Internship roles include: Interpreter, Administrative Assistant, Childcare Worker, Communications Intern, Immediate Caregiver, and Recreational Activities Assistant 

Q & A with the Community House Damaris Intern Coordinator: 

1.What are some ministry tasks that you want the intern to accomplish while serving with you?

We tailor internships based on each intern’s vocational and ministry strengths. However, because we are a residential facility our individuals are under our care 24/7 and therefore all of our interns jump into various roles to support ongoing program operation. These include supporting residential staff members in the safe house (cleaning, spending the day with the women on the weekends, running errands, etc), childcare, doing recreational activities with the women in the program, and administrative work. Other tasks will be assigned based on each intern's skills.

2. What are some key lessons from your ministry and walk with the Lord that you want to impart to the interns to help them as they consider their own individual call to missions or vocational ministry?

Our interns will experience a healing environment, as our ministry is centered around restoration. We want all of our staff, interns, volunteers, and program participants to know that healing is a long process that we all must undergo and give them the resources to begin that process. We do a healing program called the 12 Steps with our participants, but we also do this same program with our staff. Our interns will have the opportunity to participate in this program with our staff. This time is key in deepening our walk with the Lord, healing broken parts of our heart, and preparing all of us for the ministry the Lord has for us.

3. What criteria do you use to measure the effectiveness of an intern serving with you?

Growth – How has the intern allowed God to transform them during this time?

Connection – Did they put forward an effort to form relationships with those that they served and served alongside?

Servant’s Heart – How willing were they to do whatever was needed and humbly learn a new way to do things?

Flexibility – How did they adjust to being on the field and in Greek culture? Were they flexible in a constantly changing ministry schedule?

Passion for Nations – How did their heart and passion for the nations grow while serving?

4. What would a typical day look like?

An intern will take public transportation to get to our facilities and spend the day doing the tasks that they were assigned by the Intern Coordinator. For example, if the intern knows another language spoken by a woman in the program, she may serve as an interpreter for the Day Program translating recovery classes. If they are a writer, they may spend the day helping write newsletters and program curriculum. They may also spend time working with the babies and children in the daycare or taking the women to the grocery store. There are usually staff and other program meetings a few times a week that they may attend. Other days, interns may have the morning off and instead spend time serving after office hours by hosting a movie night, spa day, or cooking class at the shelter while having quality time with the women.

Specific skills an intern may expect to develop by the time the internship is completed:

• How to care for survivors of human trafficking and sexual abuse.
• How to engage in hard conversations with people of other cultural and religious backgrounds.
• How to differentiate Kingdom social justice and worldly social justice.
• How to develop cross-cultural friendships. 
• How to see God in the midst of injustice and brokenness.
• Interns will also gain experience in a vocational area such as social work, psychology, social media, marketing, or writing.