Dear Family and Friends,
As you know ,I participated in Mission Indy as an intern this past summer. I have been extremely blessed by the experience and could not have done it without you. Thank you for your prayers and financial support. On August 1, 2009, the nine other interns and I debriefed our experiences and said our good-byes. I’m already preparing to go back to school. Where did the summer go? I cannot even begin to explain all we’ve accomplished, learned, and shared, but I hope to give you an idea of a few things God did this summer.
Let’s start from the very beginning…a very good place to start. (Sound of Music, anyone?) When I got the letter from Mission Indy asking for my consent to be an intern for the summer, I checked the “yes” box with confidence. However, during the training weeks, I began to doubt myself. I had never been in such a big leadership role. I remembered when I participated in Mission Indy as a student, and I thought the interns were so much older and cooler than me. Now I am one of those interns, and I still felt pretty young and uncool. It didn’t take much for the devil to get a foothold. BUT God is good. He reassured me through relationships with the interns, our discussions about community, and seeing the weeks of Mission Indy come together.
Training weeks- The first two weeks of Mission Indy is dedicated to training the interns. We went out and learned about the city of Indianapolis, where we would be working. We learned the history of the east side; like why there are so many abandoned houses, and why there are so many pawn shops in the area. We did a simulation exercise and experienced the downtown bus system. (We missed our first bus…I am thankful I don’t have to depend on the buses.) We also discussed the importance of the church being what it is called to be. It became a challenge to all the interns to find their role in the church, especially as we all return to our own home churches. From these two weeks, we became a community to one another. We asked questions and tried to live out what we were learning.
Internship Weeks- During our off weeks, I had the privilege of working with an organization called Damar. According to Damar’s website,“At Damar, we achieve what many cannot — enabling people challenged by autism, mental retardation and other developmental disabilities and related behavioral challenges to live more successful lives.” I got to work with boys ages 15-18. They were not much younger than me, so I was very nervous at first. During the time I was there, they were at summer school. I was able to sit in on their class and participate on all their outings. We went to places they wanted to go, like the guitar center, or the canal. I really got to know and love all the boys. However, it was not always fun and games there. Most of these boys grew up in the system without loved ones. A lot of them feel very unwanted. It was hard to see how they reacted in defensive ways and did not open up to people easily. It was very emotionally and mentally challenging for me. My heart breaks for those kids. I know God is, and will continue, to work on me through my experience at Damar. I heard from several people that they love when volunteers come spend time with them, because they’re not getting paid. I could tell it meant a lot to them just to talk about themselves. The last week of Mission Indy I was able to lead VBS at Damar. It was awesome to see how the boys listened, ask edquestions, and respected me.-It was totally God at work! I had a hard time leaving these boys. I have been writing them, and I live pretty close so I hope to visit. It was such a rewarding experience and something I will not soon forget.
Mission Indy weeks- For 4 out of the 10 weeks, we spent our time at the “Mission Indy Weeks”. Each week we were hosted by a different church around Indy. Youth groups came from all over. (Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee.) I was able to lead one worksite and 3 different VBS weeks. I thought I would be doing one VBS this summer, but God had a different plan. Believe it or not, after all the: scraping, painting, and standing in the heat, I had more energy after the worksite than after a VBS. Like I said, I was nervous about the leadership role. The first week, I had the privilege to lead the older girls at VBS in discussion. The second week, I experienced teaching an interactive lesson with my old church friend and fellow intern, Elizabeth Heuss. And the fourth week, I was given the challenge of teaching a discussion lesson along with another intern who became my friend, Andrew. It was a little more challenging, because that week we worked with 13-19 year olds. Each week I was placed out of my comfort zone in a leadership role, and I gained confidence in God and myself. No matter how much we planned ,we still felt unprepared. But God worked it out and showed us He is in control by making it better than we could’ve ever made it. God took my insecurities and taught me to trust Him. (Timothy…)
Mission Indy as a Whole- In conclusion… Just kidding there really is no conclusion to this story! I have learned so much this summer, and I’m still learning. I grew close to each of the interns and love them like brothers and sisters. They challenged me in my spiritual walk with thoughts and questions. We shared everything with each other, and we were vulnerable with each other. They were an example of what a community should look like to me. I know God put us together for a reason, and now I pray we are able to take what we’ve learned back home and put it into action. Something I learned from one of the interns is that Jesus worked with and healed people one at a time, so why are we not satisfied with one person at a time? Sometimes I commit to things that are too big. After this summer, I want to change the world. However, I am glad that God is teaching me to work on one thing at a time. I have to be reminded that He is in control of this overwhelming world. Please continue to pray for the interns to not forget what we’ve learned and to share it with people out of LOVE! Thanks again for supporting me. I have been challenged by Galatians 6:9. I talked to many wise people this summer, but no matter how wise someone may be, I learned I still need to turn to God’s word to find true wisdom. I pray God blesses you in your walk with Him!
In Him,
Megan Miller
P.S. I won't ramble anymore, but there is so much more to say. So if you would like me to go into detail please send a message my way or give me a ring.
