The Summer I was an Intern…

August 3, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized

This summer I interned at Compass Christian Church in Dallas, TX.  More specifically I interned at their Roanoke, TX site under Jeremy Peterson and Trevor DeVage.  I began the internship with very little in mind or even a very good grasp as to what I would be doing.  I have sensed that in some ministry situations, at least at the beginning, this is often the case.  But you soon hit the ground running and begin developing a game plan.  That is what I did, with a little bit of “going with the flow” thrown in.

There have been several factors that have contributed to this being a beneficial and successful internship for me.  But before I get into those let me go over a little bit of what my summer has looked like.  When I first got here I took a little bit of time to just get to know the people and really build relationships within the church itself.  The church runs a little bit shy of 200 but that is changing weekly and hopefully they will soon blow past that mark.  This season of relationship building was a great foundation.  I soon jumped right in to teaching the youth every Sunday and went on several youth events to see the students and have a great time with them.  This was great because before you can ever speak a lick of wisdom to someone you must have a reason for them to listen to you.  This is best accomplished by them being your friend because we all listen to our friends.

Later I got to go to CIY, which was of course a great learning experience.  I was a sponsor but more than that I got to see some of the planning that went into it.  I also was privileged to see how to deal with problems.  Our buses broke down about 3 times, a kid had to go the emergency room and our bus got searched by the police.  It’s difficult to control 200 kids when there is a lot of drama going down.

On a weekly basis I got to sit in on all-campus staff meetings and specialized team meetings like the campus pastor’s team meeting, the creative team’s meeting, the preaching team’s meeting and the Roanoke campus staff meeting. There are lots of meetings in ministry but it’s all for the sake of ideas and encouragement so I liked it.

Finally I built a relationship with the local food pantry.  I put together a work day where we could serve them and do some painting, I also helped move furniture for them, and I visited Tinsy, the director, in the hospital after she had an infection.  That was one of my favorite moments this summer.  I visited other people in the hospital too and I really enjoyed getting to talk with them and pray with them.

On a multi-cultural level I have been blessed to observe the plant and growth of the Hispanic ministry here in Roanoke.  My friend, Jose Luis Camacho is the Hispanic minister at Compass and it has been great to learn Spanish a little from him and watch his dreams for the ministry he is starting begin to take place.  We had an outreach event that I was able to be a part of and I made some good friends in the Hispanic community.

The factors for me having had such a great experience are that I have received great resources, great mentors, great exposure to ministry, great relationships, and great opportunities to use my talents.  From access to many books, e-books, sermons, videos, study guides and research material, to ministers who have given me their time, their friendship and their input, to watching all the ways the church  works day in and day out and all the meetings and planning that goes into Sunday and every other day the ministry occurs, to people in the church who have opened their homes and the refrigerators to me and my wife and played cards and let us play with their kids and fed us and let us sleep under their roofs, to great conversations on Sunday and thankfully other days of the week as well, to getting my own hands dirty and being able to teach and study and learn and serve and plan and organize and everything else that goes into ministry.

Whew…that was a run-on sentence if I ever have seen one but you know there is so much more I could say about my internship at Compass Christian Church but one thing sums it up pretty well.  The Holy Spirit moved, is moving and will continue to move here because Jesus is present in His body in this place.