Fifteen years ago Katie had a vision for how she could invest more in the young adults who came to serve on short-term mission teams with Crisis Response. What if they came to serve for a whole summer instead of just for a week or two? They could invest in our ministry while our staff and church partners poured into them as disciples and followers of Christ. She started recruiting from the college and young adult teams that came to serve in New Orleans and Galveston, looking for leadership skills and those with a passion for ministry. The summer of 2011 we hosted our first four Crisis Response interns.

From the very beginning our summer program was about helping young adults discover their gifting and grow in ministry, with the added benefit of additional staff to help host short-term teams. High school graduates and college students came to us from short-term teams, from college visits, or from recruiting directly at churches. Participants have gone by many names over the years as our program has grown and merged with other EFCA and ReachGlobal opportunities - interns, Trek 7, Apex, MLTs and summer staff. But each new program continues with the goal of discipleship and building a bridge to bring the next generation into vocational ministry.

This summer we had three young adults serving with Crisis Response: Tasha and Lydia in Florida and Caleb in Kentucky. They all felt called to explore full-time missions after serving with their church for a week on a short-term team in 2023. There were opportunities for them to utilize their skills as they all helped host meals, led teams on jobsites, led trainings, and generally explored how Crisis Response makes disciples in the mission fields created by crises. It was a joy to debrief their summers and hear each one highlight different parts of their experience.

Tasha enjoyed working on jobsites, and appreciated the opportunity to serve in the same home week after week, allowing her to invest more time with Mike, the homeowner. They discussed her faith and what it means to be a disciple; they looked at Bible passages and Mike asked thoughtful questions. In fact, Mike would sometimes ask questions she couldn't answer right away, that she had to go home and think about. But the next day he was there waiting for answers when Tasha returned to work on his home. The summer held many firsts for Tasha and growth opportunities, but she really feels that she grew in confidence and in her ability to talk about her faith.

Caleb jumped right into life in Kentucky and invested our partner church by using his gifts to help lead Sunday worship. He connected well with a worship leader who came with the team from New Hope Church in Adel, IA, and then that team offered a ride to Iowa when Caleb and Eric, his on-site mentor, went to serve with our tornado response in Greenfield. Caleb and Eric experienced an early response at Cornerstone Fellowship Church, serving in a community that was still reeling from recent devastation, and Caleb was also able to draw on his skills from years of camp ministry to help with VBS that week. And which church was supporting Cornerstone in hosting VBS that week? That's right - New Hope Church from Adel. Caleb was even able to visit their for Sunday service before leaving Iowa.

Lydia spent less time on jobsites than the other two, preferring to use her administrative and creative skills in the office and also helping with worship for our partner church in Naples. Eloise, her on-site mentor, set up several meeting with administrative and remote staff so Lydia could see the bigger picture of how Crisis Response functions behind the scenes and makes disciples. They spent some time discussing how her leadership skills and desire to disciple the next generation could be utilized with Crisis Response and as a part of our next-gen team. Once home, Lydia is continuing to process the summer and pray about how and when to take another step in ministry.

Each of these young adults had an experience that was tailored to their interests while trying to provide a bigger picture of how ReachGlobal Crisis Response ministers in mission fields created by crises, both in the US and around the world. All three expressed a desire to come back in some capacity. Over the years we've seen some of our summer staff return for a second summer or join Crisis Response for a longer term, others have led short-term teams from their church or served as adjunct staff during our busy seasons. Some of them go on to serve with other ministries or missions organizations, or invest in ministry at their local church. Prayerfully, all of our summer staff would go home with a greater understanding of who God is and how He has shaped them, with a desire to live missionally wherever they end up. All of these are successful outcomes for our summer staff program.

We are praying for Tasha, Caleb and Lydia as they process the summer and pray about what comes next, trusting that the Lord will bring others around them to speak truth and wisdom into their next steps. Our next-gen team will stay in touch and are excited to hear about where God is leading them. Lydia said it best during our team debriefing, "There are a lot of young adults out there who have an interest in serving in ministry, but they don't know what's out there. They are being told to go to trade schools or get a job. I wish more people knew about opportunities like this."

Are there young adults in your church who might be interested in exploring full-time missions? We would love to connect and talk more with them about the opportunities that exist in ReachGlobal and Crisis Response. Email us for more info or check out the college-age opportunities with Apex for more options.