How God Prepared the Way

Written by Jerrid Currey

Ever since I was a child, I have been told that God had a plan and a purpose for my life, but I never really understood what that meant. For years I would wonder, “What is God’s plan for my life? What does He want me to do? Would I want to do what He has called me to do?” It wasn’t until recently that He started to show me how He wants to use me in my life. Right now I am currently an intern for Children Bible Ministries and this is how God prepared the way for me to come to this internship.

It all started about a year ago when my friend and mentor, Sean, recommended me to help out at a camp that I was familiar with, called Camp Gilead, located in Polk City, Florida. They asked me to fill in as a junior counselor for aweek because of a special situation that they needed extra help with. It was definitely a new and challenging experience: taking care of kids for a whole week, especially when I felt like I didn’t even know what I was doing. However, Chris, the director of Camp Gilead, thought I was doing a terrific job and asked me if I wanted to be a junior counselor there for the rest of the summer. In all honesty, when I first heard this, my immediate response was “No,” because I was already so exhausted and drained from that one week, so I could only imagine a whole summer. But, after the week was over and the campers were getting ready to leave, I could really see the difference that I got to help make by teaching the Bible. So, on the last day when all the campers left, all the staff had a meeting and I told the director that I would love to work there for the summer.

Working there for the whole summer as a junior counselor was, needless to say, challenging, but I felt like it was where I needed to be. After the summer camp was over I went up to North Carolina for a couple weeks with my discipleship group and Sean, who led the group. While I was there Sean told me about a conversation that he had with Chris about me and seeing if I wanted to be a part of an internship for Children Bible Ministries or CBM for short. He told me that CBM was the organization that ran Camp Gilead, along with other camps in the U.S. and some programs outside of the states. He also said that they were both so impressed with how well I did at camp that they offered me a spot in the internship program and it was mine if I wanted it. He told me that it would be a year long and it started September of 2020. When I heard this, I was shocked. I had never even thought about getting into full-time ministry before and now I was presented with an opportunity to see how it all worked and if I wanted to make it my career. I told him that I was flattered but I was aiming more towards attending college to study psychology, and he told me to just think about it. 

When I got back from the trip and my senior year started, I began to think deeply about it. I thought about all the plans I had been making and everything I wanted to do, and I thought about how much I enjoyed being at camp and serving in that kind of ministry. Then I remembered some good advice that I had gotten that year. If you’re ever faced with a difficult decision you should ask yourself: Is this what I want or is this what God wants? So that’s what I did. I took some time to myself and I asked myself, “Ok, is college something that I want or is it what God wants? It’s what I want. Is this internship something that I want or what God wants? Well it’s taking an entire year of my life to study and learn more about Him and teach people about Him so why would He not want that?” Then I asked myself a more important question, “When I became a Christian didn’t I give my ENTIRE life over to God? Then shouldn’t I want to serve Him and grow in Him and teach people about His word? I should.” So, from then on, my new plan was to trust in God and trust His plans for me.

There were some times where I did doubt if I was good enough for ministry or if God could even use someone like me but, because of the words of encouraging people, I was able to push all of those lies out of my head. After completing my senior year I started working at Camp Gilead again, but this time as a senior counselor, which is basically the same job but with a lot more responsibility. Being at Camp Gilead helped remind me why I wanted to join the internship. Again, it was a challenge, but I knew that God has the power to use me to change kids’ lives and I loved being a part of that. After spending another summer at Camp Gilead, and after filling out and sending in my application for the internship, I was really looking forward to September. 

I did feel pretty upset having to leave my friends and family, but I knew for a fact that this internship was something I had to do. I started to believe and trust that the internship was an opportunity from God. Beginning the internship, I immediately knew I made the right choice. Being able to grow in my faith and devotions and being encouraged by the intern coordinators every step of the way was an amazing feeling. If anything was certain, I knew that God had me right where He wanted me and He still does. As I continue this internship and continue to grow, I pray that God helps me to grow in my faith, in discipline, in my desire to serve Him. In my faith so I can trust that He will make all things come together for good (Romans 8:28), in discipline so that I have the will to do my devotions and pray daily, and my desire to serve Him so I don’t lose focus on what I’m called to do. Lastly, I want to encourage you to try and put God first in your lives and ask the same question: “Is this what I want or what God wants?”

Jerrid is a part of the CBM Internship program, which exists to encourage young people to experience missions! To learn more about the CBM Internship program click HERE www.childrensbibleministries.net/internships.

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