THE INTERNSHIP MENU
The Value of Missionary
Internships
Gary L. Green
►B.S., University of Louisiana at Monroe
►D.V.M., Louisiana State University
►M.A.R., Harding Graduate School of Religion
►1 year, Desamparados, Costa Rica
►8 years, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela
►5 years, Abilene Christian University
 Latin American Missions Coordinator
 WorldWide Witness Program
What is a summer internship?
 Summer
internships are 6 - 10 week
mission experiences conducted under
the oversight of an experienced
mentor on the mission field.
 Any
person from any major can apply
to participate in an internship.

Not a vacation; more than a
campaign; challenge to go and
personally experience mission life.
EXPECTATIONS
1.
Online application with references &
bio.
2.
Attend spring retreat & weekly
training.
3.
Find supporting church and raise
funds.
4.
Go as learner & ambassador to the
field.
5.
Participate in debriefing upon return.
GOALS
1.
MISSION: Hear God’s call.
2.
FAITH BUILDING: Observe God at work.
3.
SPIRITUAL FORMATION: Develop the
heart of Christ.
4.
SERVICE: Assist missionaries and
churches.
5.
EXPOSURE: Experience “real life” missions.
What will I actually do during
the internship?
Be Mentored
Language learning
Youth ministry
Campus ministry
Personal evangelism
Teaching
Preaching
Visitation
Campaigns
VBS
Other
Where can I go?
LATIN AMERICA: Brazil (3), Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico
AFRICA: Uganda (3), Tanzania, Ghana, Burkina Faso
ASIA: Thailand (3), Japan
OCEANA: Australia (2), New Zealand, Papua New Guinea
EUROPE: France, England (2), Croatia, Germany
DOMESTIC: Atlanta, Bronx, Miami, Denver, Portland
STM Internships
The Global
Impact of
Short Term
Missions
 Survey of
opportunities
 Standards of
excellence
 On the field
impact
The Value of
Missionary
Internships
 The internship
menu
 The value to
those who go
 The value to
the receiving
church
Preparing for
Short Term
Missions
-Survival guide
-Key issues
-Tools for
digging deep fast
Why bother with internships?
 Explore and clarify your career goals, so you'll know if
the field is right for you.
 Develop knowledge, competencies, and experience
related to your major and career interest.
 Gain practical experience.
 Take responsibility for your own learning
 Establish a network of professional contacts, mentors,
and references for after graduation.
► Source: Job Choices, 1999 at
http://career.asu.edu/S/LA/EmpSay/Internships/LAEmpinternintro.htm
(Arizona State University)
► "as
an intern you will be given the opportunity to
prove yourself and find out if this is the career
path you want to follow. You can learn a lot
during an internship that you wouldn't get
exposed to until after graduating. This is a unique
exploratory opportunity for each student."
►
The Value Of Internships And Co-op Opportunities For College
Students by Linedda Cates-McIver at http://www.blackcollegian.com/issues/1998-11/value11.shtml
you're an intern it's an opportunity to not
be the person responsible. But you're still close
enough to the action that you can see everything
that happens. . . I had a chance to learn a lot of
the things that don't work so well in my field. I
learned where there were barriers and where
there were miscommunications. And because I
wasn't right in the middle of them, I learned to
recognize them before they became crises."
► "When
►
The value of internships from some who've been
there By David Lyman September 5, 2004 at
http://www.freep.com/features/living/iside5_20040905.ht
m
Internship Trend
► At
Boston College, 63% of the 1995
graduates had participated in an internship.
► 2002, 89% had participated in an
internship. By Diane E. Lewis, Globe Staff, 4/13/03 at
http://bostonworks.boston.com/globe/articles/041303_inte
rn.html
Internship Trend
► More
than 55% of those hired by
manufacturers have internship experience.
►
(National Association of Colleges and Employers Spotlight;
11/102) at
http://www.ncf.edu/CareerServices/Documents/WhatAreInt
ernships.htm
Internship Trend
•Penn State School of Information Services and Technology,
http://ist.psu.edu/currentstudents/studentservices/internships/page2.cfm?
pageID=559
Internship Trend
► The
sociologist Christian Smith, based on national
random survey data, reports that 29 percent of all
13- to 17-year-olds in the U.S. have "gone on a
religious missions team or religious service
project," with 10 percent having gone on such
trips three or more times. That is, his data
indicates that far more than 2 million 13- to 17year-olds go on such trips every year.
►
From: Robert Priest, To: Kurt Ver Beek
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/127/22.0.html
Internship Trends
► Short-term
mission trips to foreign countries
are the biggest trend to hit the evangelical
Christian outreach scene since vacation
Bible school. Between 1 million and 4 million
North American Christians reportedly
participated in STMs in 2003, and the
number keeps rising.
►
Christianity Today, Week of June 20, Study Questions Whether ShortTerm Missions Make a Difference by Abram Huyser Honig
Personal Experience
► ACU
applicants
 Youth ministries, university internships, study
abroad
 Examples
►As
youth group members
 Costa Rica, France, New Zealand
►As
university students
 Santiago, Chile; Bronx, USA; Mbale, Uganda; Nottingham,
England
► Erin
Richmond, Sydney, 2004
 The internship changed my views of the world
and evangelism. It showed me how small the
world truly is and how big God is. I also
learned that for the majority, people are all the
same . . . even if they are on the other side of
the world.”
► Brent
Hines, New Zealand, 2004
 “My relationship with God increased
tremendously and I know that my life’s purpose
is to build up the church.”
Lyndsey Epley case
 Became a Christian as a junior in high school &
never left the USA
 First flight DFW-LAX-SYD-BNE
 3 summer internships, 1 Christmas visit, 1 visit
during furlough
 “I don’t know how it will fit into my future but I
know I will always be a part of the church in
Brisbane somehow.”
Students’ perception
► Students’
self evaluation is that they benefit
from internships and they are valuable.
► Yet other concerns continue . . .
Concerns
► Stewardship
 Why not just support a national?
► Team
formation
 Do interns contribute to long term teams?
► Spiritual
formation
 Are spiritual changes permanent?
Concerns: Why not just send
the money to the field?
► #1.
People are using their disposable
income for things other than missions; any
redirection of these funds towards the
kingdom should be viewed as positive.
We should not view internships as
competition to national funding.
►Avg.
USA household credit card debt = $12,000
Concerns: Why not just send the
money to the field?
► #2.
When God wanted to touch lives he
sent his son not his checkbook;
internships facilitate incarnational ministry.
Concerns: Why not just send the
money to the field?
► #3.
Internships are an investment in the
future as much as a remedy for the
present need of the foreign national
church.
Concerns: Why not just send
the money to the field?
► #4.
Throughout history trends have
arisen in Christianity and culture. We can
take advantage of them or miss them.
 Top trend of boomers (and their children) is
international travel.
Concerns: Why not just send
the money to the field?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Internships are not competition to
mission funds.
Internships have a theological base.
Internships are an investment in the
future.
Internships take advantage of a national
trend.
Concerns: Do interns contribute to
long term team formation?
► 1986
Short-Term Mission Handbook states
that 48% of career missionaries sent in
past 5 years had previous STM
experience.
► 1987 Approx. 50% of TEAM career
missionaries had previous STM
experience.
►
Pocock, Michael. “Gaining Long-Term Mileage from Short-Term
Programs.” Evangelical Missions Quarterly 23 (April 1987):154-160.
Concerns: Do interns contribute to
long term team formation?
► Ryan
Newhouse
 1 year in Brazil
 2 years in El Salvador
 Intern 2x in Santiago, Chile
► Jared
Berryman
 Summer intern to Mexico City
 1 year apprentice to Mexico City
 Long term plans for Buenos Aires
Concerns: Are spiritual changes
permanent?
► Nearly
every study which has applied preand post-trip tests to STM participants has
found that there is little or no lasting change
in areas like spiritual maturity, cross-cultural
awareness, ethnocentrism, and other
hoped-for results of STM.
►
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/127/32.0.html (Robert
Priest)
Concerns: Are spiritual changes
permanent?
► Almost
all studies have been based on selfperception and not on concrete evidence;
emotions ebb over time.
► Many STMs involve junior high or high school
students who lack the maturity to process the
experience.
► Most STMs are conducted with a low amount of
spiritual preparation pre-STM and minimal
debriefing post-STM.
’97 Dissertation reviewing the
influence of STMs
► Increase
subsequent commitment to
participation in world missions
► Increase in inter-cultural communication
skills
► Enhanced ability to see the world through a
Biblical worldview
’98 Dissertation comparing
internships from three CCUs
by Kathryn Tuttle
► Those
indicating they received good or excellent
training had significantly higher change scores
than those who reported that their training was
nonexistent to average.
► Following the internship, students with good
training were more likely to




Help others with spiritual struggles
Accept people from different religious backgrounds
Go out of their way to love others
Be committed to Christ
Tuttle Dissertation
► 25%
of interns reported being stretched
beyond their comfort zone (vs. 3% of
control group)
► 22% of interns reported having a sense of
being empowered to use their gifts beyond
their own strength (vs. one person in
control group)
Tuttle Dissertation
► 22%
of interns reported they better see
how they fit into God’s plan
► 15% of interns reported that they trust God
more in difficult times
► Other significant improvements




Improved prayer life
More passion for God
Deepened desire to know God
More content with what they have
Key issue is training both pre-STM
and post-STM.
►.
. . the best way to make sure that the
families, churches, and communities will
feel motivated and empowered by a oneweek visit is to think seriously about it
beforehand, and to work with
organizations, missionaries, and others
who are concerned and making this
happen year round.
►
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/127/52.0.html
Issue of Training
► In
research with Ph.D. students at Trinity,
I've been impressed that while STM may not
always or automatically produce desired
results, the right sorts of STM, carried out in
the right sorts of ways, and accompanied by
the right sorts of reflections, have potential
for good.
►
Robert Priest http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/127/22.0.html
Issue of Training
► His
proposal: It's not enough to stress the
importance of orientation and debriefing as
ways of augmenting the short-term mission
experience—something you'll hear from any
STM expert worth her salt. Instead, the STM
needs to be treated as one small module
that augments a much longer and more
intense course of learning.
►
Abram Honig at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/125/12.0.html
Concerns
► Stewardship:
 Valuable to send interns financially and
theologically
► Team
formation
 Future teams do tend to reap the harvest of
former interns
► Spiritual
formation
 Spiritual growth is significant when the
internship has significant pre-STM and postSTM training.
Conclusions
1. There is a trend among USA youth to be
involved in STMs; we can make the most
of it or miss it.
2. STM internships (with good training and
debriefing)
A. Are positive long term investments
B. Facilitate long term teams
C. Enhance individual spiritual formation
BOTTOM LINE VALUE
► Millennial
generation (graduating on or after
2000) = next bridge-builder generation
► The issue is not will they shape the future
but rather will we play a role in how they
shape the future. This is the value of STM
internships.