By Beth Jordal,
Communications Department,
One Mission Society
Newsletters to copy, prayer letters to edit,
and various administrative tasks to check
off my “to-do” list. Yet, I am not the only
one with a never-ending list. The One Mission Society World Headquarters is staffed
by dedicated personnel, called by the Lord
to serve him by utilizing their gifts and talents in communications, finance, recruitment, human resources, development, administration, and several areas of ministry
specialties, all in order to make disciples of
Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.
Some items on our “to-do” lists often
go untouched … until the Lord sends us
an intern. We have so much to do that we
do not need to “find” things for interns to
do. At OMS, our interns are our equals in
the ministry, able to take on tasks that we
would do ourselves if we had the time.
We get them right in the mix, trusting them with not only small jobs but big
projects as well. Directors and supervisors give a specific project, vision, or idea
and release the intern to run with it. They
expect accountability and check-ins, but
t hey don’t micromanage. This past summer, OMS interns were heavily involved
in major projects like fundraising, graphic
design, video production, social media, research, and writing.
Hope61 interns planned, promoted, and
implemented Hunt for Hope, a photo scavenger hunt to raise awareness of human
trafficking and funds to support the prevention of it. Hope61’s director, Tom Overton,
gave his team the project and provided
some oversight, but the interns were trusted
with the details and the results.
The Communications Department interns
jumped right in, accepting the challenge of
major projects. Kailey, our graphic design intern, redesigned OMS missionary resources
and produced programs for OMS events
like the inauguration of our new President.
The writing skills of our journalism intern,
Christina, found their way onto the pages
of Outreach magazine, blogs on the OMS
website, stories on the One Mission Kids
website, and posts and tweets on social
media. Communications interns were also
trusted with taking photos at the International
Conference last summer, and Jade, our videographer, produced a video shown at a
leadership conference for Missio Nexus, an
organization that connects missions groups
in North America.
Reflecting on this past summer’s interns, I see a correlation between OMS’
approach to interns and Jesus’ approach
to his disciples. Just as Jesus invested in
his disciples both practically and spiritually,
OMS provided mentoring to the interns
both professionally and spiritually.
By supporting and trusting our interns
with the talents and skills they bring to the
table, OMS instills confidence in their abilities for their future endeavors. In the short
run, interns help get things done in the
here and now.
However, the long-term ripple effects
on kingdom expansion is yet to unfold …
of the nine interns OMS hosted this summer, four have committed to longer-term
service. The future is bright. Our interns will
enter the mission field or the marketplace
with a heightened sense of awareness of
the Great Commission imparted to them
during their time at OMS HQ.
photos page 31, top left: Jade, Christina, and Kailey
served in Communications. top right: Jason came as
a volunteer in Mobilization and has now applied to be a
long-term OMS missionary. bottom, left: Leo and Jason
play ultimate frisbee on their down time. right: Leo, Cory,
Ashley, and Sydney enjoy an Indians baseball game.
photos page 30, top: Our summer 2014 interns,
along with OMS missionaries Brent Morrell and
Andrea Fisher, who served as intern coordinators
bottom: Sydney shows off her “impossible list,”
completed in a Bible study led by Erika.
30
31