by Patrick Long-Quian

This summer I was provided the opportunity to work at St. Luke’s as an intern in Communications and I was incredibly excited. I learned so much working at St. Luke’s and saw many of the things that go on

behind the scenes. I came to appreciate everything the church does and how it does it even more than before I started my internship.

Having attended St. Luke’s since third grade this place has nurtured me and spurred spiritual growth and maturity in me. When I was a little kid, I believed what they taught me in Sunday School. Those lessons were the basis and the depth of my faith in God. Today, I have realized that I must figure out what this personal faith look like for me. Everyone else gives you the tools for what you might believe, but in the end you must pick up those tools and use them yourself.

Back to the internship. Walking into the office on the first day was a nervous experience for me. This was where all the important people were in my mind, the people who really made everything happen. And just like that at 17 years old I was part of it. As I got into the rhythm of the job, I felt less nervousness and tentativeness and more a part of the team. I learned flexibility and patience like I’ve never had before. At one point, we had four to six people working in one office with me seated

in Sally’s “therapy chair” on a laptop. This went on for 4 months during construction.

As the internship progressed I primarily focused on the new website. I knew nothing at all at the beginning, however through Robert’s mentoring I picked up the tools I would need very quickly. The thing that came with competence was fun, and relationships where age no longer played a part.

In two weeks, I’ll leave home for the first time to go to a college in a small town in Iowa where I know no one. And yet I know that with the tools that have been provided to me by my parents, this church, and this internship I will be able to show God’s love to everyone I meet in Iowa and be totally happy while doing it. Even if they do have snow and no real Mexican food.