Urban Connection-San Antonio

What a crazy masterpiece God has been putting together for mine and my girlfriend, Sarah's, summer. I should probably start at the beginning and work my way through all the events that have taken place. A few years ago, I decided to put myself down as a non-profit minor because a lot of my classes overlapped and it looked like an easy extra to my resume. However, as college progressed, I didn't have many intentions on actually graduating with it. Recently that all changed, though. Jesus began to work on my heart last semester with ideas of starting non-profits that made a difference in communities and that leveraged the resources and talents of Christ-centered college students. So, I changed my mind and decided to look into my minor a little more.
I knew that I needed an internship for it and my place of employment from the past two years wasn't going to meet the requirements of non-profit status. At the same time, Sarah and I had been discussing how important it is for someone with her major, in liberal arts, to have an internship but it seemed like there was too much red tape to getting her one so close to summer, was in Dallas, gave her experience teaching, and paid, but she still looked into it a little bit. (This could get confusing as I try and tell both of our stories going on at the same time but just stick with me). I began to try and figure out where I could intern as well. I knew of a friend, Jon Fontenot, that I heard worked for AmeriCorps, which works with non-profits. I called Jon and he told me about how he just got in a request for applicants at a 300 hour, 10 week, faith-based, paid internship in intercity San Antonio, called Urban Connection. I emailed them and they gave me an application. I noticed that at the top of the application it said Central Dallas Ministries (The sister organization to Urban Connection) and had a check box for people interested in their educational program. So I asked if they were still accepting applicants in Dallas, which they said they were. I forwarded the email to Sarah and she realized that it was one of the internships that a friend had referenced her to, so she sent in her application.
I received a call a little later with a request for a follow up interview. Praise God! Sarah did not receive one, however. I told her to call them and follow up because it might get her name on their list. When she did, they said that she would need to interview with them on the following Saturday in Dallas if she was still interested, even though she was still living in Austin. However, it turned out that it was the day she was already planning to go back for her sister's prom preparation, which made it work out perfectly.
I noticed that when I was driving to my interview, everything looked familiar in the area that it was in. That is when I realized that it was the same neighborhood that my roommate, Anthony, had taken me through my freshman year. He lived right down the street and he told me that the area, Lincoln Heights Courts, was a really rough neighborhood and wasn't a place to be at night. When I was interviewed, I was astounded by how much God had been building me up the past 3 years for working for Urban if I happened to get the job. They were all about going into places people had overlooked, working with the kids in that community, preaching the gospel, and loving in a way that costs them something. They told me that one of the first things they noticed was that I was a male who was conversational in Spanish and that it would definitely be needed. I love speaking Spanish and this got me excited for more opportunities to practice. They talked about reaching marginalized kids for Jesus, giving them opportunities that they usually didn't have, and also connecting with their families. I had been doing this the past two summer projects with Crusade and every weekend with Alamo Stone Church. They also talked about developing programs, being flexible, and taking initiative. These were things I learned at BIF technologies and Campus Crusade during the school year. Wow! Coincidence? I think not. When I left, I just couldn't believe how much God was working and was wishing I had been a little better prepared for such a competitive interview where they were interviewing only half their applicants and picking ten from the interview pool. However, Sarah went in for her interview in Dallas and was told that she was one of 400 plus applicants applying for 125 positions, much more daunting I suppose. Sarah's interview went good as well. There were four people who were interviewing at the time but she got to interview with the AmeriCorps’s Director for CDM, whom she had been emailing back and forth. They told her that if she got the job she would be getting the opportunity to teach and make lesson plans. How cool is that? But the competition was high and so we were left to trust in Christ and pray.
The next day, Sarah's church was doing an outreach in an under resourced community in Dallas. At first she wanted to sleep but then decided to go and help out. A non-profit called Heart House of Dallas called her not soon after that. They told her that CDM had given them her information and that they were interested in having her TEACH SCIENCE! Guess where it was too? It was in that same neighborhood that her church had done outreach in not too soon before. Crazy, I know. Well, they wanted to make sure that she was legit, and asked to do a follow up interview with her. She told them that she was in Austin and they said that it was fine because one of the staff members was headed down there on an upcoming Sunday. It turns out that the girl who did the follow up interview with her had attended UT and lived in the same, small, private dormitory. At this point, I had not been called, but I had stopped by Urban Connection to drop off a thank you card for the interview and was invited to play soccer with the kids. Neither Sarah nor I had been offered a position but both were looking pretty optimistic. One reason was because Sarah's aunt called her before her follow up interview to tell her that the past three nights she had been having dreams of Sarah working with children and making a big impact on them, with no explanation to why she was having them. Prophetic!? But on the same day, not long after that, Sarah and I were both offered positions!
At the same time all of this was happening, I had been in contact back and forth with the advisors in charge of my minor and the College of Public Policy. I told them that I was interviewing with Urban Connection, which they told me was a really good internship and they already had connections where they could put in a good word for me. They also told me that my minor only required 150 hours, but since it was 300 I would be applicable for an American Humanics Certification. It turns out that there are only 3 universities in Texas that have partnerships with American Humanics and UTSA was one of them. With a few other, minor activities and an almost fully covered conference in Orlando over Christmas break, I could get the certification. The advisor then told me that all 21 of the past graduates with this particular certification were working at MANAGEMENT level positions at different non-profit organizations. What a great opportunity!
SOOOOO, in conclusion, Sarah and I will both be getting the opportunities to work in under resourced, dangerous, communities, to gain solid experience, to put what experience God has given us to use, and to preach Christ to those that desperately need it this summer and all because of God's great grace. Plus, we'll be getting a stipend and a $1000 scholarship at the completion of our 300 hours, not the reason for working but definitely a cherry on top. Thanks for reading and I'll keep you updated. God is good, always!

Check out some videos of what Urban is doing at Youtube.com and search urban connection san antonio. There is a 3 part series on them that is really inspiring.