Global Internships
Are you called to global missions? Have you ever wondered if God might be calling you to be a missionary or to become an advocate for His work around the world? Right now, billions of people around the world live without the hope and message of the Gospel, and we are called by Christ to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).
Maybe you have been on one or more short-term mission trips to Mexico or other places through Canyon Ridge. Maybe you have prayed or given financially to support others to go, or been on a sending team for one of the missionaries we have sent out or currently support. Or maybe God has just been speaking to you that He has something for you to do in the area of missions, but you aren’t sure what the next step could be.
Program Overview
The Canyon Ridge global outreach internship program offers Canyon Ridge members the opportunity to serve internationally for a 3-6 month internship with our ministry partner WorldRoc (www.worldroc.org) on the island nation of Sri Lanka. This location was chosen because of the abundance of English speakers, the nature of the work (combining evangelism and church ministry with development and aid work in a developing nation), the stability and leadership structure of WorldRoc, and relative ease and cost of travel.
This program is designed to encourage and enable those considering a long-term call to global missions, whether as a missionary on the field, or as a mobilizer and missions leader in the US, to increase their personal experience and knowledge base of global missions.
The basic three month internship will include hand-on field experience in the areas of ministry and service that WorldRoc is involved in. These include:
- Fridsro Children’s Home - work with a established institutional based program, common in many parts of the mission world, to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and current reformation of this approach.
- Community Based Rehabilitation - work with WorldRoc’s programs that partner with community and governmental leaders to develop programs that assist families with disabled children.
- Community Based Development - work with programs that provide job training and other efforts at eliminating global poverty through self-sustainability training and development.
- Disaster Relief - work with current programs aiding those impacted by the 2004 tsunamis.
- Medical Clinics - work with current programs providing care and training in medical clinics .
The global internship program is open to all Canyon Ridge members who are able to meet the following requirements and successfully complete our screening process.
Application and Screening Process
Read and review the above program overview. Complete and submit the global outreach internship application to the Outreach Ministry for review and consideration. Applications will be reviewed, and upon initial approval, applicant will be invited for a final interview with a member of the global outreach team.
Upon final approval, applicants will complete a pre-field reading and writing assignment, set a date for travel, be sent out with prayer, and will travel to the internship site in Sri Lanka.
While on the field, the majority of the time will be focused on the program areas listed above with WorldRoc. In addition, interns will complete an on-field reading and writing assignment and will provide Canyon Ridge with a monthly financial and activity report. Interns will be encouraged to write about and share their experiences through social media, email, and other means.
Upon return, interns will complete a post-field debrief interview with a member of the global outreach team to review the experiences, provide feedback, and consider next steps in global outreach service, leadership, and mobilization.
Core Requirements
- Must be at least 18 years of age and willing to submit to a complete background check.
- Must have time and availability to make a commitment to serve for at least a 3 month term.
- Must have either participated in or led at least one short-term mission trip (if you don’t meet this requirement, consider upcoming short-term trips as your next step).
- Must be a Canyon Ridge member who is actively involved. This includes:
• Accepted Christ as Savior, baptized, and completed our Getting Started class.
• Regular attendance at a weekend worship service.
• Completion of our Leadership 1 and 2 classes.
• Regular service somewhere at CR for at least the last 6 months (ex. with kids or youth, with our guest services ministry, or with another on-campus service area).
• Current regular involvement in community, either an on-campus ministry (18/30, WOW, Men’s Ministry, etc) or an off-campus small group.
- Reading requirements: The Missionary Call (read pre-field), When Helping Hurts (read on-field) with follow up writing assignments.
Application and Screening Process
- Read and review the internship introduction, program overview, and other information materials to learn what to expect.
- Complete and submit the global outreach internship application to the Outreach Ministry for review and consideration. In addition to basic personal information, you will provide:
a.3 personal references and a pastoral or small group leader reference.
b.A health information form, including current medical issues and medications, which will be reviewed by a nurse or doctor.
- Applications will be reviewed, and upon initial approval, applicant will be invited for a final interview with a member of the global outreach team and Outreach Ministry pastor.
- Upon final approval, applicants will be set a date for travel, be sent out with prayer, and will travel to the internship site in Sri Lanka. Interns will provide Canyon Ridge with monthly financial and activity reports.
Financial Considerations
- Canyon Ridge will provide round trip airfare to Sri Lanka and associated travel costs (visas, etc).
- Interns will personally pay for or raise funds to cover all ground costs for the duration of the internship (room and board, insurance, living expenses, etc). Expenses are $600 per month, or $1800 for a full 3 month internship.
- Interns are required to raise the full amount of their ground costs prior to leaving for the field, as there is no time for fundraising during the internship.
- As part of the internship, interns will be expected to manage their own funds during their internship. This includes keeping receipts, tracking spending, submitting a monthly financial summary report, and staying within budget.
Canyon Ridge is excited to be able to offer this kind of opportunity to our church family and to discover who God may be calling to greater levels of leadership and service in global outreach. If you feel that God is leading you to pursue service as a global intern, the next step is to download, print, and complete the application below. Once completed, email the application to our Outreach Pastor Mike Bien. to begin the review process. We look forward to working with you to explore God’s call and walking with you through the steps to going.