Summer Internship
Project Transformation’s faith-based summer internship program for young adults offers hands-on opportunities to build mutually enriching relationships with underserved children and youth, live in intentional community, experience cultural and socio-economic diversity, and explore various careers in ministry and service.
Applicants 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 dedicated to living in community with other young adults in a structured environment.
There are five primary components to the Project Transformation internship experience:
Day Camp
During the summer program, Project Transformation interns work in teams to implement an eight-week summer day camp for 30 to 80 elementary children and youth. Sites are located in churches in the heart of low-income communities. Components of the program include: a one-on-one reading program, Bible lesson, arts enrichment, music, recreational activities, and other activities in which the gifts and talents of the interns can be shared with the children.
Community Living
An integral component of Project Transformation’s summer internship is the opportunity to live in intentional community throughout the internship experience. Interns live together and experience daily life in a diverse, Christ-centered community. Interns are encouraged to participate in social activities and build relationships with other members of the community.
Ministry Exploration
Each Friday, interns are exposed to various vocational opportunities in service or ministry through guest speakers, field trips, and interactions with lay and ordained church leaders.
Spiritual Development
Project Transformation invests in the spiritual development of each intern, opening their eyes to the needs and opportunities for ministry. The program emphasizes the importance of community through worship, Bible study, and guest speakers. The interns participate in weekly worship as well as brief morning devotions each day before heading to the program sites. Interns are encouraged to examine their personal beliefs through intellectual and spiritual discussions.
Church Involvement
Each week, interns participate in worship at their site church with their team. 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, interns 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.
Specifics
The dates for this service experience are June 8th-August 10th, 2019. This includes one week of pre-program training and eight weeks of day camp.
- Young adults will live in community in housing provided through Project Transformation. Dinners will be provided from Sunday through Thursday evenings.
- During their summer of service, interns cannot have commitments outside of Project Transformation, such as summer school or a part-time job.
- Sunday through Thursdays, interns must attend nightly dinners that are prepared by partner churches in order to share the summer service experience with partnering volunteers. One night per week, the interns participate in a group worship time.
- On Fridays, the interns explore vocations in ministry and service through field trips and dialogue with lay and ordained leadership of various partnering non-profit organizations, businesses, and United Methodist institutions.
- Each week, Project Transformation interns attend worship at their site church to connect with the host congregation and families in the community.
- At least once during the summer, the intern 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.
In many ways working with Project Transformation in the summer program exceeds participating in a summer job and crosses into a summer life. The time expectations can be great, but the potential for personal rewards that come from this kind of commitment are even greater. 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.
Time Off
Friday evening-Saturday evenings each weekend.
Compensation
$2,000 living stipend + room and board.
Application Procedure
Applicants should apply online. A personal resume and contact information for 3 references are required to complete the application. After your application is received, you will be contacted by the program director Chelsea Jones 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 Letter of Commitment and be prepared to speak to your pastor and or mission leader.
