I have now interned for On Earth Peace, a faith based non-profit organization and have begun working for both a church and their partner non-profit organization Brethren Community Ministries. I have had things surprise me as I combine faith journeys and administrative tasks as well as learned a lot about the behind the scenes work of the organizations and boards in charge. Here are a couple–
- You are in charge of enhancing your faith/spiritual journey. I was sad to learn that it is not simple nor easy to keep faith in mind when working, even in a faith based setting. I have found myself many of times forgetting I am in a church, or helping churches and pastors. You have o make it a priority in your work and learn to address your faith throughout the process. It is going to be hard and I am still working on how to do it. It is easy to work on social justice issues, youth, planning, and administrative things, but it is hard to also keep in mind the impact it has on faith and how it is contributing to your faith, calling, and fulfillment.
- They can be messy. In my experience, just because you are working with people walking in faith does not mean they work smoothly with one another. I have found this to be especially true within the higher leadership including the board members and directors and sometimes supervisors. They take a long time to make decisions that seem simple. They are somehow both passive and confrontational at the same time and it sometimes leads to things not getting done, miscommunication, and a mess in lower leadership and below. But I have found that this might be mainly in times of transition, which makes sense. It may seem irritating from your position but all you can do is be a help in getting it through the transition part so it can function more smoothly.
- It is incredibly fulfilling. I knew this to an extent, but I did not know that I was actually going to be making a difference in people’s lives, especially with my work with OEP. I had people tell me that I positively impacted them and gave them valuable information and that meant a lot to me. I am hoping to do the same at my new job. Molding youths minds as I teach Sunday school, youth group, and Agape Satayagraha, meeting people in the community, putting things into perspective for the church and making a mark on the people I encounter. It really allows you to fill the spirit and connects you to the work that Jesus did throughout His life here on Earth.