JT Norcross considers helping students develop as Christian leaders an important part of his role as director of Baptist Student Ministry at Navarro College in Corsicana, but he knows the clock is ticking.
He recognizes leadership development takes time and experience, and serving at a two-year community college inherently limits how much he can accomplish.
So, when he met Preston Cave at Conclave NextGen last October and learned about LeaderTreks, he saw the opportunity for a partnership enabling student leaders to “accelerate their growth.”
As Cave and Norcross talked, they discovered a shared passion to develop the next generation of Christian leaders for service in God’s kingdom now and in the years ahead.
Intensive hands-on summer experience
LeaderTreks offers a variety of resources, curriculum and training opportunities to help students discover their leadership potential and grow as leaders. Norcross particularly became interested in its Leadership Residency Program, an immersive summer experience.
“It’s an opportunity for students to flex their spiritual muscles and work out some of the kinks in a hands-on leadership laboratory,” said Cave, who served as missions and discipleship coordinator for high school and college students at Texas Baptist Men, now Texans on Mission, before joining the LeaderTreks staff.
“It offers a safe place to fail, while setting them up for success in the future.”
Students who are accepted for the program begin at a base camp, where they undergo a series of leadership assessments, attend workshops and participate in mentoring sessions.
After completing training, they are assigned to one of 14 ministry sites around the country. They spend most of the summer working as leaders with a series of visiting short-term church mission teams, planning and facilitating those mission experiences.
“They leave with a personalized leadership profile unique to them, identifying their strengths and areas for growth, leaving them better equipped for a life of ministry,” Cave said.
Norcross acknowledged the LeadersTreks approach and the summer program is “not for everybody.”
Even so, he looks forward to seeing the impact it has on a select group of students he plans to recommend for the Leadership Residency Program—students he already recognizes as leaders among their peers.
“In the short season I have with them, I want to do as much as I can with them,” he said.
Norcross views the summer program as offering students opportunities to gain leadership experiences beyond what they could get at the BSM or through short-term mission trips.
“It’s more than just going somewhere and serving. They will be setting up an experience for others to serve—planning, organizing and doing the dirty detail work of administration,” he said.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Ken Camp and originally published by Baptist Standard.
