Around this time last year, I was looking around for internship opportunities to complete my diploma.

I was hoping for an internship where I could not only expand my skillset, but also serve God in a tangible way. So I considered serving in my church as well as in para-church organisations. As I prayed and considered my options, I realised that they ultimately would not meet my school’s requirements for an internship.

So after a period of even more prayer, I was about ready to give up on the idea of merging ministry with my internship – until I looked at my Instagram feed in sheer frustration.

… your work is an expression of your faith.

We are hiring!

There it was — my internship opportunity in an Instagram post by one of the para-church companies I followed. And as I thought about it, I prayed all the more … until I finally handed in my resume. To my surprise, God flung open every door, the school had granted the approval necessary and the organisation welcomed me with open arms. I was hired!

A lot has happened since then. I celebrated with the team as we hit new milestones and overcame deadlines together. We laughed, cried and also prayed with each other.

But now, at the end of my internship, I realised that I have gleaned so much more than just a set of new technical and professional skills. I’ve also learnt deep spiritual principles that now shape my perspective on faith, work and even evangelism.

Work is an expression of worship.

One of the first lessons I learnt is that your faith cannot be separate from your work. In fact, your work is an expression of your faith. Colossians 3:23 encourages us to work as if Jesus was our boss! Having the opportunity to do work that directly went towards expanding the Kingdom helped me to apply this verse in my day-to-day assignments.

The internship also gave me the opportunity to meet top working professionals in the secular realm, who instead of living just for Fridays, view their work as worship unto God. They perform each task diligently, following biblical principles in joyful worship even while working on the most mundane assignment.

So whether you’re in full-time ministry or the marketplace, you should still be serving God. Who you are at work on Monday should be the same as who you are on Sunday. While this was a very hard principle for me to grasp initially, I eventually went from dreading my work to seeing it as a joy.

Even though my work may not be perfect, I can now say that I perform my role as worship unto God.

Work is one of your greatest tools in evangelism.

The second principle I learnt was that work can be a tool to reach out to others with the Gospel. As I served with the team, I was always encouraged to think about how I would express these same ideas of faith and love in daily life, in a way someone who has never heard of Jesus would understand.

And as I met Christian professionals in the marketplace, I realised they not only viewed their secular work as worship, they viewed it as a way of publicly displaying who Jesus is to them. They knew that if they did their work well, others would take notice. This wasn’t for their own personal gain – but the opportunity to share Jesus.

Who you are at work on Monday should be the same as who you are on Sunday.

So I learnt to express the core tenets of my faith professionally. More importantly, however, was the conviction to begin displaying God in my daily life as well.

True faith must be life-changing. There’s a saying that goes: “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Likewise, people can know what you believe but if that faith and love aren’t expressed in your day-to-day work and who you are at home – it just remains as head knowledge to them rather than life-changing truth.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to use my school internship to expand God’s Kingdom. My earnest prayer is that these two principles will forever change the way I perceive work not just in ministry, but also my home and the secular world as well!