that needs our help. Being a site director has it's challenges but it was honestly the most rewarding experience you will ever have. Just seeing the impact you make on students and leaders week in and week out is amazing. Christ is so present in and through it all that it just makes the passion of running mission trips that much stronger. It's an intense and face paced 9 weeks but the relationships you make and the memories created is something that will last a life time. The environment in which you work is filled with love, hope, happiness, laughter and most importantly Christ. I was extremely blessed to have worked with the most wonderful people over the last two summers and I am glad that I took the next step and answered God's call to serve.
—Kaeli Urben, Site Director

My experience in MS was a blast. I had a lot of fun with my teammates and the groups coming in. I also learned a lot about construction. I was put in a position where I had to learn and during this time i got a lot of hands on experience. Working with the site crews was a lot of fun as well. We could get things accomplished and still have fun. The residents I worked with were really great as well. They were appreciative and some even worked right along side us on the projects. Most of all, it was great to see God move in the students, in the community, and through our team. It's humbling to look back and realize that God used you for something. With me it was in construction and having fun with the residents and groups, but it wasn't the same for everyone. how God used each of us and as a team is really cool and I'm grateful God did that.
—Kaleb Bledsoe, Construction Assistant

I couldn't have asked for a better summer than my 2011 summer internship as a worship director for Next Step. Because I am a full-time musician and travel around the country most of the year, I had expected a summer of working on building projects and leading worship every night to be exhausting. On the contrary, it was a breath of fresh air! It was such a blessing to get to know not only a community for three months, but it was amazing to spend time with five other Christ centered/ministry focused individuals. I felt spiritually and physically rejuvenated and would encourage all worship leaders and musicians looking to grow in their talent and faith to partner with Next Step.
—Aubrey Bohl, Worship Band

God used a summer on the mission field to truly change my life. As a first-time intern, I didn't know what to expect for the summer. With assumptions that God would do cool things in where and with whom He placed me, was no question. Where God actually brought our South Dakota team and me as an individual, was far more than I would have imagined. Expectations and reality did not meet. God exceeded my expectations on the journey I had as an intern. Every week, a new wave of energy arrived with incoming high schoolers that were ready to serve. Nightly meetings and devotions with my team, kept me fired up for the ways God was working on the reservation, in the lives of high schoolers, and in our staff. Neighboring kids, that showed joy in the midst of brokenness, inspired me. Being immersed in a culture and environment unfamiliar to my daily life, challenged me in my thinking and way of life. What can be said about this experience is little in what actually came about from it. It was life-changing in every way. My perspective, my heart, my trust and reliance on God. The relationships formed throughout the trip with residents, students and staff, make for unforgettable memories. Yes, it was a challenging summer, but nothing God can't and won't prepare anyone who is willing to for it. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound..." Isaiah 61:1. My team was given this opportunity this summer, to be sent out, and allow God to work through us. This verse lays out what was experienced over the summer. Lives were truly changed; resident's lives, student's lives and my life.
—Melanie Robertson, Site Assistant

This summer was truly a life changing experience. I took this internship knowing that I enjoyed missions, but entirely unaware of the impact it would have on me as a person. In South Dakota it is evident that God is at work. I am so thankful for the small role I was able to play in His greater plan and for the relationships and memories I made along the way.
—Andrew Byrd, Construction Assistant