Stephen Campbell, 2022-23 Intern
When I came to the internship I was coming out of a two-year program here at Mid-Valley Fellowship dealing with a lifetime addiction to porn and sex. In those two years, I received grace and healing from God that I didn’t previously know was possible. In fact, when I started my program, I couldn’t even imagine a life without my addiction. As I contemplated the internship I knew that I still had a lot of work to do on myself in my own recovery. But God, knowing better than me, asked me to step into the internship anyway, for two reasons.
The first reason being that this step of serving others was the step I needed to take to push me into the next phase of healing and redemption for me personally. The second reason was because I believed (still do) that God has called me to work with the sexually broken and to grow my abilities as a counselor. And where better to get my feet wet than at Mid-Valley Fellowship, a ministry that offers counseling to the sexually broken. I had already been through one of the programs (Clean Heart) here as a participant so I knew I trusted the ministry. It just made sense to learn how to do the work God has called me to do from the people he used to bring me to this point.
The internship has taught me many things so far about leadership that I had previously taken for granted. I knew already that in a person’s healing journey, community is essential; with God (specifically with the Trinity as a whole) and with the family of the Church. The most important thing I have learned in this internship process is how essential community is to ministry and to serving others. Without community to hold us accountable, encourage us and challenge us we cannot succeed in serving others or building the Kingdom of God. But living in community is hard, and God is teaching me how to live and work with others in peace.
As I look forward toward the future and what God is asking of me after the internship, I am eager to continue growing in knowledge and grace for those in sexual bondage. I have a burning desire to see the broken find healing and a passion to see the Church step into its God given role as His voice on sexuality in the world and as a house of healing where the sexually broken and enslaved find healing and freedom in Christ. My hope is that none will be turned away and anyone willing will feel safe to come into the light and experience the Salvation of the Cross in every part of their lives.
The first reason being that this step of serving others was the step I needed to take to push me into the next phase of healing and redemption for me personally. The second reason was because I believed (still do) that God has called me to work with the sexually broken and to grow my abilities as a counselor. And where better to get my feet wet than at Mid-Valley Fellowship, a ministry that offers counseling to the sexually broken. I had already been through one of the programs (Clean Heart) here as a participant so I knew I trusted the ministry. It just made sense to learn how to do the work God has called me to do from the people he used to bring me to this point.
The internship has taught me many things so far about leadership that I had previously taken for granted. I knew already that in a person’s healing journey, community is essential; with God (specifically with the Trinity as a whole) and with the family of the Church. The most important thing I have learned in this internship process is how essential community is to ministry and to serving others. Without community to hold us accountable, encourage us and challenge us we cannot succeed in serving others or building the Kingdom of God. But living in community is hard, and God is teaching me how to live and work with others in peace.
As I look forward toward the future and what God is asking of me after the internship, I am eager to continue growing in knowledge and grace for those in sexual bondage. I have a burning desire to see the broken find healing and a passion to see the Church step into its God given role as His voice on sexuality in the world and as a house of healing where the sexually broken and enslaved find healing and freedom in Christ. My hope is that none will be turned away and anyone willing will feel safe to come into the light and experience the Salvation of the Cross in every part of their lives.