Our Summer Internship is in Full Swing!

The interns having lunch with our colleagues, Peter and Celeste

 Our summer interns, Dani and Kyla, arrived on June 1st, and they've been going non-stop ever since! We are truly blessed to have them join us this summer, and we really have enjoyed watching them learn and process their experiences as they are experience missions in Austria for the first time.

Visiting the Oasis Refugee Center

Our overall goal for the internship is to expose our interns to a variety of different ministries and needs in Austria, as well as give them a "taste" of missionary life. They are taking German classes, navigating public transportation in a foreign city and handling their own grocery shopping, among other things.  Their weekly schedule also includes the following ministry opportunities:

• Volunteering weekly at a refugee center, helping with a women and kids' group
• Prayer walking around the local refugee camp and in the neighborhood where we will be church planting
• Visiting a local anti-sex trafficking/trade ministry and helping them with organizing clothing donations and childcare during an African womens' bible study
• Attending German class and looking for opportunities to talk about their faith with their classmates
• Meeting with Bethany for weekly discipleship & discussion time
• Meeting up with other missionaries in Vienna to learn about how God led them here and what they do

With other volunteers at the Oasis

Their schedule has been full! In between activities, they manage their own time, deciding how to prioritize rest, German study and reaching out to people they've met to meet up. In just 2 weeks, they hop on a train and head west to the Salzburg area to serve as counselors as a Christian English camp ministry, returning to Vienna afterwards to debrief on their time here this summer. 

This is our second year having summer interns and we are so thankful and blessing that God has led Kyla and Dani to serve here with us. We are learning many new things, too, as we walk with them through this significant cross-cultural and ministry experience. God is shaping us into better leaders and disciplers through this experience, and we know God will use this journey to better equip us for our new role as Team Austria field leaders. Praise God for how He is working!