Every summer we have a Summer of Service program where 15-20 students come in an intern for a summer at Rev. This is one of my favorite things in the entire world! Our team and I get to spend a ton of time with these guys over the summer and we really do become a family over the course of a few months.

We could not have pulled this off without the help of some amazing leaders pictured below: Travis Trout, Tina Kruk, Strealy Clark, Abby Clark, Brianne Kessel, and our hero of SOS, McKenzie (the baby).

They gave up hours of their summer to invest in our student interns. They were such a blessing and I’m so grateful for each of them and so proud of them! They did an unbelievable job!

As far as the students, this group was so amazing! I could not speak highly enough of them. We held the bar pretty high with what we expected from them:

• Write 3 sermons and preach one
• Teach a nugget for devotions
• Attend staff prayer weekly
• Attend all Rev Events and Outreaches
• Plan and Run the Small Group Olympics
• Take notes and ask questions when the Pastors would come in and teach them
• Co-lead a Jr. High Small Group
• Have devotions, prayer, and worship for an hour
• Watch John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership training
• Read 3 books over the course of the summer
• Listen to sermons by Pastor John and Keith Moore
• Help plan and revamp Revolution
• Serve and Lead in one area of ministry at Rev
• Help with day to day office work at the Church
• Blog Once A week

They all did such an amazing job and we created so many memories that we’ll never forget. I’m grateful for this experience and to get to be a part of these teenagers journey. They’ve taught me more than I’ll ever teach them.

Here are the students who were a part, along with a link to their blog (I’ll post a picture of them on Friday):

Summer of Service Blog

Anjelica Farino

Anna Bettencourt

Ariel Wick

Bethany Bettencourt

Cianna Nuzzo

Jesse Swanson

Lisa DiFalco

Michael Hamblin

Nathan Hamblin

Niki Wolbert

Rachel Johnson

Ryan Nuzzo

Hunter Stanchek

Lexi Brancadora

Veronica Nardini

To the interns, I love you guys so much! Never quit going after God with all of your hearts and you’ll go places you’ve never dreamed possible! I believe in each of you so much! Dream big and go for it! If you guys ever need anything, I’ll be there for ya. You were all an incredible blessing to me, our leaders, rev, and our church this summer!

Ever feel like this? I know I have. When I was 18 I started interning at my church. It was an unpaid internship and I had no  idea what to expect out of the behind the scenes work at a church. For almost a year the biggest responsibility I had was washing pitchers of water and organizing bins for youth group. That’s what everyone dreams of when they think of working at a church, right?

“God is more concerned about developing your potential than you are!”

I would sit in meetings and hear my mentor delegate “significant” tasks to the rest of the team only to end with looking at me and saying, “Bubs, organize the bins and wash the pitchers.” After two months of that, I had enough. So when my mentor left for his 8 week sabbatical, I e-mailed him telling him I quit. I didn’t sign up to work for free and wash pitchers.

He got me in contact with another mentor and had him talk to me. He said, “Bubs, have you prayed about this?” Of course I hadn’t. He said, “Give God a chance to speak to your heart, if you come back and still don’t want to, then quit.” God had one chance – if he didn’t speak to me in my devotions, it was over. I opened to Isaiah 49:3.4:

³ He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, and you will bring me glory.” ⁴ I replied, “But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose.Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand;I will trust God for my reward.”

This verse changed my life forever. I felt like my work was useless, done for nothing, and for no purpose. YET…I leave it in God’s hands – I trust Him for my reward.  I developed this mentality and decided to stick with the internship.

One Thing Leads to Another

For an entire year, I set up bins faithfully every week. At the end of the year, I got asked to give my first offering. I started getting more responsibility. I interned a second year and at the end of my second year, I got asked to speak for the first time ever. Which led to more speaking engagements, more responsibility, and eventually 4 years after I interned, I got hired on staff at my church.

What Would Have Happened if I Would Have Quit Because I thought Everything I did was Pointless?

I wouldn’t be writing this, I wouldn’t be on staff, I probably wouldn’t be living for God. My Conclusion? God has you where you are for a reason, for your development, and if you’ll learn to trust Him for your reward instead of people, in His timing, He will promote you and allow you to do great things for Him, but first, you have to be faithful in the things that seem absolutely worthless.

I interned with Revolution from 2003-2005 and it changed my life forever. If you’re 18-25 and looking for a great ministry internship – I’d highly recommend this internship. See below for details!

What: Revolution Student Ministries Internship

About: The Revolution Internship is a 5 month program designed to allow you to see and be involved in the behind the scenes of ministry, develop your leadership skills, and to develop you spiritually.

Who is Eligible: Young Adults/College Students 18-25 year

When: August – December 2009

For more information or to apply please go here: http://iamrevolution.tv/connect/internship/ or e-mail Bubba Smith at bsmith@lifeatvictory.com

Apply By July 1st, 2009