Step 8: Apprenticeships and Internships
by Steve HokeA field internship (sometimes called a “new staff” position) is an opportunity to develop understanding in your hosts’ language and culture. It generally entails no other ministry responsibilities; your only job is to become proficient in the language and culture. Hopefully, a qualified and experienced missionary or national leader will then work with you to build your ministry on what his or her experience can teach.
If you’re still in college, being an apprentice or an intern in cross-cultural service may seem years away. It probably is. But one way to prepare for the future is to understand it better. While we can’t forecast exactly what the future holds, we can make plans and decisions that affect it.
Your expectations will significantly shape the nature of your experience. When you take a new job, it seldom turns out to be all you expected it would be. New experiences are like that. The same will be true of your first cross-cultural assignment. That doesn’t mean you should expect to be “bummed out.” But you should, by faith, hold your initial expectations loosely. Bring them before the Lord with open hands, willing to let Him shape or replace them.
Missions is going to be tougher than you imagine, but hang in there. It’s worth it!
Your cross-cultural experience will stretch you and deepen you. Be ready for the most intense period of personal, family, and ministry growth in your life. The spiritual battle will stretch you and build your spiritual muscles. Living in community with an international team of Christians will feel like a crucible experience - being crushed under pressure and remolded amid heat. Anticipating that experience with realistic faith will increase your dependence upon the Lord and your commitment to being a vital member of your ministry community. And if you are married (with or without children), prepare for added stresses and challenges.
There is much you can do to understand what it will be like. Ask your church and mission agency questions that will help you prepare.
A template for a first-year internship experience is described in the following articles. It’s followed by a description of one couple’s actual internship in Caracas, Venezuela. As you read these samples, seriously consider how you can adapt the model to your own situation in order to maximize your first year on the field.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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