Latte art courtesy anonymous barista at The Bean Pedaler in Cañon City, Colorado.
One morning years ago, I came into the JFA office to find that a joke was circulating about the horrible coffee one of the interns had made that day. I never got to try it, and I confess I’m not sorry. The intern had forgotten to insert a coffee filter in the coffee maker!
Since about that time we’ve had a motto at JFA: Our interns don’t make coffee. But I assure you that it has nothing to do with this one intern’s mishap. Rather, our rather proud statement about our interns is meant to capture in a short phrase a very intentional emphasis at JFA’s heart: with God’s help, we see the raw potential within every pro-life Christian, and we train each one who is willing into a dialogue artist who skillfully trains others. So, when we think of interns, we think of all that potential. Sure, making coffee is an important skill, given how many people rely on the beverage to get through the day. How much more important is it to learn to change hearts and minds—something the unborn rely on just to see the light of day at all? And how important is it, then, to learn to train others to change hearts and minds? So, when God sees fit to provide interns for JFA, we wouldn’t want to waste even a few minutes of that great potential.
Recent Instagram Post: Kaitlyn, Susanna, Rebekah, and Mary pause for a photo during our outreach to UT Dallas in 2020. Each of these trainers began their work with JFA as interns. Seeing them become skilled at training others is one of our team’s greatest joys! See @picturejusticeforall to share!
This emphasis is paying off. Current JFA staff members Kaitlyn, Mary, Rebekah, and Susanna all began their work with JFA as semester interns. Now they’re actively training others, continuing to refine their craft as dialogue artists who train others. Recently, Rebekah shared an amazing story related to public speaking. It illustrates our intern training emphasis, but more importantly, it also illustrates how it’s precisely our weaknesses that sometimes our loving God is pleased to fill with his strength! Read it and thank God with us.