How to prepare for an internship with Servants
Your internship with Servants will probably be quite different to any other short term mission exposure you have experienced before. This is because the emphasis of your time will not be so much on what you DO but on what you LEARN.
The focus needs to be on coming as a learner. This can sound indulgent because you want to be able to "give" to the people who have great need and being a learner seems to be only "taking"! However, simply being with people and showing them the respect of learning from them is giving them a huge amount.
The intention is that for a few weeks or months, living with a local family in an urban poor community, you will make a deep connection with the urban poor and allow God to open up a space in you to hear him afresh. This will occur not in a quiet garden or at the beach, but in a noisy, vibrant, cramped slum community.
Also, through the experience you can learn so much about God, suffering, poverty, discipleship, compassion, powerlessness, and faith. All of these things are essential to your life as a follower of Jesus no matter where you are. Living in the midst of poverty helps you see the world through God's eyes even when you are only there for a short time. It is important to see that new "way of seeing" as much your objective as "doing things" while here. The focus is on being as well as doing.
It is an irony, but true nonetheless, that God is most often found in the places where we would least expect him. And when he wants to make himself visible ‑ it is invariably in something "powerless" or weak or poor: like a baby in a stinking stable; or amongst the naked, the prisoners, the hungry and thirsty (Matt 25:31‑46).
Being in a foreign environment, you will sometimes not understand a lot of what is going on within you and around you. Your emotions may erupt in ways that call into question what you have never questioned before. You may face things surfacing in you that frighten the hell out of you and make you to want to escape. But the wonderful promise of these wilderness experiences which we must all face from time to time, is that if you endure, you will begin to see God sustaining you (Lk 4: 4) and you will discover yourself to be "a beloved child of God" (Matt 3:17).
- To develop a deeper intimacy with Jesus.
- To experience life in an urban poor cross-cultural environment.
- To explore poverty and its causes through relationships in an urban poor community.
- To observe and participate in development projects operating in an urban poor environment.
- To examine the principles of incarnation, simplicity, servanthood, community and wholism and their application –
- as a response to poverty
- as methods of mission/development
- as what it means to follow Jesus
- To explore and experience the spiritual dimensions of poverty and powerlessness through language learning and cross-cultural experiences.
- To prayerfully consider and list concrete life changes that can be followed through on return home.
- To consider God’s calling on your life in terms of future ministry to the urban poor of Asia.
Interns in Asia live with a host family in an urban poor community and a large part of the impact of this internship will be from your interactions with your family and the community. You are expected to eat with them most of the time and participate as you can in household activities.
In the on-field manual we have included a daily guide to assist you in ways of looking beyond the surface of what is happening in your family and community. Readings included in the manual are to stimulate your thinking with regards to poverty and its causes and our response as followers of Jesus. We have also provided you with a guided daily spiritual journal to help you find God’s place in the midst of it all. One or two of the Servants team members will be allocated to you as mentors and you will meet with them at least once a week to discuss your experiences in the community issues that have arisen from your daily journal or the readings that you are set each week.
Additionally, the team meets weekly for a meal followed by a worship/sharing time. We expect you to join us for the lunches every week and stay for the worship/sharing time every second week.
Although a big part of the program is experiencing poverty and being transformed through the process you will still have the opportunity to contribute in whatever ways you can. During the weekdays you can be involved in a variety of Servants projects depending on your skills, gifts, and passions, and the particular needs of Servants while you are here. For example, there may be a need for some research to be carried out that requires some time and energy beyond what local and Servants staff have on top of their daily life and work.
You can also contribute to the local community in other ways. For instance, you can give blood at the local blood bank. Due to dengue haemorrhagic fever, there is often a shortage of blood products and ‘clean’ blood is constantly in demand.
Who Can Go?
The focus of Servants internships is on being immersed into an urban poor context and learning through the experience about God, poverty, and about following Jesus in reaching out to the urban poor. We are looking for applicants who have a spiritual maturity allowing them to face difficulties and learn from the experience. In addition we are seeking people who:
- Have a heart for the poor and those suffering injustice, and are seeking to demonstrate that in the way they live their life 'at home'.
- Have a commitment to Christian community, and are seeking to demonstrate that in the way they live their life.
- Are seeking to be actively involved in mission in their own country.
- Are actively exploring a commitment to long-term mission among the poor.
- Are flexible, self-motivated, self starters who will be able to survive (flourish!) by using initiative and courage in very simple living conditions and a new culture.
- Who come to learn, to be challenged and to be changed (rather coming to do things and save or change others).
If you believe that you fit these criteria there is a three step process for applying:
1. Short Term Application Form
Download and fill in the short Application Form and send it off to your local Servants office with a more in depth email about yourself, your sense of calling to mission, gifts, past experience, etc. They will contact the team you are interested in interning with (currently only Manila, Phnom Penh and Vancouver are receiving interns, but let us know if you are interested in another team and we'll see what we can do...) Someone will respond within 10 days to your email.
2. References and resumes
Its a good idea to talk to your pastor or leadership about your sense of calling early on and ask them to support you in prayer. Download copies of this Reference Form and ask your pastor (or an equivalent person who knows you well) to fill them out and return to us with a recent resume. The internship coordinator may also want to contact your referees to discuss your application if we don't know you.
3. Interview
You will need to meet with someone (probably the Internships Coordinator) from Servants for an interview to see how you line up with the above criteria. During this time they will explain to you more about the internship and answer any questions you may have. You will need to arrange a Criminal Record Check (an unfortunate necessity in this day and age for anyone working with children) and you will receive a copy of our Child Protection policy to sign.
Your application will then be discussed with the field team before acceptance is confirmed.
Preparation
Pre-field preparation is an essential to make this experience as valuable as possible. Objectives for pre-field preparation are to begin to engage with issues of poverty and injustice in the world and your personal response as a follower of Jesus and learn about cultural differences, some of your own cultural biases and some tools to deal with these.
In order to achieve these aims we aim for about 4 months pre-field orientation time during which you will:
Readings
- Read Serving with Eyes Wide Open by David Livermore.
- Read at least one of the following books about Servants:
- The Urban Halo (Cambodia)
- Servants Among the Poor (Manila)
- Companion to the Poor (Manila)
- Read one of the following:
- Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger
- The Irresistible Revolution
- City of Joy (Kolkata)
- Read article, “Bonding and the Missionary Task”
- Read abridged version of short term manual for information on what to bring, helpful hints and background cultural and demographic information.
- Also have a look at the Recommended Books and articles which all long term Servants workers read before joining. You don't need to read them all but many may help prepare you for what you are about to experience. There will also be readings to complete as part of the internship.
Movies and Art-work
- Find a picture of a scene from the country you are going to and write, draw or discuss observations regarding cultural differences between there as portrayed and home.
- Cite a movie or work of art (not of those already mentioned) that influences your interaction or attitude towards the poor.
Personal Response and Mentoring
- Keep a journal in which you can jot down or draw your thoughts, feelings and ways in which you can respond to the readings, pictures and movies you have used.
- Find a mentor (wise friend, pastor, spiritual director) with whom you can share your responses and commit to meeting on return from your internship.
- Share your responses to the pre-field material with the Servants team coordinator or other Servants person. This can be done through email, by phone or face-to-face.
Community Involvement
- Participate in local Servants groups or events if available in your area.
- Connect with a local church or Christians from the country you are going to in your hometown.
- Keep your home church informed of your progress. Ask a small group to commit to praying for you and commit yourself to sharing with your church on return.
Medical Preparation
Make sure you arrange appropriate medical insurance. The following is a list of the normal vaccinations you will need (immunizations for children or Western countries may differ so please contact us or your GP). The compulsory ones for Asia are: Hepatitis A, Typhoid and Rabies. Hepatitis B and Japanese B Encephalitis are needed if you will be staying longer than one month. Cholera and Tuberculosis are optional because they may not be very effective. Also check that you have all your childhood vaccinations up to date, especially Polio, Tetanus, Diptheria & Measles/Mumps/Rubella (normally administered together). Malaria Prophylaxis is recommended for areas where Malaria is endemic (this varies from city to city). Wherever you go, bring a strong mosquito repellent to avoid catching any mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever.
Raising Financial Support
If you plan to raise financial support you may wish to read Friend Raising: Building a Missionary Support Team that will Last by American, Betty Barnett. Funding the Family Business by Miles Wilson is an excellent resource from a more British perspective. Also, click here to get a free 40 page booklet on the Spirituality of Fundraising by Henri Nouwen.
Heading Off
Make sure you have your passport, tickets and visas all sorted out. Download and fill in this Personal Info and Emergency Contact Details Form and then head off to join the Servants team amongst the urban poor for your internship. You will be mentored by a long term team member. There will also be reflections and readings to do each day, as well as opportunities to see projects and get involved.
De-brief and Follow up
Before Returning
At the end of your internship you will fill in a debrief form and discuss your learning with a member of the field team before departure. This discussion will also include issues concerning re-entry and the importance of continued discipleship and accountability with a spiritual director, mentor or prayer partner. Goal-setting with regards to life-changes and maintaining accountable relationships is very important for making the most out of your internship.
After Arrival Home
Within 1 month of returning home you will meet up with the Servants member you met with before your internship by phone or preferably face to face. This meeting is to help you process your experiences and also to discuss goals and possible ways to continue contact with the field team, your host family and the ministries you may have been involved with.
We recommend that you also de-brief with your mentor within 1 month of returning home. Discuss with them creative ways you personally can live more justly.
Write an article, story or poem for the Servants newsletter or website.
Life Goes On…
Four to six months after your internship we will follow up with you to discuss how you are integrating your experiences into life and how we may support you. It is important that you keep meeting regularly with your mentor also.
Take any opportunities that come your way to encourage your church’s participation in the work of Servants or ministry to the poor in general. Staying involved with the Servants community through local events, prayer groups, email and phone contact is expected and useful to enable the long-term impact of your experience to consolidate itself.
