THE UNITED PUBLISHING HOUSE INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE

The new African Students internship program at the United Methodist Publishing House (UMPH), was concluded on June 30, 2006, with an oxmoronical ending. It was a bitter sweet ending, in the fact that the interns and the UMPH staff, had bonded in a way that all felt a moment of great fellowship, which was derived from the symbiotic relationship which had been built in that three weeks duration through the wonderful hospitality,love, sense of purpose and kinship in Christ Jesus, and the way the African students interns had adjusted into the new settings within a very short notice followed with the quick departure when the rhythm and beats were on a quick formation.
On one hand, the interns had not expected to be lavished and pomped with a kind of hospitality and love they received from the entire staff led by the most gifted, smart and intelligent president, Mr Neil M.Alexander whose humility was depicted by the way he mingles with his and what the interns were exposed to during their short internship program.
On the other hand, the UMPH staff was not expecting a bunch of African students who were full of energy and a strong sense of purpose, accompanied with a strong testimony and commitment in their call to serve God and their fellow human beings. It was a moment of great learning from both sides as the aspiring publishers cum sales representatives were taken through a marathon of introduction into a world they had never imagined of venturing earlier on.
It was inspiring and a big blessing to be guided and taken through a process through which resources are developed right from when an idea is born to the end of a finished product. The most able Miss LeeDell Stickler, senior development Editor and one of the most talented teacher I have come across made our stay and training more than interesting. Every intern was always looking for to be with her in her department board room. Her whole team was full of energy and charisma as they guided us through and along this new terrain. Mr Andrew J. schleicher, the editor of Newscope and Faithlink demonstrated his grasp of the ideas in the whole aspect of creation right from our ecosystem to the unfair trade policies being subjected to the developing countries to the pollution and destruction of our environmentt due to poor perception towards the environment as a result of the poor interpretation of the Genesis episode of creation where man is told by God to "rule" or have "dominion" over the entire creation. Miss Cathy Robinson set the tempo by taking us through an elaborate process of the MBUs and SBUs all aspects of the operations within UMPH. She crowned it all by taking us to the picnic over the weekend where we had a very pleasant moment with her Church congregation plus her daughter, Mary. Mr John F. Kutsko, the Director of academic and Professional Resources, proved in a remarkable way the genius in him by the he handled and directed various sessions charged with the duty of coming up with the guidelines in the process of coming up with news resources and all that is involved in coming up with such things like titles, books and the expenses involved in the process of developing those resources. The United Methodist News service under the guidance of Miss Cathy L. Gilbert kept the interns on the spot as her camera were clicking without a stop in order for her to capture the unfolding panorama. The director of sales made the whole occasion even more colorful through his creative ways of handling the sale department staffed with one of the most talented staff as it pertain the skills of communication plus marketing strategies. Wait until you encounter Miss Marilyn E. Thornton, the lead Editor African/American Resources and you are made to sit by the African fire and hear beautiful Biblical stories and interactions of children of God as they try to relive the African arena of story telling and bringing the Bible to the people in more cultural way.A bishop is on the way in the near future. When the occasion for his appointment comes, Miss Faye R.Lyons will be the most happy lady in the whole world. She presented one of the interns with a precious gift geared towards that occasion. This soft spoken lady is someone people need to meet and see why wisdom and temperance are among the four cardinals of virtue.
The whole of the historic experience was made possible by a man who is so gifted and blessed with a talent very few people posses. This is no other but Dr Rev. Fred Allen. Right from the moment we met him waiting for us at the Nashville airport to chauffeuring us everywhere in Nashville and welcoming us to his beautiful home, where prepared the sweetest and delicious hot dogs and hamburgers to the swimming moment, where some of the interns had the first lessons of swimming, the morning briefings where the previous day activities were thoroughly dissected through our critique, the whole episode would have lost the real meaning and aimed. Through his brotherly guidance we bonded in such way that it was as if the interns had known each other for many years.
At the farewell fellowship, there was clear evidence that God had accomplish his intended mission and he was at the center of the whole encounter and that seeds of love and friendship had been sowed. For more information log at www.umc.org/site/c.gjJJTbMUIuE/b.1844133/k.D473/Publishing_House_Intern_Program_nurtures_African_Students.htm