Be like Matthew and serve at a global summer internship with Joni and Friends! Sign up today at joniradio.org.
Are you a student or young professional looking to learn more about serving people with disabilities? Our internship program will give you hands-on experience with ministering to people and families living with disability! Learn more here:
https://joniandfriends.org/internships/
Hi, I’m Joni, here to introduce you to one extraordinary intern.
His name is Matthew. He is a devoted son to his widowed mother, and he loves his little dog, Frankie. Matthew lives with intellectual disabilities that affect his speech, and his memory, and his ability to comprehend things. They used to say of Matthew that he was “slow,” but even with his impairments, this young guy wants to serve. And he prepared himself to serve by attending Shepherds College. He even earned a certificate in culinary arts and got an after-school job in a restaurant. Shepherds College recognized Matthew’s desire to serve and they worked with us at Joni and Friends to organize a group of students with disabilities [including Matthew], to serve on one of our global missions internships.
Could the students leave home; travel to a different country; serve in an unfamiliar place? Well, Matthew wondered if he could do it. But God gave him the courage and he and his team boarded a flight bound for Brazil to serve at our International Family Retreat. Landing in Rio de Janeiro, Matthew looked around. Everything was different. But at International Family Retreat, Matthew really got comfortable enjoying serving other people with disabilities. But after his first day, he was homesick. Really homesick. But he kept saying to himself, “God’s telling me, ‘Don’t worry, everything’s going to be okay.’ But I’m still nervous,” he said. Matthew overcame his uneasiness and began helping the children who were very poor in that country. Many of the boys and girls who attended were hungry. Some even tried to save scraps of food from lunch. This is when Matthew eagerly stepped in to help serve the kids a good lunch. And I’ve got a photo of it posted at joniradio.org today because you’ve got to see how this kid drew confidence from his culinary background and his experience working in a restaurant.
Our Joni and Friends team member Kimi recalls coming into a room of 2-year-olds and watching Matthew deliver lunch. She marveled at his patience as he hand-fed a little boy who couldn’t eat on his own. Later, during nap time, she watched as Matthew sat cross-legged on the floor between two children, gently patting their backs while they napped. During the Family Retreat in Brazil, Matthew’s servant’s heart was noticed by everyone. However, at the end of the trip, he told Kimi that, while the experience was something he’d treasure, he would not be back the following year—homesickness weighed too heavily on his heart, and he felt that his mom and his dog needed him too much.
Now, fast forward a full year later. And as Kimi was working with Shepherds College to once again enlist a new group of interns to go back to Brazil, there was Matthew’s name! She wondered what made him change his mind and Matthew later told her that God had told him to “speak the truth to everyone, and he said, show me the way Lord. Not my will, but yours be done.” He even chose a Scripture: “go and make disciples of all nations.” And guess what? He experienced no homesickness.
Friend, I’d like you to learn more about our Global Mission Internships. They are for anyone who wants a global experience of disability and, oh, are your hands and heart needed. So, visit joniradio.org today to not only see photos of Matthew, but to click on a link which will take you directly to more info about our summer internships. We’re heading to El Salvador and Ghana. So, come and serve those who need your help here at Joni and Friends. Again, go to joniradio.org. And those are your hope-filled words for today.
© Joni and Friends