International (MNN) — Many college students use internships as a way to gain experience in their chosen field, but where has this pandemic left them?
(Photo courtesy of Jonathon Lipscombe)
“COVID-19 threw a little bit of a wrench in the works,” says Jonathon Lipscombe, an intern with AMG International. “From finding out at college that I had to go home to do online schooling, to shortly after [getting] word that the president of Guatemala locked down all the borders, which meant that my trip was canceled for the summer. That hit a little hard.”
Despite all of these changes, Lipscombe has still found ways to be positive through it all.
“Even though I am sad that I’m not going to be able to be in Guatemala this summer or not going to be anywhere else, I am still happy that I have this opportunity to be able to still do missions and still try to help highlight what the Lord is doing in Guatemala and around the world with AMG,” he says.
He has not let disruptions to his plans affect how he views this unique opportunity. “COVID-19 definitely has brought on some disappointment, but I feel like I’ve learned a lot through it,” he says. “God has been nothing but faithful in this time and has shown me how I can trust Him. God has really shown me how to take full advantage of the circumstances.”
Lipscombe is using this summer to learn more by working at a camera shop as their social media coordinator. “I’m absolutely loving it and it’s giving me fantastic experience that I’m now going to be able to take to the mission field. I’m learning a ton of stuff from the people I work with that I would never have been able to have the opportunity to get that knowledge elsewhere,” he says.
According to AMG’s website, interns work alongside staff and missionaries “to help accomplish AMG International’s mission of equipping and developing Christ-centered national leaders to become instruments of Gospel advancement and community transformation.” Lipscombe, who previously traveled with AMG to Guatemala in high school, will now be working as their media intern year-round.
(Photo courtesy of Jonathon Lipscombe)
“I really have a heart for the missions that AMG is doing and I really wanted to find a way that I could help and still be a part of it,” he says. “I really hope that this AMG internship is not something that necessarily has an end date, but as a stepping stone to one day going into full-time missions with AMG after college, working in Guatemala or wherever else the Lord sends me.”
Lipscombe views this internship as an opportunity to leave his mark on his community and potentially worldwide. Businesses have been implementing more of an online presence in the past few years, and this pandemic has, in a lot of ways, moved those plans along faster.
“I want to be able to build an online community for AMG. I really think that being able to provide this media and show this media to supporters is a good way to help highlight what God is doing and really give people the visual experience that they haven’t been able to see before and give an idea of where their support is actually going,” he says.
Lipscombe is still in the support raising process and could use prayer. He is looking for monthly supporters to “come alongside me and journey through this process with me. So just pray for the Lord’s provision on that,” he says.
“I’m very optimistic and very open to seeing what the Lord is going to reveal to me through this whole experience.”
Header photo courtesy of Jonathon Lipscombe
