Summer Church Internship Keeps Two HSU Students Busy

Crystal McKinnie, senior education major from Mesquite, Texas, and Olivia Bodiford, senior nursing major from Fort Worth, have spent their summer as interns with a local Abilene church, Wylie United Methodist.  

Both regularly attend the church during the school year and donate a lot of their time towards the church and its youth group.   

“This church already means a lot to us and has really become a great community”, McKinnie said. “When the opportunity came up for us to stay and work here this summer, we jumped on it because we realized we have limited time left since graduation is so soon.”

On Wednesdays, the youth group met for “Snow Cones & Jesus” where they would go out to lunch with the youth, have a bible study and then go buy snow cones.

“Wednesday activities are really cool,” Bodiford said. “It was really fun to get to just hang out with them and get to know them better.

The internship has also provided opportunities such as chaperoning a youth group summer camp with other adult leaders and participating in mission trips.

“Church camp was really wonderful,” McKinnie said. “We took our junior high group and had a blast getting to spend time with them and dig deeper into their walks with the Lord. It was really neat to get together every night and pray about the day we just finished and the next day.”

Along with mission work and church camps, Bodiford and McKinnie helped around when there was a need, such as washing dishes or helping out with social media.

John Hunt, HSU’s director of Baptist Student Ministries, said interning at a church can be a fulfilling experience for students whether they are planning to continue in a career in a ministry or not.

“It gives you insight into the inner workings of a church,” he said. “That’s a valuable experience for students for the rest of their life.”