Jimmy arrived on Monday. iGosian summer is here. For those of you just getting to know iGosian culture, Jimmy is the title given to the iGo Global summer interns. Why this title? Simple. Everyone needs a friend named Jimmy. These students spend their summer helping us train and mobilize. In the big picture of mission work, mobilization is a strategic part of the calling. Without those who train and mobilize, we wouldn’t have anyone that could go.

As a result, iGo Jimmy get to come alongside our staff to help us with this part of the mission process. It is truly a working internship. These students spend long hours at the office, at Base Camps, on the recruiting trail, and at Costco.

And along the way we invest in them as leaders. It is not just work. We want to see them grow and develop as well. They meet outside of office hours with a couple that are shepherding them spiritually throughout the summer. We pour into them as they pour into all the iGo students.

Which reminds me that we started the Jimmy program long before we had enough work to justify having interns. We wanted to intentionally teach students about the necessity of mobilization in the process. We also wanted to develop leaders. The Jimmy strategy helps us do exactly that.

So pray for Jimmy this summer. They aren’t the ones that are getting on planes and flying to places you find hard to pronounce and spell. They are the behind the scenes servant leaders that help make it all possible. They struggle a little every time another team gets on a bus and heads to the airport. They are tempted to question the validity of their calling when they take a break from stuffing parent folders to run to the airport and witness another team arriving back home. Pray that they will understand and embrace the calling to mobilize (at least for a summer). And pray that they will learn, grow, and develop through every experience. And please pray that they will find true joy in the journey.

Check out a few candid shots of their first week on our Facebook page.