Intern Highlight: Madison Amalfitano

Viral videos and music are two things that Madison Amalfitano is passionate about. A major in Media and Information with a concentration in Video Production at Michigan State University, Maddy’s ultimate aim in life is to make short films about the gospel that go viral on the internet.

“My dream job is to make videos that show the Gospel through symbolism and have it go viral.”

She’s leaving no stone unturned to learn how to do that. It’s no wonder that she has three minors – documentary production, film studies, and graphic design. To top that off she makes promotional videos for MSU Cru and now, she is here in Chicago, doing what she loves full-time at the Crossroads office.

“I took a video production class in eighth grade and had a lot of fun making videos. So I thought if I can make a future out of this that will be awesome.”

Any collaboration in the video team, that has a mix of passionate people is stressful but Maddy loves the challenge that comes with it. It has presented her with an opportunity to let God take control and she is letting the Holy Spirit mold her. Maddy is a go-getter who is determined to pursue all the good things in life. She describes herself as someone who always had the desire to know God. The Catholic Church couldn’t satisfy that desire and so she started attending a non-denominational church with her friend in middle school. She became a regular churchgoer and soon after that she went to a Christian camp for kids with the same friend. At camp, curiosity got the better of her when she heard the term ‘saved’ often and inquired her counselor as to what it meant. That night in her bunk bed a little, 12 year-old Maddy asked Jesus into her heart. Maddy remembers her Catholic parents as being “a little weirded out” with her new found faith but eventually they came to know the Lord better.

Maddy describes her freshman self in college as someone who didn’t want to be a lame Christian so she partied a lot but soon realised that nothing ever satisfies like a good Christian community so she checked out Cru. She likes being in a community of God’s children and wants to help others do the same. She is working towards that by helping the community team at Crossroads and the larger Chicago Summer Mission to help reflect the body of Christ. The conviction is evident in her voice when she says that Jesus is the secret to life. The more you get closer to God, the more you find happiness and satisfaction, is the life equation that she has figured out and wants to help everyone do the same.

“Once I grasped on to something powerful, and so impactful and so much different from the world, the Holy Spirit keeps pushing me to share that with everyone.”

Music is one of Maddy’s passion and she finds enjoyment in all genres of music. “It’s more of a need than a want”, is what she has to say about music. She listens to at least an hour of music every day and was confused for a time as to why not everyone listened to music. Maddy sometimes acts as the in-house DJ, creating playlists for the Chicago Summer Mission. Most recently she created a groovy mix for the ‘Through the Decades’ dance party, one of the community events here. She sometimes jokingly dances to worship music and describes it as something that is enabling her to speak to God in that frame.

“I just have a really big passion for being creative and I have a huge passion for Jesus and telling other people about Him and showing the happiness I have in Him. So mixing the two only makes sense.”