Summer Service Internship

Since 1998, The Summer Service Program has been serving the Athens community for the Kingdom of God. While seeking to serve this community through the help of young men and women who will lead the program, we will also seek to develop/disciple these individuals in various issues related to leadership in ministry. In order to make the various elements of the program happen, we invite work groups, usually made up of teenagers with adult supervision, to come to Good Works for a week. They will stay in the two dorm rooms in the Hannah House for the week they are with us.

The requirements for the Summer Internship are a yielded and teachable spirit. Preference is given to applicants who have completed at least one year of college. As we go through the interview process, we are seeking to discern what gifts God has given each of the intern applicants and where those will be best used in this ministry.

One part of the program includes supervising projects on Good Works properties. The facilities and grounds all require on-going maintenance. The group volunteers also help Good Works with the development of our properties. This year we will be constructing a small chapel/group meeting room on the Luhrig Road property. The interns supervise the volunteers on these projects.

Our Samaritan Projects program serves the low-income elderly and disabled of the community by providing volunteers to assist in the care of their property. The intern will supervise this work alongside our Samaritan Project Coordinator. Together you will help the volunteers to connect to someone in this area needing help from others.

One group of volunteers that the intern will be supervising or serving with are those participating in the Transformation Station, a volunteer program that gives people the opportunity to help others while helping themselves get things they need such as vehicles, appliances, furniture and bicycles.

This internship is more than doing projects. It is also about the development of the worship team. As an intern, you are the key connecting point between the visiting work group and Good Works. You help them to see the larger picture of what they are doing. This happens in several ways:

• First, the interns assist in the leadership of the morning devotional times with the groups. Each morning Good Works leads the group in times of intentionally thinking about what this work is about. What does it mean to serve the fatherless, the widow and the stranger? The intern helps the group to connect their service to their faith.
• Second, the individuals in the groups are encouraged to participate in a volunteer shift at the Timothy House, our shelter for the rural homeless. Each night, one of the interns will be involved with the activities of the house and will encourage two members of the group to go with them.
• Third, one of the interns will lead an evening time of reflection with the groups. While sitting around a campfire or hanging out in the house, the intern will help the members of the group to process the events of the day. This is also a good time to work on issues of reconciliation between group members—if there has been a conflict in the course of the day.
• Fourth, often the groups sponsor the Friday Night Supper, which is held at Hannah House during the summer. This is usually the culminating event of their week of service. The interns are involved with the group in some aspect of this event.
• Fifth, we also encourage the members of the group to use our retreat cabin while they are here. We ask the leadership to have the group to sign up for a morning or afternoon time of solitude. The intern will be supportive of this time and even discern from the individual what was valuable for them during their time in the cabin.
• Finally, the intern is the person who is most able to connect to the individual members of the work group. These are usually teens that are searching for the meaning of their faith. The intern is the one working alongside the members of the work group and helping them in their service to God and one another and their neighbor.

The Summer Internship begins in June with a week of orientation and ends in August with a small banquet honoring your investment in this community. Since you will be living in the Hannah House for the summer, you will also be participating in the Life in Transition program. This means you could potentially be living with a recovering person. These people have gone through an intensive application process and have agreed to live in the house to deal with some of the issues in their life. For this period you will be sharing your life with the others in the house.

The Summer Internship is a paid position. We seek funding to pay the interns for the work they will be doing. Because the Summer Service Program will involve anywhere from 40-60 hours per week, you will not be able to take other classes or work another job. The summer is a very intense time requiring a commitment to service. Groups are scheduled to come every week of the summer arriving on Sunday evening and leaving on Saturday morning. This will allow almost everyone in the house to be "off" for the most part of Saturday and Sunday.

What characterizes a successful Summer Internship? First and foremost is a commitment to the people you are serving and those you are serving alongside. More than anything else, the Summer Service Program is about the relationships that God has orchestrated to bring together. God uses these relationships to grow people. You will also need to be focused on the ministry God has called you to. The staff has prayerfully sought who should be involved with the program and our trust is in God. The Summer Internship and the Summer Service Program has a greater impact on those who have focused their time and efforts on the community they are living with and the ministry they are doing. This is not about getting a summer job to earn money for school. It is about making yourself available to God for Him to work in you and through you.

We begin accepting applications for the Summer Internship after January 1st until March 31st. During the month of April we will be conducting interviews for those who have completed applications. Decisions for who will be participating in the summer program will be announced early in May. Those who have been selected for this internship will move into the Hannah House the weekend prior to orientation week.

Click here for a Job Description of the Summer Service Internship opportunity.

Click here to read Reflections from former Summer Service Interns.

If you have any questions, contact Paul Richard at 740/594-3336 or e-mail him at goodworks@good-works.net.