Oh, the joys of being an intern.

I say that jokingly because my summer editorial internship at the International Mission Board  — oh wait, let me say this in the proper “branding” fashion, dropping the “the” — at IMB was not your typical internship. Instead of doing menial tasks such as making copies or fetching coffee, I was thrown into “real” assignments from day one. However, being tossed in the deep end without water wings, so to speak, gave me a great opportunity to grow in my writing — and do it fast.

Over the course of the summer — eight weeks, to be exact — I wrote and edited about 30 stories, from a few 250-word snippets to features of 1,000-plus words. I had to balance my time carefully, as I was only allotted exactly 37.5 hours to work every week.

Because my internship was limited to Richmond, most of my interviews were conducted via Skype, phone or e-mail, which was a challenge in itself. A series of stories I worked on highlighted different cities across the world — what the city was like, its challenges and the progress of ministries there. It was difficult to interview individuals without actually seeing them or their city, and still provide vibrant details as to what the city and their ministries were like. But it taught me to think through my interview questions carefully, asking ones that would produce compelling details and stories.

Another challenge was adjusting my writing style. IMB practices advocacy journalism, which Webster defines as “journalism that advocates a cause or expresses a viewpoint.” Coming from a news-style background, I learned to write in a manner told the story truthfully and promoted the vision of IMB.

I also learned to write better features. One of the best pieces of advice I received from one of my editors concerning leads was, “You need to punch the reader in the gut.” In other words, you need to grab the reader by the throat and not let them go. These vivid descriptions helped me keep in mind that reader’s attentions spans are waning, and writing needs to be precise and capture their attention. I was told several times to change parts of my writing to something more “snappy.”

Although at first these suggestions irked me (what writer doesn’t think their style is perfect?), I came to realize they were right — nobody wants to read something fact-laced that drones on and on. I worked to craft leads that were vividly descriptive, capturing the reader’s attention and placing them in the story. Though I am still working on that, I hope that I can continue to challenge myself to craft artful and engaging leads.

Another phrase that I heard time and time again is, “Show, don’t tell.” I cannot tell you how many times I heard my college journalism professor repeat that mantra, but it really is true. Rather than walking your reader through the story chronologically or fact-by-fact — “this happened and then this happened” — a story should flow naturally by placing readers in the action, making them feel like they are a part of the story.

Through these eight weeks, I have grown as a writer and an individual. Challenged out of my comfort zone, I was forced to be confident in myself and my writing — and to rely on God to get me through. Even when the days were rough and my brain was so zapped that I didn’t feel like I could type another word, the most important thing I learned at IMB was it is not all about me — I am telling people’s stories about what God is doing in the world. That’s worth more than all the blood, sweat and tears that go into writing, and I hope I never lose sight of that fact. To God be the glory.

Lost in the system, illegal citizens with no rights or a way to work, they are “non-persons.” The boy’s parents have no way of gaining income, and he can’t attend a Greek school. He could get an education through a nearby co-op, but his family can’t even buy the basic school supplies needed for that.

Sadly, this boy’s plight is all too common. Children across the globe can’t afford the simplest of supplies needed to attend school. Young girls in the urban slums of Bangladesh. Children in a Turkish orphanage. Poor farmer’s children in the rural Philippines. Poverty and AIDS-stricken young in Botswana. All are underprivileged and from low-income families, and their lack of money for school supplies keeps them from attending school.

They yearn for a better life, but opportunity requires an education — and the kids can’t get an education without school supplies.

Now a Baptist Global Response project will provide these children with the basic supplies they so desperately need — and give them have the opportunity to attend school.

BGR’s “Kits for Kids” project will launch full-force in the summer of 2011 as the featured project in the missions rotation of Lifeway Christian Resources’ Vacation Bible School summer program. LifeWay is partnering with BGR to send the educational kits to BGR partners overseas who have requested kits and will distribute them to children in need.

When Lifeway expressed interest in partnering with BGR for their 2011 VBS program, everyone agreed the kits were “perfect for VBS because it’s about kids, it’s for kids and kids would be collecting it,” Funderburk said. Lifeway had partnered with BGR in 2010 to promote the In-Home Care Kits, but that project was too expensive for and difficult to explain to children. Darlene Parrish, Lifeway content editor for VBS curriculum, said they were interested in partnering with BGR on Kits for Kids because many churches want to include a hands-on mission project in VBS, and children would easily understand the need for school supplies.

“The Kits for Kids campaign will help children understand there are places where simple things like notebook paper and pencils are luxuries that are hard to come by,” Parrish said. “They can be kids who care about other kids who don’t have those same luxuries. In addition, kids will learn there are many ways they can help and ‘do something big for God,’ whether that’s for children far away or just down their street.

“We want kids to understand that this is what God has called us to do: to reach to others and help them in His name, and they get to be a part of that,” Parrish said.

Lori Funderburk, BGR’s prayer strategist, and Regina Palmer, the group’s signature projects coordinator, are co-coordinating the Kits for Kids initiative.

“An important aspect of the project is that it’s something the children could actually do themselves — going to the store with their parents and picking out the supplies from the shopping list,” Funderburk noted. “In doing so, the children could make a connection that a child across the globe will use these same supplies they use and these supplies will help a child who couldn’t go to school otherwise.”

As of May 17, Funderburk and Palmer have received requests from BGR partners in 31 countries for approximately more than 138,000 kits. Many large requests have come from the South Africa region — including countries such as Rwanda, Botswana, Kenya and Madagascar — and the countries of China and the Philippines. The largest area of request by far is Asia, with 18 project requests for approximately 56,000 kits.

Though VBS is sponsoring the project, anyone can pack a kit, Funderburk said. Groups that have already contacted BGR to pack kits include Women’s Missionary Union chapters, university students, whole churches and individual families. Even packing just one kit is fine “because one will make a difference to that person,” she said.

The kits give churches and individuals in the United States an opportunity to change the world and make a difference — something they often don’t know how to approach, Funderburk said.

“These kits are an easy project that could be life-changing for somebody, because if a kit got in the right hands of a child, it might make them change their whole idea about education,” she said.

Ben Wolf, BGR area director for Asia Rim, said he is excited about the impact these kits could have in so many different areas and ways.

The Asia Rim region is diverse, from the world’s largest population in China, the big inland country of Mongolia, and third-world Cambodia to the smallest of islands in Fiji,” Wolf said. “The kits will be used in tribal areas, as well as big urban centers.

“The kids are some of the poorest of the poor. These are families that are living from hand to mouth or just daily — what they earn today pays for supper tonight,” Wolf said. “They have no additional income to pay for the basic need of school supplies.”

The kits will make an impact on entire families, not just children, because when you minister to the children in a family, new relationships and trust are built, Wolf added.

“No matter where you go in the world, one concern rises to top when you talk with a poor community’s fathers: the concern of a parent for their children,” Wolf said. “Though they may mention worries about income and providing for their families, this issue always stands out.”

Kits for Kids will help children in the United States expand their worldview and appreciate the blessings they have, Funderburk explained. “When a child loses his pencil in the States, he simply pulls another from his pencil box,” she said. “But when a poor child loses his pencil, it may be the only one they’ve had for an entire year. These educational kits may provide a child with the first new things they’ve ever had.

“Think about the differences this could make in a child’s life,” Funderburk said. “But as important as the kits will be to the kids who are going to receive them, they are equally important to the people who are packing them, because it’s their way to make a difference in the world. It’s an easy, inexpensive way to change somebody’s life and in doing that, it will change your life.”

To learn more about BGR’s Kits for Kids project and how to pack a kit, visit www.vbskitsforkids.org.

Oh my, it has been much to long since I have blogged last. Goodness gracious. But at least I have a pretty good excuse: between finals, graduation, moving and starting an internship, things have been pretty busy. Anyways. here are a few photos I took before school ended. My husband and I, with our good friends Angela and TK, went to visit the Jackson Humane Society and enjoyed seeing all the “puppies” (because to me, all dogs are puppies, no matter their age). Afterward, we made a delicious dinner of black bean burgers, and invited our vegetarian friend Ryan to join us. Wow, I do sure miss these friends. Enjoy the pictures!

Multimedia and story by Sarah Goff

It’s 9 a.m., and Mike Turri and Jim Coleman put fruit, vegetables and dead mice into white plastic bowls. They are bird keepers at the Memphis Zoo, and this is part of their morning routine. Arrive at 8 a.m., open the building, check on the birds, make sure they are all alive, prepare their food, feed them by 10 a.m., and then clean everything — cages, dishes and trash. Although a major part of their job, there’s more to being a zookeeper than just “housekeeping” chores. A zookeeper is involved in education, conservation and relationships, not only with zoo visitors but the animals themselves.

Come September, Turri will have worked at the zoo 30 years. He started as a volunteer, painting murals and backgrounds of cages, which led to a part-time job that, in turn, led to a full-time job. He calls it an “ideal job situation” —good benefits, outside work and working with animals. Coleman agreed. He has been at the zoo for 22 years.

“Once you get it, you don’t leave,” Coleman said.

He started as a volunteer, too, because of his interest in parrots and eventually began working full time. Coleman also has a history of involvement with art.  He graduated from the Memphis College of Art in 1984 with a bachelor’s of fine arts degree in painting. They both said artistic backgrounds come in handy when building and designing exhibits.

Besides an art career’s limited opportunity, both cited that a love for animals has been in their blood since childhood. Coleman called it “genetic” — he has always loved animals, and his love has only grown through the years. Turri said a love for animals is just innate in most people.

However, a zookeeper’s typical workday involves a lot more than just enjoying animals. People, especially volunteers, are surprised at how much work is done. The main part of a zookeeper’s job is keeping the animals and exhibits clean “because animals, they never flush,” Turri said.

Coleman added: “We don’t sit around and pet animals all day.”

Melanie Lewis, a “swing keeper,” works with both birds and tigers. She agrees the priorities are cleaning and feeding.

“You get to do some really cool things,” she said, “but your job, primarily, is to feed the animals and pick up their poop, and we do it everyday. You have to keep them healthy and those are the two most important things to do.”

Despite necessary housekeeping duties, a zookeeper’s job is important because of education — not only for the public, but for the zookeepers themselves.

Turri said zookeepers want the public to see them working so they know the animals are healthy and happy, and they also want to teach them how to care for and respect animals in their environment.  But a zookeeper also learns about animals by working with them daily — it’s a “50-50” education for everyone.

“You see a whole lot of different animals that you would never normally ever see if you were just an average Joe,” Coleman said.

Vanez Robertson, nutrition specialist, prepares the animals’ “dailies” — their daily food portions. The biology student pursuing a career in zoology said it is an interesting learning experience to see hands-on what animals eat.

“You would never think a polar bear would eat a cooked sweet potato,” Robertson said.

Children who grow up in cities such as Memphis do not get to experience wildlife firsthand, Lewis added, so to “see (animals) in person and learn about them and get personally invested in them” is important to their education.

The zookeepers said that besides education, their job is important because of conservation. Lewis works partly in the African black-footed penguin exhibit. This breed of penguins was declared endangered last year.

“We try to manage a completely healthy, full genetic range in captivity,” she said, “so if the wild needs the backup and they need help, we have it to provide and put them back in the wild and reintroduce those genetics.”

Turri said many other animals at the zoo are either at or near extinction, and ideally they could be reintroduced to the wild, but that only happens on rare, best-case-scenario occasions. However, Coleman said it is still important to work to keep these endangered animals from extinction.

To conserve these endangered species, the Memphis Zoo has numerous breeding programs in which zookeepers work closely with the animals.

“My favorite thing so far has been raising the penguin chicks, because I’m a conservationist at heart,” Lewis said. “And, you know, they’re adorable. In the spring we had five penguin chicks that we hatched all at the same time, and there’s nothing cuter than a pile of penguins.”

Lewis now has two baby penguins she takes care of, and one chick follows her like a shadow.

Coleman said his favorite part of the job has been hand-raising baby animals. He became “good buddies” with some baby ravens a few years ago, and he also got to help raise a baby warthog abandoned by its mother. Some of the birds will even allow him to stroke their feathers, and garble in delight when he comes near their cages.

In addition, both Turri and Coleman said it is satisfying to see birds thrive in an exhibit they have worked hard on, and especially to see a breeding program become successful.

Despite these rewards, challenges for zookeepers range from risk of injury — like having your finger nipped by a hornbill — to falling off a ladder, to dealing with difficult zoo guests, to the enormous task of being in charge of so many animals.

“It can be stressful,” Lewis said. “There’s a lot of lives that you’re responsible for, but that’s certainly made up for by how wonderful (the animals) are. The hours are sometimes not fun. The visitors are sometimes not fun. It’s a lot of hard work, but again, the animals make it all worth it.”

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So I made a video for the Cardinal & Cream about the Dockery bobbleheads!
Stephen Capps, senior biblical studies major, began taking his Dockery bobblehead around with him and photographing it. He initially uploaded them to Twitter, but now has started a blog called “DSD Travels,” where anyone can submit photos. Capps encourages students to take their bobbleheads on Spring Break. To see the blog, click here.

In other news, my heart is just breaking for Japan. If you want to help out, check out Baptist Global Responses relief efforts here, and to donate click here.