Fully immersed

Stop.

Stay in your house.

Cancel your plans.

And wait. Wait until it is safe.

Wait until you can see your family again and explore the world.

Wait for opportunities.

Just wait.

Stay-at-home orders implemented. School taught online. Virtual church services held. Not to mention, lost jobs, canceled trips and, most poignantly, lives lost.

"Normal” has not been reestablished. The present normal has become virtual experiences for almost everything in life, and the craving to have physical connections has never been more real. The implementation of the virtual experience has caused us to realize there is quite a bit we can achieve online, but the onset of “Zoom meeting fatigue” shows us that we were not created to live separately from others.

We were created to live in community, to be immersed in the lives and cultures surrounding us. We were made out of the holy love of the Trinity, which causes us to desire to be in relationships. God exemplified the importance of experience and interaction through the event of the incarnation. It is through the love of the Trinity and the life of Jesus Christ that we see the calling to live a life in participation with God, others and creation. Our need for interaction beyond a screen has become apparent.

Even before COVID-19, I recognized my need to be immersed in the world. The summer before my senior year of college, I spent three months in Eastern Europe exploring the Lord’s call on my life.

I began my internship with Global Partners with an anticipation of new friends, cultures, languages and experiences, but I was not expecting the ways the Lord would use my internship to draw me closer to him. I recognized my profound need for God and that people all around me needed him too.

As I walked along the Adriatic Sea, I noticed how its waves followed the ways in which the wind carried it. That’s how God the Father carried me. I witnessed his love manifested in new ways through deep conversations with non-believers — and that brokenness is not a barrier but a bridge of connectedness for all people. There are no boundaries to God’s power because he is boundless. There are no borders to his grace because he is borderless. There are no hindrances to God’s love because he hinders no one. God’s arms open wide to make those who are lost, found.

Immersion experiences help us recognize our need for God and illustrate God’s desire for us to engage with his world and people. In a time when immersion is abnormal, the NEXT Internship is unique. NEXT internships enable young adults to journey, learn and engage in mentored cross-cultural immersion experiences. These NEXT opportunities enable participants to explore who they are in God’s mission and focus on developing Kingdom Force leaders who desire to follow the Lord’s call on their lives.

We may not know what tomorrow looks like, but we do know that the Lord wants us to fully immerse ourselves in relationship — with him, others and creation. NEXT provides that next right step of obedience for those like me who want to engage in relationships — even amid difficult COVID-19 days.