I wanted to take the Cross cultural internship because I want to assist people in knowing who they are in God, help them overcome their weakness, and experience long lasting transformation and healing. I also want to personally grow in discernment of self as well as others. I want to be an agent of change.
The goals that I have made is an ongoing endeavor and it is not something that I can just check off as being met or unmet. This training has definitely given me the tools I need to better understand people and to meet them where they are at in order to serve them better.
I learned more in depth on the different gifts of the APEST team. I was able to also understand myself better.
I do know that it has helped me to have more grace with the patients that I serve in the workplace and to also pray for them while I work in the areas where I was able to identify the different areas in which they were struggling. It also help me to further minister to Carlo, knowing the type of person that he is and the gifting that he carries. I felt that I was able to effectively speak life into him instead of condemn him for what he has done in the past.
I think what was most helpful for me in terms of the training was the part where we actually get to use what we know and practice on others. The exercise we did with Katzy was fun and exciting. It further affirmed that it is something that I can do, and that I am not just imagining things about people. It also showed me what I needed to work on and improve on.
I would recommend this class to people who desire to see those around them experience great inner deliverance and breakthroughs. It is for those who want to sharpen their discernment of people.
~Amee Nguyen
Registered nurse & Bible Study Teacher
Fall 2015 Intern
The information definitely brought more personal healing and understanding which I hope to continue to release into the lives of others. I definitely feel more equipped to empower individuals in the Body of Christ.
It was very helpful to learn more about the motivations of the apostles and teachers as I am not naturally drawn to these groups. Now I know how to better relate and understand the heart behind the behavior with these ones too.
I shared about an experience I had with my boss. It has helped me really validate him in a time when he is being cut down by so many others. It has also helped me speak into the lives of other co-workers. I love them. It’s so great to see their eyes light up when they realize that their natural desires are GOOD! That who they’ve been all along is the most beautiful thing this world has ever seen.
I would recommend it most for people who already have a pretty clear grasp of their own identity and are being matured into greater awareness of others in the Lord.
~Mady Anich
Intercessor of LoveHOP & Regional Director for Foster-Care
Because I don’t have any ministry knowledge nor a Bible school education, I took advantage of something we have available in the community that is more practical for the field (any kind of field). I wanted to learn more about hearing and discerning God’s voice and more about dealing and loving on other people who are not like me. I learned a lot of new things that I won’t probably learn in a Bible school nor a church. It helped me pursue God more, always wanting to know what He says about me. I’ve never approached God like that and asked Him what He thinks of me or how He sees me. When I learned about that in Radical Lovers, I quickly changed the way I spent time with God, especially when I was feeling down and lost in knowing my identity. It’s been fun and encouraging hear from God and know that He responds to me. It has helped me identify why certain people behave the way they do, and love on them the way I learned these people receive love. I was able to minister well to my youth kids and identify their strengths and who they are, and treated them according to how they are loved (Cross-cultural). For my coworkers, I was able to recognize that I hear from the Lord and prayed for each individuals as I’m working and shared with them in person. In the end, my prayers became encouragement for them, knowing that someone prayed for them through their tough times and discouragements.
Through these internships, I was able to let myself be and embrace the person God created me to be. This season I learned that God called me to be a mother, and I struggled accepting that because I never saw myself as one. I thought that I’m not shepherding enough to be a mother, so I never considered having children and was even discouraged about marrying because I believed that I can’t be a wife and a mother. Then I learned to be confident in who God calls me to be and trusted Him in what He says. So I slowly let go of my thoughts about myself and insecurities and started to open up to the kids I minister to. Eventually, these kids saw a different kind of leadership (from Daniel’s) that is not known to them. My gentleness and ability to understand their level gave them a channel to have trust and open up more, which later my youth kids and Adventure Club kids started calling me “mom.” These young people seem to share more to me as their “mother” about their struggles, and it gave me opportunity to pray for them in person and connect with them deeply.
New knowledge was very helpful to me and then applied it after hearing it. I also embraced more of who I am and became confident in what I can do in my different spheres of influence that turned into an asset to a community.
I would recommend this internship to those who have been involved in the church and have a relationship with God and to those who wanted to learn more about spirituality and discerning people.”
~Nikkaela Caballo
Missionary & Executive Assistant of LoveHOP
Fall 2015 Intern
It has helped me understand people. It has helped me to communicate and to not misunderstand or misjudge their actions because I understand that each person carries strengths and weaknesses characterizes a personality type according to the five-fold ministry. They have different way of communicating and so it has helped me communicate better to people who are different than me so I know how to minister to them and relate to them. I have used it everyday on every one. I was trying who she was for a long time. She is very creative and evangelistic but also broken in that area. The hatred is in the area of her parents that has affected her skills. By being able to connect to her on another level with God and being able to do crafts with her has allowed me to open up with me. She told me that she had only one female friend but she has shared with me about her step-mother. At the end of our work day, she mentioned that she needed to talk more about her step-mother because it was bothering her. It was good to learn how to disarm her fear of relationship with women, including me.
Leslie Denny
Direct Support Professional
Fall 2015 Intern
I feel what I have learned in the class has been helpful for my marriage in understanding how to relate to my wife and love her well. It has been helpful in my job as a department chair to navigate between very different desires and personalities of the administrators over me and the teachers that I’m leading. In my job, as far as learning how to try to motivate students and knowing that the different students have different motivations. It has also been helpful to speaking life to people. For example, I was hanging out with my cousin recently who has gone through a lot of stuff and went to court with him and possibly going to jail for extended of period and I was able to speak identity into him and he told me the next day, “Yea! I have been so encouraged what you had said and been thinking about it!” That’s the guy who is very apostolic but has gotten into a lot of troubles of not knowing his strengths. In understanding my grandpa as well because he is very teacher-minded. I have also understanding myself better. Most important testimony is that I have felt that I understood myself and my relationship with God is better in the context of recognizing that some of my confusions and frustrations of who I thought of God revolved around idolatry of my own strengths. It has helped me worship God more fully and have grace on myself.
Richard Denny
Teacher & Department Chair for Harte Prep Middle School
Fall 2015 Intern
It has dramatically increased my effectiveness in my communication skills with people with different giftings than me. After the class I was able to clearly distinguish the five-fold ministry and it gave me a greater appreciation for each individual gifting. I observed a long time ago that my relative was a shepherd and I learned in the class the sherpherding people tends to focus on others rather than themselves. So when communicating to a shepherd their primary motivation is other people and not themselves. My relative called me one day in tears concerning an individual that she had been helping. Circumstances came up in the situation that caused an unhealthy friendship where she was giving way more than she could give and the person was taking advantage of her. My father intervened and told the person that my relative was helping that he was no longer able to receive help from my relative financially. When my relative told me this, she was very concerned for this individual. I realized that this situation was unhealthy and that my father was right. My relative was primary concern was if the man would be okay if she is now helping her. Usually when I address the situation like this, I would explain to the person helping the individual that this person is unhealthy for them and taking advantage of them. But because she was a shepherd, I approached the situation completely differently. I explained how her helping him was hurting him and how her not helping him was the best way to see growth in his life. Knowing how to communicate to my relative in that moment and how to explain to her what my dad was doing was very wise, and out of love for this other person and also for her was a huge victory for our me and our family.
Daniel Winkowitsch
Missionary of LoveHOP & College graduate of Southwestern Assemblies of God University, TX
Spring 2015 Intern