Summer Internship

Project Transformation’s faith-based summer internship program for young adults offers hands-on opportunities to build mutually enriching relationships with children, live in intentional community, experience cultural and socio-economic diversity, and explore various careers in ministry and service.
There are five primary components to the Project Transformation internship experience:

Day Camp
During the summer program, Project Transformation young adults work in teams to implement an eight-week summer day camp for 50 to 80 elementary children. Programs are located in host churches in communities that are underresourced. Components of the program include: a one-to-one reading program, Bible lessons, arts, music, recreation, and other activities in which the gifts and talents of the young adults can be shared with the children.

Vocational Exploration
Each Friday, young adults are exposed to various vocational opportunities in service or ministry through guest speakers, field trips, and interactions with lay and ordained church or community leaders.

Spiritual Development
Project Transformation invests in the spiritual development of each intern, emphasizing the importance of community. The young adults participate in weekly worship as well as brief morning devotions each day before heading to the program sites. Young Adults are encouraged to examine their personal beliefs through small group discussions

Church Involvement
Each Sunday, young adults are invited to participate in worship at their host church. This is an opportunity to connect the church family to the program and its families so that sustainable relationships are established during the summer. Beyond this, young adults may help connect partner churches with the program by recruiting volunteers to read with the children that attend the day camp, collecting supplies for the program, and sharing the stories of their experience.

Intentional Community
An optional component of Project Transformation’s summer internship is the opportunity to build community through intentional community. While all will build relationships throughout the experience, young adults on the ministry track can participate in daily life in a diverse, Christ-centered community. In this option, young adults are encouraged to participate in social activities and build deep relationships with other members of the community.

_________________________________________________________________________

Tracks for Service

Ministry Track

This program track allows young adults to experience the communal and vocational discernment elements of Project Transformation. The focal point is intentional community living, spiritual development, and vocational/ministerial discernment. The track allows young adults to have a full understanding of various ministerial contexts and engage in community outreach. This includes: 

Service Track

This program track allows young adults to experience the benefits of community service through service while engaging children within the community. Young adults will participate in vocational discernment through Friday Experiences.

_______________________________________________________________________

Specifics

Dates of the 2024 service experience are May 23-24 for training with other Arkansas United Methodists and May 29 to July 27. This includes pre-program training and eight weeks of day camp. Juneteenth and July 4th are observed as holidays. 

During their summer of service, interns cannot have commitments outside of Project Transformation, such as summer school or a part-time job, without the approval of the Program Director.

• On Fridays, the young adults explore vocations in ministry and service through field trips and dialogue with lay and ordained leadership of various partnering non-profit organizations, businesses, and churches.
• At least once during the summer, the young adult may speak to one of Project Transformation’s partner churches about the summer service experience – this could be to a Sunday school group, the congregation, youth group, or other community partner.

Young adults must have completed one year of college or be at least 19 years old, and must have the legal right to work in the U.S.
Competitive applicants for the internship program will:

• Be highly motivated, self-starters
• Possess strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Enjoy working with children and/or youth
• Be open-minded
• Have a desire to love and serve others
• Be flexible
• Be dedicated to building relationships with other young adults.

In many ways working with Project Transformation in the summer program is more than just a summer job. It is a transformational experience. While much is expected of each intern, much is given in return in the form of love from the kids, support, and fun from living in a community, and the energy created by exploring your own personal potential to impact the world around you.

Roles

All summer positions are full-time. Programming with children is Monday-Thursday. Fridays are set aside for vocational exploration. Service dates: May 23-24, then May 29, 2024 – July 27, 2024 (leadership roles may require additional training). 

Team Member- Works with grades 1-5 (ages 5-12), leading age appropriate programming throughout the day. Builds intentional relationships with children, staff, and host church members, and engages in vocational discernment activities.

Reading Coordinator- Responsible for administering reading assessments, keeping track of reading development, organizing libraries and building literacy skills among elementary students.  Oversees volunteers participating in one-to-one reading. Great for elementary education or similar majors.

Site Coordinator- Handles administrative tasks related to their host site, primary contact for families, and serves as liaison between: teammates, the team and PT staff, and the team and site staff/supervisor/pastor. Strong communication skills and ability to problem solve are important in this position.

Community Director- Serves as an RA and a pastoral guide for all young adults living in community. Responsible for community life and weekly worship experiences. Handles administrative responsibilities and also provides general care for members at the housing. Ideal for seminary students or those interested in ministry to college aged young adults, Wesley Foundation leaders, or even those interested in the counseling field. 

Compensation
Young adult leaders will receive compensation based on their track. Service track members will receive $3,250 before taxes. Ministry track members will receive $3,750 in compensation before taxes. Housing and many meals are provided to those participating in the ministry track.

Application Procedure
Applicants should apply online. Contact information for 3 references is required to complete the application.  After your application is received, you will be contacted by Project Transformation staff to schedule an interview.

When possible, Project Transformation seeks to partner with the home churches of our interns.  To understand ways to partner with your home church should you be selected, review the Partner Church Letter of Commitment and be prepared to speak to your pastor or mission leader.