By Jenny Pope
Buckner News Service 

DALLAS -- Katherine Cheng of Houston served as the 2006 ExxonMobil summer intern for Buckner Orphan Care International as part of the ExxonMobil Community Summer Jobs program administered by the Volunteer Center of North Texas. She was one of 75 interns who gained non-profit work experience through the program in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Cheng, who traveled with Buckner to China in 2005, said “it was a huge blessing to see people who work so hard and have such a huge heart for orphans.

“Since I’ve been on trips before, I got see that there’s a lot of hard work and effort that goes into planning just one trip. And Buckner plans so many each year… it made me realize that there’s just so much work to be done.”

During the eight-week program, Cheng helped create the “Message for the Mission” devotional book for trip participants, developed camp themes and educational curriculum for orphan children, and helped coordinate summer mission trips.

Cheng will graduate from Baylor University in May 2007 with Bachelor of Science in child and family studies. After taking a child and family ministry class in the fall semester, Cheng hopes to use her Buckner work and international experience to pursue a career in the non-profit sector after graduation. Cheng is volunteers at Mission Waco and serves in the college ministry at First Baptist Woodway in Waco, Texas.