The Same, But Different

For each intern, God brought them face to face with disability, which led to an interest in disability ministry and then to an internship with Joni and Friends. But each intern has a unique story. At first glance, Sawyer and Josh seem pretty similar — both are West Coast Academy interns from Delaware who heard about internships through the same friend. However, their stories are different. Sawyer struggles with effects from a previous brain injury. While serving at a special needs orphanage in Haiti, he met children like Kimberly: despite her profound disability, she had a joyous glow and amazing smile. She even seemed happier than Sawyer. Through this internship experience, he realized that as Christians we’re called to embrace people with disabilities in Jesus’ name. On the other hand, Josh, who couldn’t be happier surrounded by active children, was overwhelmed on his first day at the orphanage. As he contrasted American standards and the simple pleasures that the Haitian children enjoyed He had to take a hard look at God’s sovereignty. But after ten days, Josh concluded, “There’s a lot God wants to teach me. God put me at peace even though I don’t have the answers.” Now, what is next for these two interns? For Josh who sees the military in his future, “no matter where I end up, I want to do disability ministry in the church—not separate, but integrated.” Sawyer is studying occupational therapy and agreed with Josh, “We both have a strong desire to change the way disability ministry is run in Delaware.” In reality, these interns aren’t that different after all.