Summer Internship Program
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Benjamin Kreps:
Hey everyone. And welcome to the Mark Prater podcast, where our aim is to connect our global family of churches with our Executive Director. Mark, we've talked about this a number of times over the course of this podcast, and guys are aware at this point that the Leadership Team is very much wanting to help with leadership development in our churches. A very important thing for us to be engaged in is raising up the next generation of leaders. And you have a program, a grant for local churches, to assist them in raising up new leaders. Can you talk to us about that?
Mark Prater:
We do. We wanted to find a way to practically help our pastors fulfill that biblical mandate in 2 Timothy 2, where Paul writes to Timothy, “and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” And that's a mandate for all of us, as pastors, to be developing young men who may be future leaders in the church. And some of those may be in pastoral ministry. So, one of the things we've done as a Leadership Team—and we actually established this three years ago—is the summer internship program.
And that is a grant program that has a budget of $10,000 that pastors can apply for and get a grant anywhere between $1,000 and $3,000 for a summer internship that you could offer a young man in your church. And this is the fourth year in a row that we're offering it. There's an email that's actually going out today. So, by the time guys listen to this podcast, they should see that email by now that has an application that you can fill out if you've got a young man to do a summer internship. And we'd like to have that back by May 31. But it's just one small way that we, as a Leadership Team, can invest into that mandate that you have to develop future men for ministry.
Benjamin Kreps:
Right. I love it. I mean, just even as we're talking there's a young man, his face popped into my head, and I'll be pursuing that possibility with him. So this is very helpful. And you said you've been doing it for a number of years now, how's it been?
Mark Prater:
It's actually been going well. I mean, we've had a range of guys, whether they're a junior or senior in high school or they're in college or they've graduated from college and may have a job, but they have the flexibility to do an internship. So, actually, right now we have three of the PC students in this year's class, who either received a grant or applied for a grant just two years ago. So it's in that sense, the summer internship fund was helpful in bearing fruit in those men's lives.
I was just in Austin, Texas over the weekend with Jon Payne and his church. And we funded an internship last year for a high school student by the name of Reese Prater. And, by the way, no relationship to me so no nepotism going on. But a young man that Jon thinks could be called. And after that internship, he's just seen him grow in his leadership and may be a future PC student. Actually, at Covenant Fellowship, Asher Donohue, when he was in high school, I think he was a senior, we offered him an internship and he's done one for three or four years in a row. He is about to graduate from college and believes he's called and probably will pursue a seminary degree.
So those are just some stories to tell you that the summer internship program is actually bearing some fruit and is actually serving some of our churches.
Benjamin Kreps:
That's excellent news. Isn't it right that this is not just reserved merely for North American churches as well. You were talking to me about one in Zambia and an internship with Wilbroad recently.
Mark Prater:
That's right. It's not limited to our US churches. Last year, Wilbroad applied and has a young man in his church by the name of Fleming that applied for an internship. And we funded that. And in reflection now, now that Wilbroad went to be with the Lord. We're so glad that we did. We don't know what role that young man will play in the church in leadership now that Wilbroad is gone. But we certainly invested in Fleming. And Wilbroad invested faithfully into him, before he passed and went to be in glory.
Benjamin Kreps:
Yeah. Excellent. Well, thanks for thoughtfully investing in our churches when it comes to helping with leadership development. And we'll look forward to that email and be thinking about who we might recruit into that internship. So, thanks Mark for your thoughts. And thank you everyone for watching. We'll see you here next week, Lord, willing. Bye for now.