Impact Intern Spotlight: Samuel Kinnin

Samuel Kinnin is a 20 year old, sophomore at the University of Mary Hardin-
Baylor. He is a first year intern with Impact. Samuel is a coffee enthusiast,
loves to travel, and has a passion for missions.

 

Piece by Piece

 

 

Everyone has a story to tell. It is what makes us unique. This summer, I’ve had the opportunity to listen and share these stories and it has been the greatest pleasure. With every moment, every person, every story each crafted by God a piece of my own came into place. Piece by piece my story has come together.

 

The smile of a child who has just accepted Christ, a woman moved to tears through the laying on of hands, a suicidal teen realizing he has a friend in Jesus. This is why we do what we do. The Impact team is much more than just a camp speaker. Each of us have to make the choice to surrender before the Lord and present ourselves as living vessels. Surrendering is not something that comes naturally. Before this internship, I thought I had surrendered everything in my life to God, but I quickly realized that was not the case. I had surrendered a majority of my life, but God wanted total surrender. There are countless scriptures on dying to yourself, but one of my favorite is Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives within me.” In order to totally surrender, I had to push myself outside of my comfort zone every day, truly die to myself daily and have the mindset of Christ, I had to have God as my first thought of the day. This internship taught me what dying to myself looked like and I will always be grateful for this lesson.

 

It is crazy to think that this internship has just come to an end… In the beginning, I questioned why I was there, but now I couldn’t imagine my life without this experience. God has done so much throughout this month and a half or should I say year. One adventure always leads to another… I had prepared for a missions internship in Central America and the day had finally come. I hopped off the plane to find the missionaries and saw someone I hadn’t seen in years, NYD Randy Lawrence. I was thrilled to see him in a place I least expected. As we began to talk about Impact, the thought of coming on this internship for public relations popped into my head. I began the process of praying over this for the next four months and felt immense peace about this opportunity. Although I was excited for the internship, I almost had to quit because the funds were not coming in. I couldn’t see the funds coming in, but Fiona and Randy agreed with me in prayer and I went into the internship by faith believing they would come in. Thanks to the help of my local pastor and several others, I was able to finish out the internship funded. If you are thinking about this internship I encourage you to never give up on God and to walk by faith. He will meet your every need.

 

I cannot express enough gratitude for the memories and experiences I had on this internship. I became more confident in both public relations and ministry. The Impact team works with you to make sure you have the best experience possible. From praying over others, to leading games and activities, to being a social media manager, to being a camp counselor, I was always given new ways to serve and grow outside of my comfort zone. It has been an incredible summer and I cannot wait to see what God does through this internship in the lives of others for years to come.



Impact Intern Spotlight: Keaton Row

Keaton is a 17 year old from Indiana. He is a
first year intern with Impact Ministries.
Keaton's nickname is "Gingersnap", he loves
jazz music, and loves playing with babies.

 

From David to Enoch

 

David. He was a king of Israel, a warrior, a musician, and a man after God's own heart. At a young age, I was prayed over to have the spirit of David. A man who pursues God and is a leader.

I always struggled with this call. I would hang out with my friends often feeling like the "dad" of the friend group. I started to put fitting in as my main priority over God and walking in the Spirit. Camp was always my lifesaver. I would go to camp and get close with God. It was my yearly transformation but my camp experience didn't satisfy my spiritual walk for the entire year. Therefore, I quickly realized the importance of walking with the Spirit daily.

Church camp has made a huge impact on my life and the moment I had the opportunity to serve at my kids camp I took it. The Impact Team came to my church camp and at first I was skeptical. However, I quickly became close friends with the interns and admired their servant heartedness. After camp, I knew I wanted to do the internship myself. What made it even better was that my close friends from Indiana wanted to join as well.

I have to admit I was far out of my comfort zone this summer. We had to learn dances for kids and let's just say I can't dance like David did... I had to be a kids counselor which tested my patience, and I even had to dress up like Superman. It was hard to step away from my comfort zone in those aspects, but I did it and it was the best feeling ever.

During teen camp, I was able to play bass guitar on the worship team. It is an indescribable feeling to lead in worship. You are able to witness youth's lives being changed by the power of God. This summer, I believe confirmed a call I have to ministry, specifically Youth ministry. I would love to be a District Youth Director one day and continue to be a leader for the glory of God.

I have gone outside of my comfort zone in ways and grown as a leader throughout the course of this internship. Being called to be a leader like David is an honor: he was a king, warrior, a legend… But I have also come to realize the importance of being in the background of ministry. The story of Enoch has really touched me this summer. The Bible doesn’t talk about Enoch a lot except that he walked with God. I am thankful for these two biblical examples of Godly men and I hope to follow in their footsteps in ministry.

Impact Intern Spotlight: Jesika Ward

Jesika is a 19 year old, sophomore at Messenger College.
She loves to sing, meet new people, and loves dogs with a
passion. 

The Journey of Obedience

You often hear about people's lives getting flipped upside down, but in my story my life was flipped upside right.

Last summer, I served as an intern at River Pointe Camp in Missouri. I loved getting to know the youth who attended camp and the guest speakers for each camp. However, one speaker stuck out above the rest... the Impact team. I would watch them teach lessons and invest in the kids. I was amazed to say the least. People my age from all over the country were sacrificing an entire summer to serve and advance the kingdom of God. I got to know many of the interns and had the idea to become an Impact Intern the next year.

Little did I know my life would be changed in a kid's service... I was at the altar to pray over the kids but something odd occurred... The kids would pass me left and right, I thought I was doing something wrong... Then a woman came up to me and said it was my night to get poured into. I had a plan for my life. I was blessed with two years of free community college in Missouri, a nice job, and the comforts of home, but the Lord wanted something else for my life. That night, God spoke through this woman and said I would be going to Messenger College in the fall. I was stunned! As I continued to pray, I just knew Messenger College was where the Lord wanted me to be.

Messenger College was the best and hardest decision I ever made. I knew the Lord wanted me there, but I struggled financially and logistically as I only had a few weeks before I started. My obedience paid off as the Lord constantly blessed me throughout the year.

When it came time to sign up for the internship, I already knew I wanted to be a part of something so amazing, and the Lord blessed me even further. The Impact interns travel around the country for children's camps, but we also get the opportunity to serve at a few teen camps as well. This year, I had the incredible opportunity to be on the praise and worship team for teen camp, while also serving on the kid's team. It was amazing to see how both of my passions were combined through this internship.

This internship has been more than I could have imagined. I have learned so much about leadership and teamwork. Throughout this internship, it is easy to get caught up in the ministry aspect and forget to give God the full glory. It is important for us to take a moment, pause, and remember why we are here. We are here to serve. We do not do this for the glory of who we are or the title. We do it to save those who might never know who God is otherwise.

As we end the internship, I am thankful for the lessons the Lord has taught me and the leadership skills I have gained through this experience. I hope my life will always reflect the Lord's will. It is important to obey the calling of God no matter what and I hope my story reflects just that.