Dearly Beloved

Dearly Beloved,

Let me introduce someone,

I did my first church internship when I was 18 years old, at Grace community church in Headingley, Manitoba. This was the first time that I really got to see all that goes into church. The care, the preparation, the prayer, and the love that the staff had for people and Jesus inspired me. I then went on to do three more internships at various churches as I went through college.

These internships were valuable and important to me as I experienced spiritual development, character development, and learned lots of what practical ministry and caring for people looks like. When I first started at CPC 4 years ago, it was not my class notes that helped me right away (although important) it was the experiences I had in those internships that I felt prepared me to get started.

I am excited that, for the first time in a long time, CPC has welcomed a student intern for the summer. We have Troy Preston, who was a part of our youth group, our student discipleship teams, and was a part of the LA missions, a Comox Valley local, joining our youth and kids team for the summer. He will be working with myself and Pastor Garrett, assisting with our kids and youth programs, gaining ministry experience as he heads back to bible college in the fall (Summit Pacific College).

Many of you would recognize him from his years of attending CPC. Please introduce yourself to him and get to know him. Be praying for Troy, I hope his summer internship can mean to him what mine meant to me!

Troy,

I am so excited to be serving as the church intern here at CPC this summer! I’ve just completed my first year at Summit Pacific Bible College, along with a mission trip to Hong Kong as part of my program.

I’ll be here at CPC for the entire summer before heading back to Summit for another year, where I’ll be continuing in the Counselling Foundations program.

CPC has already played a significant role in my life. I attended the youth group here during my final year of high school and had the opportunity to go on the LA youth mission trip last summer. I was deeply impacted by the youth ministry, Pastor Clay, and the incredible students and leaders I experienced community with. That season helped shape my faith and ultimately led me to pursue Bible college, where I’ve grown so much in my walk with Jesus while making lifelong memories.

Now that I’m back in the valley for the summer, I’m really excited to pour into both the Kids and Youth programs. My hope is to give back and help create the same kind of environment that had such a lasting impact on my life and faith journey.

In my free time, I love spending quality time with family and friends, especially outdoors. You’ll often find me going for walks, swimming, hanging out at the beach, or camping. I also love sports—I’ve played a lot of basketball and soccer, and recently I’ve been getting into golf!

I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to be here this summer and would love to get to know you. If you see me around, please come say hi and introduce yourself—I’d love to meet you!

Looking forward to a great summer together!

Pastor Clay and Troy