Caitlin Chung
Without a doubt, participating in the internship at the church this summer has been the most exciting and eventful part of 2020 for me. With this year being a compilation of countless tragic, and horrible events, when I found out that I got the job, I was simply overjoyed. All of a sudden, 2020 didn’t seem so terrible. Thinking back on it now, I was really lucky to have been able to share my first job experience with people from this community.
To be honest, in the beginning, the main appeal of this internship was the money, but after going through it, my focus and attention automatically turned to people, people from this community specifically, but to those in other communities as well. I naturally developed a deep sense of care for those in the St. Tim’s community, and to people who I’ve only met for the first time this summer.
One of the most memorable highlights of this year’s internship was working for Vision United’s Virtual Summer Camp. The thought of a summer camp online did boggle me at first, but I had so much fun, and I learned so many tips on how to be a better leader from my fellow camp counsellors. It was truly a blessing to work alongside the staff from Vision United, and I couldn’t have asked for better leaders. I honestly wasn’t expecting myself to grow so much from simply leading a few icebreakers for a virtual summer camp, but I’m so grateful to have had the experience to do so.
Because of 2020, and I could end that phrase in countless other ways, I expected this internship to be relatively easy. I wouldn’t have to worry about getting ready in the morning, which is always a pain, and I could be flexible with my work hours. However, there was still a lot of work to do, and because of the current situation, we had to be a hundred times more thorough than we used to be. It’s hard to properly care for others, and show how much you do when you’re limited to phone calls, emails, text messages, and zoom calls. I learned how hard the pastors, elders, and other church staff work for this congregation. I learned how much they care, and it inspired to me to be more gracious and loving.
It was definitely a unique experience. I eventually became an expert on using Zoom, a software platform that I’ve never even heard of before this pandemic. It was definitely challenging and confusing at times, but having dependable colleagues who were always there to help and answer questions, a special shoutout to Sarah and Lauren, I was able to overcome them with ease. In terms of what I’ve learned since this internship started, I mostly learned a lot about my faith, as well as my strengths and weaknesses. I also learned how to be a YouTuber, and on that note, don’t forget to subscribe to the church YouTube channel! Please do, if you haven’t done so already. On a more serious note, I’ve learned that you don’t have to be physically together to form strong bonds with one another. In terms of my faith, I’ve learned to be much more aware of God’s presence in my life each and every day. The biggest change that I went through was becoming a thousand times more grateful for everything in my life.
Overall, I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity, and to have undergone so many precious learning experiences. Thank you to all the other interns for being such great, fun, and supportive co-workers. I would also like to thank our bosses, Pastor Dave, and Rev. Simon for this great experience, and for your leadership. On a personal note, thank you to everyone who has been patient with me during this internship, as I know that I am not a very easy person to work with. In conclusion, thank you to those who have helped me grow, and made this such an amazing and enjoyable summer.
Charley Ngo
For me, the internship has really been a great time of growing and I learned and experienced a lot of new things. Some of the things I did as a part of the internship were managing the website, taking part in worship preparation, leading preschool activities at weekly classes, taking part in studies, repurposing content and cleaning the church. When I look back at the time I spent as a part of this internship, I see the many ways in which I have grown as a person and in my faith. I think there were three main things that I gained from this experience.
The first was growth in my confidence. At the beginning of the internship, there were a lot of times where I felt inadequate, feeling like there was always someone that could do any given task better than me. Throughout this internship, I was given the task of making the sermon post every Sunday. As time went on, I felt that this was something that I was good at and could be creative with and with that, my confidence grew. I was able to grow in confidence and carry out that confidence in all the tasks I was given. I am very grateful to the interns this year that allowed and encouraged me in finding confidence in myself and my work.
The second thing that was really big for me was what I learned about prayer and the presence of God. The study we did on Brother Lawrence and the presence of God was the turning point for me in these studies. Before, I was really struggling to connect to the material we studied and take anything out of it. The Brother Lawrence studies helped me to really understand prayer and make it more meaningful. Because of this study, I have been able to grow in my faith and feel God’s presence in small things that I did.
The final big thing I will take away from this internship is my understanding of worship. Being a part of the worship team significantly changed my understanding and perspective on worship. I saw all the work that went into preparing a worship service throughout the week, every week. By reflecting on the sermon scripture passage and thinking about how it can connect to our congregation, I realized how much the church staff think about what the congregation is going through in everything that happens. I realized all the elements of worship aren’t the way they are because they just happen to be that way, but they are a reflection of the community. Through being a part of this internship, I have gained a much deeper understanding of worship.
I am very grateful to have been a part of this year’s internship. The internship was a very positive experience and I learned a lot about myself and working with others. I grew not only in knowledge, but in faith, maturity, confidence and leadership.
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