Quincy Johnson, Final Blog, 7/30/21

 As I come to the final days of this internship, all I can really do is sit back and think about the past two months that went by. I never would have imagined having an internship this summer, let alone a faith-based internship. Although I have been with the church my whole life, I never really saw myself as someone who could fit in with people who I saw as more knowledgeable than me on the subject. I decided to take a big step into faith-based learning and I have to say, I am more than grateful for this experience and opportunity that was given to me.

During these past two months, I was given the chance to work with the National Religious Partnership for the Environment. The NRPE really made me aware of how much of a relationship environmental health has with the people and their faithful stewardship. I was able to complete many tasks from blogs and op-eds about the many priorities with clean air and water, to working on projects about “land back” and Doctrine of Discovery and updating the website to be more accessible to the viewers. I was also able to partake in meetings about the Save Our Future Act and sustainable energy and environment. My supervisor Cassandra Carmicheal and program associate Helen Smith were very supportive and more than willing to make sure my time with the NRPE was stress free. They were also open to any questions I had in mind and were willing to go the extra mile to explain and give examples of tasks I wasn’t so sure about.

During Wednesday devotion, we dove into the mind of Karen Gonzalez in her book, “The God Who Sees.” This book talks about her emotional and spiritual journey from Guatemala to the United States and the many obstacles her and her family had to face along the way. She really brings light to immigration, the Bible, and the meaning to belong. I enjoy how she brings about her personal life in the book to add emotion behind each chapter you read. Gonzalez also brought about stories of people such as Ruth and Naomi, Hagar, and The Syrophoenician Woman and incorporated the real life problems and ideas of immigration. I really found that as an interesting way to talk about the stories that are untold and to also make the audience aware of what happens in the world when it comes to immigration. This book was very fascinating to read and discuss especially with Katie, Leslie, and Noemi. It seemed like everyone had a different perspective to how the stories were told, but we all were about to connect these opinions and ideas into one. I don’t have any connection to the book, but I can really feel the emotion from Karen Gonzalez and opened my eyes to the stories of the Bible and the real world issues and ideals of immigration. During Friday programming, we were able to learn a variety of things such as unpacking the intersectionality of Church and Society and United Nations, legislative process and UMC immigration justice, and the ideals of mass incarceration and Just Mercy. Along with the visual aids and presentations, the guest speakers were more than willing to explain and answer any questions we had during our time together.

I really felt that this internship has helped me grow mentally, emotionally, and definitely spiritually. I was able to step out of my comfort zone and really was able to speak about my feelings and thoughts. I felt that I learned a lot that I can really incorporate into my journey through the medical field and my spiritual journey with God. I wanted to thank everyone for bringing the best out of me and being supportive during my journey in this internship. I pray God continues to guide us all.