Imagine receiving an all-expense-paid vacation to the coolest place you’ve ever seen. Where is that for you? Big city? Hidden beach? Cabin in the mountains? Oh, but there’s a catch. You must ask a random stranger for directions. You can’t use your cell phone or a map, just the directions you’re given. Would you still go on the trip?
Some of you are still on board. I will be your biggest cheerleader! However, I’m guessing most aren’t taking this offer unless there’s a guarantee you will get where you want to go.
Let me change the scenario. The stranger you ask for directions is from the place you are going. He is riding with you, with a cell phone and a map to help you get there! Now, we are all on board.
Each summer at IM, we meet students in high school, college, and beyond with an end goal in mind. Some have a clear idea how to get there. Some are figuring it out as they go. One thing is certain: all need guidance. Wherever you (or your students) are, IM wants to help you get where the Lord is leading you. Along the way, we hope to open your eyes to what this looks like as a missions-minded believer. The primary way we do this is through our student programs: ETEAM, CMP, and OA.
ETEAM, a missions program for high school students, has been around since 1992. ETEAM accepts students from across the U.S. and sends them to work alongside IM missionaries around the world. Teams spend a week training. They learn teamwork. They also attend classes to help them deepen their walk with the Lord and learn more about Him. Classes taught this past year were How to Study Your Bible, Apologetics, How to Memorize Scripture, Difficult Conversations, Philosophy of Missions, and many others. After the week of training, students spend two weeks doing shoulder-to-shoulder ministry with our missionaries. To say ETEAM is life-changing is an understatement.
But don’t take my word for it. Hear from one of our ETEAM 2023 students below!
Since I was part of ETEAM, I have discovered my love for serving and missions! IM does such a great job of introducing field mission work to high schoolers. The hands-on work impacts all students who get to experience it. The relationships you make with the missionaries and the people you meet on the trip can last a lifetime and make such an impact, as they have done with me. I don’t know if I want to pursue full-time missions work in the future; but I am absolutely willing and glad to if the Lord calls me! —Julia Barnhill
College Missions Program (CMP) is designed for college-aged students. Started in 1969, this is our oldest sending program at IM, previously known as Summer Missionaries and Go & Be. CMP allows college-aged students to experience missions in a way that helps them determine if they really could serve overseas. This means smaller teams, more responsibility, and more time overseas. Ultimately, these students experience and learn how to use the “mundane” overseas. For example, a CMP student has a Tuesday afternoon free. How can he or she choose to spend that time wisely for ministry? Hear more from an alumna of both ETEAM and CMP on the impact these programs can have on your life!
I am currently a student at Welch College majoring in Secondary Mathematics Education and minoring in Intercultural Studies. I participated in ETEAM and CMP, going to Chicago, Brazil, and Japan. I have always been fascinated by missions, but the opportunities IM has given me have allowed me more knowledge and experience about missions and what a mission field looks like. I am currently praying for clarity as to where I will work and what that will look like. Being involved with the people in the IM office by being an intern there, has helped me build relationships with previous missionaries and people who are knowledgeable in the field. I am grateful for IM and all the people who have had such an impact on my life. I can only hope to make such an influence in the lives of others. — Emily Roach
Overseas Apprenticeship (OA) is an extension of the CMP program and is traditionally used for academic credit. Most OA students serve overseas for seven to ten weeks. For many, this time is used to determine where they would like to serve after graduation. Silas, one of our most recent OAs to Bulgaria, saw the Lord use him in incredible ways.
IM has been instrumental in developing me as a young man and giving me the resources to grow into who God is calling me to be. Ever since my time in high school, members of the IM staff have continuously invested in me and given me the connections needed to make much of my present season in life. While attending Welch College, IM has never made itself distant! I have had calls with various field workers and many meetings with the office staff, and I have utterly benefitted from their constant encouragement and counsel in my life. As I look towards graduating this spring, these incredible individuals I have had the privilege of knowing have come beside me in prayer as I ponder what God has for me next.— Silas Houser
Sometimes, though not always, the Lord uses these programs to speak to a student’s heart and lead him or her to a life of overseas service.
I recently got the chance to visit with a missionary family I met while I was on ETEAM France back when I was in high school. While with them, I had the opportunity to thank them for their impact in my life. Today, as a career missionary, I look back on my journey to get here, and the path was filled with encouragement from so many others involved in missions: Hanna Mott, Joni and Heath Hubbard, Donnie and Ruth McDonald, Matt and Cristina Price, Jerry and Barb Gibbs, and so many more. Without ETEAM and the impact it had on my life and the ability to have meaningful conversations with so many encouragers, I wouldn’t be where I am today. — Lauren Riggs
It’s not realistic to think every student who goes through these programs will end up serving overseas in a long-term capacity. Some do, and that’s great! But we trust the experience these students gain through their training and time overseas will encourage them to look at life through a different lens than before. As my friend and colleague Danny Gasperson says, we are not called to be believers who simply mind missions, but rather, we are called to be missions-minded believers.
Wherever life takes you, and wherever that all-expense paid dream vacation is for you, it is our prayer you do not try to figure it out on your own. You have a friend in IM! We want to help you “labor with the Body of Christ to fulfill the Great Commission.”
About the Writer: Leslie Nichols joined the IM family in January 2019 as the assistant to the director of mobilization. In January 2021, she became College Missions Program (CMP) coordinator and accepted her current role as director of mobilization in January 2023. Learn more about student missions opportunities: iminc.org/student-missions
