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Zane Weickum, 2024-25 Intern |
Before I started the internship, I had already seen the Lord leading me in some cool ways to develop my leadership skills. I’d been working as a youth pastor at my church for the last two years, and he provided lots of opportunities to practice all kinds of leadership. As a youth leader, I got to work with teams and students in various emotional, spiritual, and relational realms. Although I’d seen growth through this position, I was also recognizing weak points. I was also aware that I had weak points and really no tools to start changing and developing in these areas. If I were to give myself a grade, I’d give myself a "B" - something that puts me right around an “average” level of emotional/spiritual/relational health.
I wanted to grow as a leader. I wanted to learn to be a better leader, teacher, mentor, and counselor. I’d already been shown that that’s what I was made to do during my time as youth leader, and I wanted to dive in even more. I felt like I’d been given a taste of the kind of things I was made to do, and if the Lord’s given me giftings, I wanted to steward them.
Throughout my time as an Eremos intern, I’ve been taught and equipped with plenty of practical tools like questions, theory around counseling and family systems, counseling tools to help counselees bring out feelings and thoughts, and a solid foundation in scripture and truth about God and who he is - what his character and personality are like. I’ve also been given plenty of opportunity to practice using the tools taught and given, whether that’s sharing at a fundraiser, networking with other ministries to do outreach, participating in outreach, or leading support groups on Tuesdays. I don’t see a future where I’m NOT constantly using these tools or drawing on these experiences to serve my church in some way, whether that’s my small church body, the larger church in the valley, or the global church.
I have no specific idea about where I’m being led after the internship. One thing I’m sure of is that I’m called to find and invest in a church body and become a dedicated servant there. I have heard of and know several people who are like “church pillars” of the Christian community in the Willamette Valley. These are folks who have been locked in here for several decades and served faithfully the entire time. My main life goal is to end up being one of those people someday.
I wanted to grow as a leader. I wanted to learn to be a better leader, teacher, mentor, and counselor. I’d already been shown that that’s what I was made to do during my time as youth leader, and I wanted to dive in even more. I felt like I’d been given a taste of the kind of things I was made to do, and if the Lord’s given me giftings, I wanted to steward them.
Throughout my time as an Eremos intern, I’ve been taught and equipped with plenty of practical tools like questions, theory around counseling and family systems, counseling tools to help counselees bring out feelings and thoughts, and a solid foundation in scripture and truth about God and who he is - what his character and personality are like. I’ve also been given plenty of opportunity to practice using the tools taught and given, whether that’s sharing at a fundraiser, networking with other ministries to do outreach, participating in outreach, or leading support groups on Tuesdays. I don’t see a future where I’m NOT constantly using these tools or drawing on these experiences to serve my church in some way, whether that’s my small church body, the larger church in the valley, or the global church.
I have no specific idea about where I’m being led after the internship. One thing I’m sure of is that I’m called to find and invest in a church body and become a dedicated servant there. I have heard of and know several people who are like “church pillars” of the Christian community in the Willamette Valley. These are folks who have been locked in here for several decades and served faithfully the entire time. My main life goal is to end up being one of those people someday.