Disciples and supporters everywhere:

We love being part of how you steward the time and resources God has given you. Your gift to ServeHere means that missionaries are being planted in workplaces of all kinds, sharing the Gospel in word and deed; and they are able to be planted because they were equipped by their internship serving the homeless, caring for incarcerated people, aiding the orphan crisis, tending to scared mothers, among other missions of the nonprofits we partner with.

Our students come in with one question: what is God calling me to do? A question that many of us remember agonizing over, and one some of us still hope we’re getting right. We address that question in our program because the answer is simple.
We’re called to be disciples, and make disciples. We’re not just talking about a powerful convicting moment, we are talking about a life of apprenticeship to Jesus. Regardless of how Jesus’ disciples joined his ministry, one thing they all had in common was that they saw things they couldn't unsee. They experienced things from which they could never go back, where what they thought they knew and what they saw did not match, and for that, they gave their lives over completely. ​

We like to think that ServeHere does that. Acting as a bridge between college and the rest of life, we address the questions keeping them up and night and speak Truth over the lies while we plant them.  First, we plant them in one of our incredible partner organizations, we give them a mentor, a community, we gather and reinforce their experience with Gods Word, we expose them to nonprofit leaders with stories of God’s faithfulness, the students  witness leaders embody Jesus in their workplace. These students come out of their 10 weeks transformed, convinced of how possible it is to carry the hope of Jesus with them everywhere. And then we send them to their mission field, we send them to the world, to their jobs - to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to us. ​

This summer, one of our students, Caitlin, was placed at Texas Reachout Ministries, a place providing Christian men and women leaving the criminal justice system with safe housing, spiritual guidance, employment assistance, life skills and support. Caitlin went from being unsure of her place or relatability with the people they were serving, to attending every single bible study even after her internship. She fell in love with God’s people, she even saw herself in them. God offered a place of refuge from her home in an unlikely place - with formerly incarcerated people and at our Tuesday meetings. She revamped the nonprofit’s social media marketing and emails, using her degree to forward the mission of Texas Reach out. More importantly, she was able to integrate her gifts, her job, and her Work in one place. ​

Lets paint a different picture than two lines running parallel. Instead, try to imagine the “work” line expands, becoming a whole room. Within that room, your thin “job” line lives, along with many other lines. Your job can operate outside of your work, but the goal is to allow your job to live in the room of your work. The determining factor of whether our job lives within our work or not has nothing to do with the nature of our job, and has everything to do with HOW we show up in our job.  We can do our jobs in all their normalcy, and be contributing to our work in every moment. 

Your work is so much more than your title. It’s also so much more than your responsibilities. Your work is the posture of your heart in all directions and how you submit your job to the pursuit of completing good works. 

While pursuing excellence in your job, you have the opportunity to dole out the hope of Jesus to people around you. You have the opportunity to practice generosity of spirit, of time, and of finances. You get to pray boldly about goals and practice, trust and vulnerability as you do so.

We put so much focus on what we do and such little focus on how we do what we do.There’s a natural tendency to either hope you can keep the job and the work separate from one another...or, particularly for those working in traditional ministry, think your job counts as your work. Your work is everything you have the opportunity to influence, love, and notice. Your job is one of MANY avenues that provides those opportunities. 

It doesn’t mean your job doesn't matter, it means your work exists and remains regardless of the circumstances of your job. Remember that dear graduates… if you find yourself applying for jobs you didn't think you would, if you find yourself in a job you don't see being permanent, if you lose a job, are desperate for a job, hate a job, or are obsessed with your job… your work is there all the same. Prepared for you so that you will walk in it. Ephesians 2:10 says we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 

God has prepared our good work. 

He blesses our work- which means that not one bit of GOOD WORK is wasted (Galatians 6). Not one seed or word of encouragement or attempt to love is for nothing even if it feels that way. 

We have been given an opportunity to reframe the way we think about integrating our work life and our life’s work. Our job can live within our work, and we can abide within Christ at the same time.