Meet the Intern: David Salter

Hi, my name is David Salter, the second Systems intern in the 2012 DiscipleMakers internship! I’m a recent graduate of Lafayette College with a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). I would like to use this post to talk about how I came to be in the internship, tell you some of the highlights, and explain what I most learned from the experience.

I first got interested in the DM Summer Internship during Fall Conference my junior year. During Fall Conference, there was an early morning meeting explaining to people what the internship would be like. As an ECE major, I love computers and when I heard about how you could use computer skills in the HQ to help support DM, I suddenly got an exciting vision of being able to use my skills to serve God’s Kingdom. I immediately applied and got really excited about doing the internship, however that was not God’s plan for me at that time. When I got a call from someone in Systems telling me they didn’t have a position for me, I was really upset. Looking back I can see how God was using that time to help me learn that He was in control of my life and that I needed to trust Him more. A year went by and during my Senior year I once again decided to apply to the internship at DM. This was strange because Seniors in my major usually were more worried about getting jobs or going to graduate school after graduation, not trying to get an internship. But I still had that exciting vision of using my computer skills for God’s glory so I applied and this time I was accepted! With the help of Adam Focht, I was able to raise my support in time even through a very busy Senior year.

Other than using my computer skills for the Lord, I was also excited to learn more and more about God and Christ through the people I’d be working with. I knew I would learn a lot, but as soon as the internship started it went way above and beyond my expectations!

One of the first important things I learned came from living with Peter and Erin Krol and their four wonderful kids. There, I witnessed a family that lived in a real Christ-centered fashion, where the parents clearly communicated the Gospel to their kids not only through sharing Scripture but also by living it out day to day. When the kids get upset, the way Peter uses the experience to point them back to Christ has been inspiring to me. I’ve learned a lot about how to lead a Christ-centered family that, Lord willing, I will get to apply to my own family.

I’ve also learned how God can use a Christian community to bring people closer to Him. In the office, much time is spent just talking with people about life and what God’s doing in it. It seems that there is as much time spent discipling others within DM as there is outside DM, all to the greater glory of God. I’ve been able to witness team meetings that are entirely focused on the spiritual growth of the staff members involved. It has been amazing to see how staff members willingly become vulnerable in revealing their personal lives so that other Christians can come alongside and help them in their struggles. I have seen staff members sharpen each other as instruments of God and I think they do their work all the better for it.

While the entirety of the internship has been a great experience, there were some specific instances that were especially so. The first one that came very soon after the start of the internship was the Summer Staff Conference. It was fun to see all the DM staff come together and it struck me as being a lot like one big family reunion. Another highlight was the regular dinners Ben and I had with families who worked at the HQ. With the constant flow of delicious meals and conversations just to get to know us better, it was easy to feel welcome and loved. The biggest highlight of the internship for me, however, was Tom Hallman’s Rafting Trip down the Delaware. Tom and a bunch of friends took a whole Saturday to get in some rafts, fill them with snacks and drinks, and proceed to travel down the Delaware River throwing a Nerf football between rafts and throwing each other into the water! It was a blast!

I came into the internship expecting to grow in Christ, but I had no idea coming in how big that change would be. After graduating college, I’ve thought a lot about what to do for my future. I expect this internship will be a grounding experience to know what it really means to live my life for Christ. I thank God that I was given the opportunity to work as an intern for DiscipleMakers! Why not consider it yourself?