From June 2021-August 2022 Gabriel will be serving as an intern with FOCUS through the St. Innocent Service Works program. Gabriel will be working with FOCUS Orange County to help distribute food to those in need in the Orange County area in southern California.
For the better part of my life, I believed that service meant helping those who are less fortunate than yourself. As time has passed, I’ve come to understand how service can look many different ways and be many different things. This summer I am interning for St. Innocent Service Works because I want to dive deeper into following Christ’s call to serve others, to learn how to humble myself to be least among my brothers and sisters.
In autumn of 2020, I was an intern for Neighborhood Resilience Project, a non-profit in the Hill District of Pittsburgh that offers community support and free resources such as food and clothing. My fellow interns and I spent two and a half months moving and breaking down boxes, putting together lunch bags, sorting clothes, cleaning, and working the front desk, among many other things.
Most of the work was not glamorous and the days were often quite long. You had to be ready to serve someone at almost any time, as it would happen frequently that there was help needed with something at practically any time of the day. Most days we were running around making sure all the essential tasks were completed and everyone was served. Arriving home from work both meal preparation duty and house cleaning were also ways in which we ministered to each other.
It was exhausting. There were other challenges I encountered during my experience in Pittsburgh, however, I learned a very important lesson in regards to service: no matter what you are doing, you can make any simple act one of love and service. Even when we are not tangibly doing something for someone else—such as the time we take for ourselves to wind down—all of our life we can offer to God.
From my time at Neighborhood Resilience Project and my time as an intern at Project Mexico, I have been inspired to pursue service to others and to God. This summer, through God’s providence I am in Orange County, California helping distribute food and household items to those in need. It has been a surreal and somewhat intimidating feeling; not knowing what each day will look like but only knowing that I am here to give myself over to God’s will, and to do the best that I can to serve those in need and my fellow interns. It is something I feel very ill-prepared for, but my comfort lies in knowing that Christ gives strength to those who lean on Him. (Philippians 4:13)
To support Gabriel and the work we’re doing in the US and Mexico, please use this link: https://sisw.managedmissions.com/MyTrip/GabrielFahling1
