• Antioch Engage East LA is a Summer Ministry Internship, created by a partnership with two different Antioch urban Churches that will take place from July 11-25th in East Los Angeles. Participants will be hosted by the Churches in a predominantly working class, Latino context, and in this program we will learn about what evangelism in the urban context looks like. We will discover how justice and the Gospel merge. We will focus on serving and building relationships with urban young adults, youth, and congregants. This will be done around a framework of prayer, scripture study, worship, relational building, testimony, and reflection.

• This Summer discipleship experience is geared to cultivate our character through encountering the diverse Body of Christ in urban East LA (home of the Low Rider). The six ways we will engage the city and be a witness for Christ this summer are by: (1) nurturing and growing Spirit-filled evangelism through prayer and worship (2) developing compassion through incarnational ministry, (3) experiencing the body of Christ as a cross-cultural, cross-class church movement, (4) stepping into servanthood, (5) and seeking a deep biblical understanding of justice (6) all while taking a learning posture as we follow Jesus in the city.

2 weeks, July 11th-25th, 2025

Awesome! Click on the Apply button. Fill out the application form, and send a copy of the Pastoral Reference Letter to your pastor or a pastor in your life, and see that they email that to: mark@newlifelh.com & matthew.hayashida@servantpartners.org

If you have questions not covered in the FAQ or need a little help discerning if Antioch Engage East LA is right for you, please email mark@newlifelh.com and we will get the relevant information to you.

If you are accepted to Engage East LA, your primary responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Support raising*

• Filling out required documents in a timely manner (including a Livescan Background Check we will send you)

• Other tasks as directed by your base leader/administrator

• *Engage East LA will provide you resources to equip you in how to effectively support raise. Ultimately, we trust the Lord to provide; that said, our faithfulness allows us to partner with the Holy Spirit to see all our needs taken care of!

Primarily post-college students/young adults who want to grow in their faith in Jesus, ministry experience, and who want to contribute and learn in an urban ministry context. We will consider applicants in college or in their 30’s and 40’s too.

• Our program will bring you into the life and rhythm of two Antioch urban Churches, where you will share your testimony and ongoing journey with Jesus, and hear and learn from urban disciples theirs as well, and have fellowship with them. As a team you will join and visit Lifegroups, meetings, outreach events, youth events, and more. You will host and lead some of them and help out in various ways, and at other times attend, observe, and participate. A potential main structure would be helping to lead a summer basketball camp for youth in the neighborhood hosted by our two churches. There are basic elements you can expect: spending individual time with Jesus daily, team meetings, manuscript Bible study, reading urban Christian literature & discussing it, prayer, and outreach. Ministry will primarily consist of engaging with locals and looking for Spirit-prepared “People of Peace” in the city and surrounding areas. A typical day may look like the following:

  • Wake up and spend time with Jesus

  • Breakfast

  • Connect with the team to discuss details for the day

  • Team prayer time

  • Read urban Christian literature for new insights

  • Lunch

  • Afternoon outreach / Prep your testimony or Life Skills content for youth & young adult classes / Intercede for Church & neighborhood contacts

  • Dinner at Church gathering

Your Internship Directors will be Pastors Matt Hayashida and Mark Walker, who will be overseen by their Lead Pastors Enrique Melendez and Chris Rattay, at First Love Community Church and New Life Community Church respectively.

Expect an immersive learning experience where you are stretched and learn much from the LORD and the urban portion of the Body of Christ, and where you contribute to these two Churches and their communities.

As Antioch’s ETN Page States:

• We find that when it comes to setting you up for a great trip (or potentially derailing it), few things are as critical as rightly placed expectations. While we can’t give you an exhaustive list, here are some things to be aware of. Expect:

• The program dates are July 11th-July 25th, 2025. It begins with training and closes with a debrief.

• Interns are expected to be on site at their location, including training and debrief, for the duration of the internship.

• Interns will work alongside the Churches to accomplish their goals.

• Each intern is under the direct leadership of the Internship Directors and Lead Pastors who oversee them, and submits to their decisions.

• Interns are asked to be flexible and allow their schedule to be set by the Internship Directors.

• Interns are asked to refrain from starting dating relationships during their internship, either with a team member or locals.

• Interns are expected to comply with all security precautions and standards set by the Internship Directors, including social media restrictions, for living above reproach and protecting the longevity of the Churches’ witness in the city.

• Before deployment and while on the field, interns are expected to fully participate in and complete team assignments and expectations. It will be new for many, fun, exciting, hard, and transformative.

• At any point in the trip, if an intern is detrimental to the health of the team and ministry, they may be sent home at the discretion of the Lead Pastors.

A good and important question. The beliefs and statement of faith for Antioch, Engage East LA, and the two Churches running this summer Internship can be read and studied here: https://antioch.org/about#beliefs

Participants will be living together in the homes of two Antioch Lead Pastors. As Antioch’s ETN Page says, we “take the responsibility and care of our participants very seriously. The reality is the world can be an unsafe place. While we cannot make guarantees, safety and security is a top priority for our program.” We would not promote and invite participants into what we thought a dangerous context and internship.

As the Antioch ETN page states: “We encourage you to include your parents in the decision process of your summer plans. Rather than “reporting” to them what you are planning on doing, invite them to pray with you about the decision as you start to apply. Listen to their input – they love you and want the best for you! We are exhorted by the Word to “honor our father and mother” (Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:2), and so this isn’t just our admonition to applicants but a Biblical command for us to follow. As a rule of thumb, if your parents are still paying your bills (tuition, rent, food, cell phone, car, insurance, etc.) then they have the right to influence and determine the decisions you make in your life. So, honor your parents and include them in this decision with you. If your parents have questions and concerns, please feel free to have them email us directly at matthew.hayashida@servantpartners.org & mark@newlifelh.com. Please make sure they include your name and your local church in the body of their email.”

In our digital, interconnected age, we have so many distractions that ask for our attention. These weeks are meant to be an intensive discipleship and missions experience. You will be full with what God is teaching you this summer, and phones or other electronics may distract us from processing all that is happening. During the program, we will have a limited phone policy, asking that people stay off social media except when used to intentionally foster community (except during designated times). We ask interns to limit contact with people outside of the program during ministry and learning hours. Similarly, we ask that interns do not bring any personal entertainment devices. If you have any questions, please send them to: mark@newlifelh.com & matthew.hayashida@servantpartners.org

Antioch Engage East LA has a very easy to hit budget of $500. This does not include transportation to the site, which can vary greatly depending on flight or drive distance. Our general advice is to create a letter that will be delivered (physically or electronically depending on to whom it is sent) detailing Engage East LA and why you are excited for it. We will offer resources and some coaching to anyone who is accepted.

The budget includes food, ministry expenses, youth, orientation and debrief, and discipleship materials. Our pastors have generously offered to host so that no one will need to pay for housing.