The Perfect Team

With summer only weeks away and pandemic-related uncertainty riding high, four college students waited for the phone call telling them whether or not to pack their things and head to Chattanooga for two months of hands-on disciple-making. When the green light came, High School interns Andy White, and Anica Gilbert, and Middle School interns Carissa (CJ) Conley and Evan Lancaster quickly began preparing for what we all knew would be a unique and unforgettable summer experience.

For the Youth Ministry, this summer was… different. No dorm hijinks, no long van rides, no plane flights to Haiti, and no running around the church building at 3:00am with Nerf guns. We didn’t blob at summer camp, team-up with other churches to paint a house, or run a VBS for kids in the inner city.



But for all the things we knew we couldn’t do, there was one thing – the most important thing – that was non-negotiable: discipling students. A lot of the magic of the summer occurs outside of the officially scheduled meetings. Andy and Anica wasted no time arranging get-togethers with High School students, and CJ and Evan did the same for the younger students. There was laughter, there were tears. Struggles were brought to light, and kids were prayed for and encouraged in their faith. Andy and Anica pressed hard to encourage leadership and initiative from the older students, and CJ and Evan paid special attention to helping our younger friends feel that youth group is a place where they can connect and grow.

Each intern shared their inspiring personal testimony with our group, which led to many valuable follow-up conversations with students. While all four brought something very unique to our group, together they were the perfect team for an imperfect summer, and we were very blessed to have them.