Ella’s Story

“My faith just kept growing since I started coming here.”

This is Ella Padgett’s second summer at Abiding Presence as a college-age intern. Last summer, Ella worked on the food pantry team. This summer, however, Ella is working on summer camp for the first time. 

“I want to work with children, but I’ve never done summer camp before, so this will be a new experience for me!” Ella said. 

Ella is studying developmental psychology and digital art at Liberty University as a rising sophomore this fall. After college, Ella plans to pursue a master's in social work to become a child psychologist. 

One of Ella’s favorite parts of the internship program is devotions each morning. 

“When I started at Liberty I was really nervous because I was going to a school where a lot of people grew up reading the Bible and I didn’t do that as much,” Ella said. “Talking to the Pastors and the other interns gave me confidence in actually talking about and interpreting scripture.”

Beyond devotions, Ella also stated that she has made many new friends since starting the internship program last summer. 

“I’ve made some great friends here, everyone was so welcoming and funny,” Ella said. “I just can’t stop laughing.

“Coming here has been great for getting experience, but also for making good friends and walking through my faith.”