Meet Baptist Temple's 2020 Summer Intern Team

Baptist Temple welcomes four Baptist University of the Americas students as summer interns. They will work to help us navigate ministry in these changing times as we continue to reach out to our community with the love of God

Jonatan Solis is a native of Ecuador and is majoring in Human Behavior at BUA. He is called to work with children and youth and will seek to work as a counselor upon completing his education. He has served on many short-term mission teams including multiple trips to the Amazon region of Ecuador. Jonatan plays the guitar.

Valentina Sanchez is from Colombia and is majoring in Human Behavior at BUA. She had previously worked at Baptist Temple during the summer of 2018 as part of the BUA summer mission team. She looks forward to working in the garden and developing Bible Discovery Groups in the community.

Daniela Peña is from Colombia and is majoring in Music and Human Behavior at BUA. Her calling is to work with children and youth and plays the piano. This summer she will be working to develop Bible Discovery Groups in the community.

Juan David Cabrera is from Colombia and is majoring in Business at BUA. He will be applying his experience in church media to help enhance our current offerings and will be working with the team to use soccer and basketball to reach our community with the gospel.

Education and the Most Powerful Weapon

Interns Geraldine (L) and Alicia (R) ready to hand out school supplies.

Guest blog by Geraldine Garcia

 
Nelson Mandela once said, “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” I agree but I also know that you, yourself, are also a powerful weapon that can be used to help change the world.

To understand my passion for education and the people who have impacted me to try and change the world, you need to step into my world. My family and I refer to this time in our lives as “03”. It was the end of my 7th grade school year. My dad started to get sick and we weren’t exactly sure of the cause. His feet would swell up so bad, he was unable to wear shoes, and his sugar levels were all over the place. He began to miss work and his boss had to let him go. My dad was in and out of the doctor’s office undergoing tests. Foot ulcers would lead to amputation if he didn’t stop working and gain control of his health.

My dad is what we call in Spanish, “trabajador” [worker]. I remember, as a child, my dad worked two, sometimes three jobs, just so we could have what we needed and a little extra. Growing up, my sisters and I didn’t have much but we did have all the necessities and love, which goes along way. We didn’t know anything else so we thought we lived pretty good.

“03” changed everything for us. Now, my mother was the main bread winner, and my dad was struggling with health issues; coming to the realization that he no longer could take care of his family the way he used to.

Somehow, we managed to stick together as a team. The Bible teaches, “for I know the plans I have for you declares the lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11.)”

The struggles my family faced that summer came and went and I realized school would be starting soon. The best way to sum up how I felt about school was simple; I just didn’t want to go. I remember clearly going into my closet trying to dig out old school supplies and looking for the pencils and pens that still “looked new”. This way the kids around me couldn’t tell that they were the same old supplies from last year. We needed assistance paying our light bill and turned to our neighborhood church. It was here that my family met Maggie.

Maggie was a warm-hearted, caring volunteer who was able to offer us some assistance. During one of our meetings, she asked me if I was ready for school. I didn’t know how to answer her. Do I tell her the truth or just smile and nod my head? She could tell I wasn’t looking forward to the new year. When she finished talking to my dad, she ask me how many of my sisters were in school (At that time it was my older sister and I.) and asked me to follow her to a room with new school supplies laid out on tables. She told me to take an HEB bag and go around the table and fill it with the amount listed of each particular school supply. She gave me an extra bag so I can fill it with supplies for my sister.

“Hope anchors the soul (Hebrews 6:19).”

My hope was restored in that moment, by an act of kindness. Although I was only 12, I knew that I never wanted to feel hopeless again. I didn’t want other kids to feel discouraged to go back to school because they didn’t have supplies.

Once the school year progressed and my family got back on track, I didn’t forget the kindness or generosity I felt. I started to attend the church that helped my family, and every summer I would buy not only my school supplies but extra. I would wait and collect and find families that needed the help and donate it to them. I’ve done this just about every year. Now as a teacher I find myself stocking up for my kiddos and classroom.

Children are our future. If we don’t invest in them, who will? One day these kids will be doctors, lawyers, financial advisers, and educators for generations to come. So, I leave you with these final thoughts. First and foremost, I am grateful to be a part of this extravaganza that will impact the lives of many children.
 
Thank you for allowing me to reflect on my own personal experiences and draw strength from them. I feel that I have the best of both worlds because, as a teacher, “we take a hand, open a mind, and touch a heart” and, as social worker John Fitzgerald Kennedy once said, “one person can make a difference, and everyone should try.”

Geraldine Garcia is an elementary school teacher and masters level student in the social work program of OLLU. She served an internship through Baptist Temple Ministries where she provided counseling and groceries to the food insecure, free meals to the communities and tutoring for at risk children.

A learning lab for multicultural ministry in an urban context

A student from St. Phillip's College contacted me recently. He is interested in studying Deaf culture for a class project. He is one of many who have come to Family Deaf Church over the past few years to learn more about American Sign Language and the Deaf.

The Baptist Temple campus has become a learning lab for multicultural ministry in an urban context. We currently host three Christian Social Ministries interns and one music intern from the Baptist University of the Americas. Last month we entered into a formal agreement with OLLU and UTSA to help train students in their MSW programs. Earlier this year we hosted conferences for Deaf ministry and small church/bivocational ministry, as well as, the Immigration Service and Aid Center's Summer Institute.

Hands-on experience in a real world environment enhances classroom learning. In the business, non-profit and government worlds internships have provided mutually beneficial vocational opportunities. The host organization receives free or very cheap labor and the intern receives resume enhancing training and experience.

My personal experience of serving a two year internship in a new church start was foundational to my ministerial career. It not only gave me confidence in my first paid ministry position but, perhaps most importantly, paved the way for that job and the next as well.

Beginning with that first ministry position I have committed myself to help ministry students to develop their call. My internship experience allowed me to practice ministry skills under the mentoring and protection of a pastor. On more than one occasion he stepped between an angry church member and myself; even though I was in the wrong. His point was that I was a novice and our church was to show me grace and prepare me for the mission field. It was not until I had to do the same for one of my own interns that I fully understood the risk he took in protecting me.

Beyond traditional ministry training, Baptist Temple has had the opportunity to work with AARP to provide job training in office and janitorial skills. Furthermore, we wish to provide training in early childhood education and cooking.

Being a learning lab for multicultural ministry in an urban context requires providing a network of experiences that are both mutually supportive and independent. Spiritual formation, life skills, emergency interventions, recreation, health improvement and more all offer opportunities to develop marketable leadership skills.

Internships that build the Kingdom

When I was in seminary, I was told that nearly 50% of seminary graduates leave the ministry within five years of graduation. There are many reasons for this but a lack of a need for trained ministers is not one of them.

Many drop out because they can’t find a paying job or an adequate salary. Others burn out from the stress of ministry or family pressure. Most, I believe, drop out due to inadequate preparation. Seminaries and Bible Colleges do an excellent job of academic preparation but it is not enough. Head knowledge is no substitute for practical experience.

Compounding the problem is the reality that churches today have higher expectations of their pastors in regards to business, technical and leadership skills than in the past. Yet, these are not part of the standard seminary curriculum.

What is needed is a partnership between the academic institutions and the local church that gives students real ministry responsibilities under the mentorship and coaching of a pastor. Ideally the ministry student will learn how to work with church leaders to get things done (the most important task not taught in seminary), how to handle conflict, and recovering from mistakes. Even such seemingly mundane tasks as follow up phone calls and other administrative duties show a side of ministry not available in the classroom

The church gets some benefits in having a student increase the ministry’s impact. More important, however, is supporting the Great Commission by producing highly trained workers for the harvest field.

Baptist Temple has one such intern in April Puckett and is working with the Baptist University of the Americas to recruit others. BUA Professor Mario Ramos and VP of Student Development Marconi Monteiro both strongly believe in the power of mentoring to develop tomorrow’s church leaders. They are eager to work with local churches and other groups to better train their students and impact the community for Christ.

The secular world also sees the value in work experience as part of the learning process. In his book, Recession Proof Graduate, Charlie Hoehn recommends recent college graduates work for free at a major company. Doing so, he says, gives you solid experience to put on your resume and starts building the network you will need to find a paying job.

When counting the cost Hoehn suggests that a person might spend $100,000 on an MBA and still not have the type of experience needed to land the job they want. Free work, he argues, is cheaper and has a greater impact on your job prospects.

There are plenty of churches out there for ministry students to find a place of service, but that service must be meaningful if the internship is to be successful. Interns need to have some sort of recognition of their office and their tasks must have a direct impact on the church’s ministry.

It is the ministry students who start well by finding places of service where they can gain experience that will finish well. They will, also, have the greatest overall impact on the Kingdom.