Internship Spotlight by Alex Streeter
Over the last eight months, I have seen my fellow interns transform into confident men and women of God—more certain of their God and their unique place in the world.
As an admin intern, I always felt my position was different. The other interns had their boots on the ground running; they were constantly hands-on serving. Whether at Rail// Line coffee house, Youth Works, or going across the world to become missionaries, the interns returned with stories of how God was moving in their ministry.
Because I served in administration, my role has always been from behind a desk. Thus, I have had to reapproach how I think about serving those around me. Instead of sharing the gospel with the homeless, walking alongside women in recovery, or standing by our youth as they go through life, I have focused on the interns and the staff by becoming a friend, supporter, and advocator for those right next to me. With this in mind, I can see how the interns have been prepared through their time at CLDI. Here are a few areas I have seen growth;
- Becoming emotionally and relationally healthy: Working through conflict resolution, identifying emotions and needs, seeing the extreme blessing of building wonderful and deeper relationships with those around them, whether new relationships or strengthening old ones.
- Building confidence and the ability to do hard things: The internship is humbling; you are challenged to do hard things daily. I have seen some interns grow exponentially in their confidence and ability to dig into the uncomfortable.
- Digging deep into understanding their faith and what discipleship truly means: I can confidently say that we will all leave the internship with a broader understanding of God and his heart for his people.
At our Perspectives Course farewell party, we were told to break into groups of 3-4 and pray a commissioning prayer as we left. But, with all of us there, we decided to hold hands and pray as a team. As we prayed, it struck me that we would be going our separate ways.
Some of us were staying and taking leadership roles within our community or moving into new jobs; others were going to school to become doctors or pursue lives in ministry, and another was moving overseas to become a missionary.
But ultimately, what I saw around the circle was a group of believers—a group of true friends, who were all willing to walk in obedience to God, and I’m so grateful for the significant part CLDI played in preparing us for that.
