Category: Intern Spotlight

INTERN VOICES

2/14/2023

intern voices

Hannah Cayetano, from Medford, OR, completed her internship last December. She returned to Liberty University to finish her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work this spring.

Hannah shares, “I have never laughed more in my life than I have in the three months of being at the Ranch. I never expected to care this much about a group of teenagers. I never thought that I would want to cry in loss at the thought of finishing my field internship. God made these beautiful, ridiculous, and bold teenagers. He placed them in my life for this time. And yes, they drive me crazy with their antics. But they make me laugh in pure joy and they inspire me through their resilience to get back up again and again after being hurt. What an honor it is to love them. What an honor it is to know them.”

Alec Thies also completed his internship in December, returning home to Kalamazoo, MI.

Alec reflects, “I’m a big picture person; I spend a lot of my life thinking about the overarching truths of my life: God’s purpose in creating the world and me, heaven and hell and what happens after death, and just the mind-blowing fact that I exist.

There’s nothing wrong with dwelling on those realities, but God has begun to show me that there’s a disconnect between these realities and the way that I actually live my life. Maybe I can put together a great sounding dialogue on God’s sovereignty or the problem of evil, but can I fight my selfishness enough to take extra weight from someone’s backpack when they’re struggling? I can spend hours reading the Bible or a theological book, but can I take five minutes to come alongside someone in pain? Jesus didn’t spend his whole life reading books and pondering theology; he was with people, living with them, healing them, loving them. He didn’t keep score with a transactional, this-for-that love, expecting something back from those he loved and growing resentful if it didn’t happen. He loved freely, sacrificially, unconditionally.

I feel that God is calling me to love in that way. To bring the key realities in my life from heaven and down to earth; to live them out in whatever season or wilderness trail or dorm room He’s called me to. I’ve missed this call for a long time, and I will continue to struggle and fail, but I know that God’s grace and the power of the cross will sustain me.”

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Intern spotlight

7/1/2020

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Maren Vodrazka hails from Raleigh, North Carolina. Maren is studying criminal justice with a focus on juvenile rehabilitation at Liberty University.

After arriving at Liberty, Maren eventually adopted her childhood faith as her own. With an impassioned desire to help young people find their way in life, Maren began volunteering at a juvenile detention center. There, she plainly saw the need for “living water healing” and continues on her journey to offer that to others here at Christian Encounter.

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Intern Spotlight: Jacqui

4/29/2020

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Jacqui Nunez joined our intern team earlier this year. Jacqui comes to us from Fresno and is a California Baptist University graduate with a B.S. in Sociology.

When Jacqui heard about Christian Encounter, she was immediately drawn to the opportunity of sharing her faith while living alongside teenagers. “I’ve been in a position of feeling completely broken and lost. I didn’t have a solid support system. I want to be an example of someone who is breaking generational chains...”

Do you know someone looking for a gap year program? Or someone who wants to serve on the mission field? What about that incredible young person helping out at youth group? We’re asking for a minimum three-month commitment and that applicants be at least 21 years of age.

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Intern Feature: Diary of an Intern

2/26/2020

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Luke Brouwer finished his internship last month, but living locally he continues to devote his days to the students twice a week. Below Luke shares excerpts from his daily journal log kept during his internship.

Journal - Day 83, Sunday: Now with only 7 days remaining to my 90 day commitment, I still have no idea what I am going to do. I want out. I want to quit. I hate being disrespected. I hate working so hard on something only to have it thrown back into my face and spat upon. I hate crying...it makes me feel weak, and I feel like I am making a fool of myself. But every time I cry out to God and tell Him that I can’t do this anymore, Jesus says to me: “I was treated worse than trash...I was spat on...I was abandoned by everyone...I was disrespected by you, I shed my tears for you, and yet I never gave up on you. I have invested so much into you - how much will you give back?”

Journal - Day 94, Friday: One of the hardest weeks of internship so far, but as I looked back on the week, I realized that while I came out of the fire tired, I didn’t come out burnt away like chaff. I came out of the trial stronger, like gold. I truly felt Isaiah 40:31 applied to my life: “Those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength. They will rise up on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint.”

Journal - Day 144, Saturday: I am sure glad that we serve an infinite God, because I am so bad at encouraging and comforting, but He keeps strengthening me and empowering me to keep plugging away.

Journal - Day 161, Tuesday: One of the students ran out and I went after her, and she asked me why I even tried anymore, because this was like the eighth time I tried to cheer her up when she was hurting, and obviously “she was a hopeless case”. And I said it was because I believe that everyone needs someone who will never give up on them.

Journal - Day 200, Saturday: Well here we are. 200 days of not quitting. 200 days of never giving up. 150 days past the point where I thought it humanly impossible to continue. Also, God gave me the privilege of being the vessel that was used so He could work magic in a student’s life. I was just there, and got to see Him work.

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INTERN PERSPECTIVE: "If I had known..."

2/5/2020

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Just a couple of months into my internship, one of our students chose to leave the program voluntarily. After his departure I struggled for months with grief and sorrow, a pain I was unfamiliar and uncomfortable with. I began to withdraw and struggled to engage fully in relationships with the students and others at the Ranch. I didn’t know what God expected of me and was unsure if I wanted to continue my internship past three months.

After much wrestling, I decided to recommit for three more months until graduation. In those three months I saw God move in amazing ways in my heart, life, and the lives of the students. He began to show me that my pain had a purpose. I experienced God’s patience and heart towards me. He didn’t expect me to fix myself, He wasn’t in a hurry, and He loved me in my sorrow as much as He did in my joy.

As I continued to reflect on this difficult time of internship, God brought me to the question “If you knew the outcome, would you have done anything differently?” After thinking on this, I realized that if I had known God was calling me to be obedient to show love to someone who would be so temporary I would have held back a lot. I would have loved differently knowing the pain it would bring after the loss. In realizing this I was led to a powerful truth of who Jesus is and the choice He made in loving us.

Olivia Crissman, one-year intern

Olivia and former student Kelsey push each other towards the finish line at the Rescue Run 5k last April.

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INTERN VOICES

intern voices

Intern spotlight

Intern Spotlight: Jacqui

Intern Feature: Diary of an Intern

INTERN PERSPECTIVE: "If I had known..."

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