Editorial Intern: Allison
(Summer 2007)

Joining Passions

Writing. For me, the very word creates images of challenge and excitement. Writing is my passion. It is part of me. It is my goal. I love writing because it is expression. I enjoy finding just the right words to present a concept. I love the rhythm of prose, the science of catching a reader’s attention, and the refining of ideas.

Language. It is the heart of culture. What you say and how you say it can mean the difference between life and death, blessing and cursing. I use English to my advantage, refining both spoken and written words. But other languages also hold power and beauty. Learning Latin and Spanish in high school sparked my curiosity to express God in different words.

Missions. This represents one of the great purposes of Christianity. My calling, everyone’s calling, is to touch the world with the message of the gospel. Some might say it is our highest calling to tell those who don’t know God about the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ. Wherever He sends me, whatever He wants me to do, that is where I’ll be.

And so, here I am at Wycliffe. The passions God has given me for writing, language and missions can join here.

Wycliffe was only an idea a year and a half ago.  But sometimes God sends unexpected things my way. Last year at college, I did not anticipate anything when I asked a Wycliffe representative about short-term opportunities for journalism majors. I suppose that was because journalism jobs are often limited. To my surprise, the man mentioned this internship program in Orlando.

Slowly, the pieces fell together for my trip here. It was a process that required patience at both ends as I gathered recommendations and work samples and the office processed them. Finances were taken care of when the internship became a paid position. I found housing when someone from Wycliffe offered to share her home. It all happened by the grace of God. Now I am here, and I am looking forward to the challenges the summer will bring.

Fun Facts About Me

• My home state is Oregon.
• I am a student at Multnomah Bible College majoring in Bible/theology and journalism. 
• My favorite color is yellow.
• Up until this summer, I worked at Baskin Robbins. (Understandably, my favorite food is ice cream.)
• I enjoy teaching children at church. The challenge of the job is maintaining my relationship with God so I can pass on my excitement to the children.
• I like to study politics and law. When I took constitutional law at school last year, I began to understand how government works and how to comprehend legal documents. It is fun to look at politics and law through the Bible and to rethink current ethics.

June 22, 2007

I think I have the best view in the office. From my cubicle I can look out at the lake behind Wycliffe. Lakes like this are abundant in Florida because they’re required to drain off the land. But this lake is my very own, or so it seems. I love watching it when storms roll in because the water gets little whitecaps and the dark sky reflects on the water. At other times I can see pairs of people walking along the path around the lake; the numbers swell at break times. I’ve even caught myself joining Borghy and Ivy and others from our department to get out of the office.

Finally I have begun to settle in to the work routine. We have devotions every morning, but for awhile I kept forgetting about it. The devo time is a great way to begin the day. Everyone takes turns leading devotions. I like to see how the different people in the department are in different places in their Christian walk, yet we all find a common ground in our desire to know God. 

The work here is always different, but it’s going well. My first week here was Delegates Conference. That was pretty much a crazy week because Communications ran audio/visual for it. I sat back to watch and take notes. Borghy is going to use my notes for her web feature about the conference.

After that first week, everything calmed down. I have been getting used to WBT’s stylebook, which is more like Chicago style than AP style. I am used to AP style, so I keep asking questions as I write and edit. The first things I wrote were news clips and an ad for In Focus, Wycliffe’s monthly publication. I’ve also edited a couple stories and proofread the calendar. And when I finished those things, Ivy asked me to find photographs to post on the website. It’s a lot of learning!

July 17, 2007

Those first few weeks went by slowly. Matt says I came during one of the off-times when he gets to rest before jumping into a new set of projects. Up until about a week ago, I wondered why I was even needed. But I think God meant for me to have a rest period also before I return home in the fall.

Now I have no time for rest. On Monday Jon Bilbro and Jon Shuler organized the first meeting for work on the Indonesia DVD. The DVD will use stories from different regions to tell about the translation work happening in Indonesia. My assignment is to research two people groups, the Orya and the Kalumpang. This means I am reading through a 3-inch binder that holds the transcripts for Indonesia video footage. The goal is to find interviews and clips to organize into a DVD segment. A lot of the footage cannot be used for this video, but sometimes I find a goldmine of information.

July 25, 2007

This morning when I arrived, someone had pinned by everyone’s desks full-page posters of Far Side cartoons. Aliens, cats, elephants and cavemen greeted my co-workers and me. As I walked around throughout the day, more would surprise me from odd places. The cartoons produced laughter and conversation.

The cartoons are just one example of how much fun this department has. For our last combined team meeting, David and Wendy had us play musical chairs and sculpt clay. In devotions once, we watched part of a movie. The most recent Indonesia DVD meeting happened in the Fun Room—a meeting room with yellow, red, purple and blue chairs; various wall decorations; a dart board; and a life-size James Dean picture. I’ve seen gumballs fly over my cubicle wall and right now I am watching Benny, Jewel’s goldfish, swim crazily around his bowl.

So, when it comes to the people and environment here, life is rarely boring. All the fun seems to be just one way the love and joy of God spill over from everyone in the department. Even if based only on the people, my decision to come for the summer would be worth it.

August 2, 2007

We had a project meeting today—the third I’ve been to—and I finally understood what was going on. “Project” was a pretty nebulous term to me when I arrived. What people do with “projects” was just about as confusing. Then throw in the whole Orbit project managing database and I was completely lost.

But I am confused no more. Since I have begun working on a project team myself for the Indonesia DVD, I understand the basics of a project. It is work from conception to actualization on something like a brochure, a video or a print publication. It is teamwork as designers, photographers, videographers and writers collaborate to accomplish their goal. And it’s a lot of other things that would take too long to write about.

This week I began scripting for the Indonesia DVD. I’ve never done writing for video before, so I am learning a lot. What I’m finding most difficult is visualizing what I want the video to become so I know what clips to find. And even with only an inch of material to search through now, I still find myself getting lost in the amount of information. But I’ll keep persevering until I finish.

August 15, 2007

Remember when I mentioned walking around the lake at break time? Well, several people still do it, but I consider them exceptionally brave. Brave to endure the heat. For the past week or two the temperature here has consistently peaked at 95º with a heat index of 105º. I, personally, cannot handle walking for 15 minutes in that sort of heat. But I admire those who can.

One of the things I’ve come to enjoy about this job environment is the interaction we have with people who speak other languages. Some of us often eat lunch at the same table as Bolivar, a Puerto Rican man who also works for Wycliffe. His English is limited and our Spanish is limited, but we manage to talk. I learned a bit more conversational Spanish this summer just by comparing lunches. And I became more relaxed about experimenting with the language.

All that said, I am reminded that tomorrow is my last day here. I didn’t expect it to come so soon, but now I am eager to return home to Oregon (where we have real trees and the weather is cooler). My time here has definitely been valuable. I’ve experienced the practical side of my college major by seeing journalism at work within a missions organization. I have strengthened my skills in writing and editing for a range of materials. I have also discovered the difficulty of writing about sensitive countries and topics.

If I could change anything about the internship, I would make it longer. Maybe six months would give me time to become fully involved in the department. If I wished something would stay the same, it would be the people. Their love for God, for others and for their jobs is refreshing. One thing I know: The time I had here was amazing.