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. Our students accept the call, they lead worship everywhere, in every space, in any space. They spend (not just financially) everything they have to nurture, shelter, and care for the poor, the homeless, the naked, the abandoned, the lost and lonely, the scared, the sick. They really want to know the worries of their co-workers, and recognize that they truly can be on mission everywhere. THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING. Our students are stepping into this calling with a cloud of witnesses (YOU) cheering them on and shouting at them to keep going and endure. Do you want to know the part that makes us most excited? They’re doing this from the beginning of their career. We (again, that's YOU) are moving the start line, so that they would do more for the Gospel than we ever could. 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. Another student, Maggie, came in having already graduated. She was bound for nursing school but began to have doubts about that call on her life. We placed her with The Source, a full-service women’s clinic empowering women with better choices to create a place for her to participate in the work of the clinic and learn more about the heart behind believers in the medical arena. She met mothers everyday facing heartbreaking, complicated stories. She participated in a hybrid internship in the clinic shadowing and running pregnancy tests for patients. She sat in on interviews for potential staff and helped make digital files, donor materials, helped create a sexual risk avoidance curriculum for high school kids, and was the right hand person for an organization leader. As her doubts surfaced, she met with her mentor, shared with the group, and on an evening drive alone, God confirmed her path towards nursing school. Right now, she is finishing her first semester of school and has been able to share the hope she gained through ServeHere with other doubting students. One of our greatest wins is when students stay their course, but have completely different heart postures because of the time they took to discern and pray about their future.
To hear more about why we believe God is using us to make disciples, listen to a podcast episode here that has reached over 1,000 people. We want more stories like theirs to exist. This giving season, we are raising $20k to be able to do just that. Help us mobilize confident believers into workplaces everywhere. Best, Iesha Boitmann Executive Director | ServeHere
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