CGJ Intern Update from Mark Martinez

Mark interned with the General Counsel's office at the University of Nations, Kona, HI (a/k/a Youth with a Mission). 

There is an excitement on campus today; hundred’s of missionaries are preparing to be sent out to various places around the world.  Yet as bags are being packed and hugs and goodbyes are being handed out the General Counsel’s office is working tirelessly, behind the scenes, to ensure this movement of equipping, training, and sending out missionaries continues.

I am currently interning with the General Counsel’s office at the University of Nations, Kona, HI (a/k/a Youth with a Mission). Youth With A Mission is an international volunteer missions movement of Christians from many backgrounds, cultures and traditions, dedicated to serving Jesus throughout the world. Also known as YWAM (pronounced “Y – wam”), YWAM’s purpose is simply to know God and to make Him known.  YWAM currently operates in more than 1,500 locations in at least 187 countries worldwide.  University of the Nations, Kona, is a training center of YWAM. The University of the Nations (U of N) is a university founded on biblical principles that equips students to serve in all spheres of society and in all nations.

For a law student like myself, unsure of what area of law I’ll be practicing in after graduation, it’s been a joy being exposed to everything from constitutional law to contract, from tort liability to tax and immigration. Working for a non-profit this size with people from literally every corner of the world living on campus invites many legal issues. 

The attorneys’ in the General Counsel’s office (all two of them) manage the large task of keeping U of N legal with such grace and clarity of mind.  You see the General Counsel’s office at U of N is husband and wife team, both are lawyers, both feel called to what they are doing. In a former life they were working the kinds of jobs that you would expect to hear like prosecutor’s office and family law practice.  However, two years ago this law duo, like the other missionaries on campus, felt the Lord moving them out of their traditional practice in Virginia Beach, VA, into their current role as General Counsel U of N, Kona, HI. They truly are missionaries to the missionaries.

This post was written by a Center for Global Justice student staff member.  The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.