hosting interns is easy

With Converge, you can create an internship program for your organization in minutes. To qualify as a Host, you need to live in the community where the internship will take place and you need to know a Youth With A Mission missionary who can give you and your internship opportunity a good reference. If you are someone who appreciates the role of hospitality in the work of the kingdom of God, you are a good candidate to host Converge interns. 

here are the steps to get prequalified interns

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get started

• Download and read the Converge Host Packet. Be prepared to fill out the online form.
• Sign up to Host Interns for free on the Create an Internship form at the top right of the Converge site. You will get a Host Profile page. Communicate your Internship Opportunity through your Host Profile page.
• Use the Reach Out form at the footer to get on the update list. 
• Download and apply YWAM's Foundational Values to understand the values of Converge internships. 
• Donate to help sustain the operations and development goals of Converge.

hosting interns for your organization

Creating an internship program for your organization just got easy. And it’s free. Just complete the online Create an Internship form. Interns will search the Converge platform for an internship that matches their skills and passions. You, the Host, give final approval to the students that you want to work with you.

Hosts are Site Supervisors —As a Converge Host, you directly supervise and interact with the intern. If you have multiple internships, especially at different sites, your organization may have multiple site supervisors. Each internship location needs a Host to fill out the Create an Internship form. (However a single Host supervisor can certainly manage more than one intern.)
Hosts or site supervisors should reach out to the Converge office or their regional internship coordinator if they have questions about managing the day-to-day activities of interns, evaluating intern performance, and/or providing progress reports.

Download Host Packet

make a difference

Converge was developed by experienced missionaries with Youth With A Mission’s Student Mobilization Centre of the University of the Nations. It is a redesign of Field Ministry Internships (FMI), a program that gathered more than 300 university students from over 100 universities for pre-service orientations in seven countries on five continents and placed them with 75 internships in 35 countries. Converge takes the concept of connecting skilled interns to relevant global projects and moves it to an online recruiting, training, and fundraising platform, allowing interns to participate without the added cost of traveling to an orientation site, at the same time significantly expanding the number of interns we have the ability to connect, equip, and send to hosts on a global scale.

Converge interns will gain experience, connections, and perspective to help shape their lifelong contribution as witnesses for Christ in their sphere of influence.
As a Host, you need the low cost and specialized help of Interns. Interns need your invitation and hospitality. Interns also need the advocacy of a Mentor and support of Donors. All four work together to make a real-world difference.

what interns do

The intern’s capstone project is their unique contribution, a personal service project that the intern completes before the end of the internship session. Converge will track and report how intern projects positively impact communities. Before interns attempt a project, they are instructed to interview you and other leaders in your community, and propose what they might do before the end of their internship. Interns receive excellent biblical instruction through an online course in which they will be enrolled prior to arrival for the internship, and they will have ongoing assignments to support the development and implementation of their project while they are there. They are instructed to observe, ask open-ended questions, and listen deeply to the people in your community and to the Lord.

what interns have done

FMI interns have helped start businesses and plant churches, established HIV/AIDS counseling clinics and health awareness campaigns, installed water pumps and storage facilities, established therapy routines for disabled children in orphanages, performed research on patient records in medical clinics and established a working pharmacy with donated pharmaceuticals, developed healthy nutritional plan for hospice, and created curriculum for schools.

interns make a difference

Most students want to make a difference. Converge helps them learn how. The Converge Course gives them instruction and tools to make a difference with your missional organizations. Interns with Converge will experience what it means to follow God’s call, and begin a kingdom witness through their life and work. The Intern’s project assignment might be production of a video, or a website, a PR campaign, or another community resource that relates to the participant’s studies or career. This is how Converge Interns experience what it means to follow God’s call, and begin a kingdom witness through their life and work. Hosting Interns is key to the Converge Partnership.

create an internship program for your organization

The Create an Internship form on the Converge site is very simple and self-explanatory. If you need additional time to complete the form, you may save the form for later and log in again to complete it. Go to ywamconverge.org now and get started. 

Note: Be sure to choose multiple sessions so your listing does not expire. If you don't see the session you want, contact us so we can create it for you.

The next section of the packet will help you understand the complete internship from beginning to end. We work with you to find the right interns for your organization and your community.

the converge internship

If you are interested in hosting students for an internship in your community, you may apply today at the Create an Internship form at the top of the home page absolutely free. After you complete the form, you will receive confirmation that we received your application to host interns. The process of seeking the right interns to serve in your community begins immediately, including the following steps:

host organizations need a YWAM reference

We will reach out to the YWAMer you listed as a reference on the Create an Internship form. It is very important that the YWAMer knows you personally and has knowledge of the organization or ministry you are seeking interns to serve. If your YWAM reference confirms you and your organization, we will publish your internship session to the site. (If you are not confirmed by your YWAM reference, you may reach out to us to find out what you can do to be qualified.)

we post the internship

When the internship is posted on the Converge site you will receive an email welcoming you to your Converge Host Dashboard. You will receive instructions to help you prepare for Interns.

recruiting

You may share your internship opportunity through social networks. We will too. We also visit college campuses and are developing partnerships with university associations and student services offices to share our internships with as many students as possible.

Prospective Interns will search the Converge site – Prospective Interns search for internship sessions that fit their interests and availability and apply.

we pre-qualify applicants

Once we verify the student applications and check their references, we will send intern applicant information to you for your review and final approval. You choose the interns that best fit your need. No intern will be accepted without your final approval. (Note: If no interns apply for your internship session, you are invited to quickly and easily re-register internship for an additional session.)

applicants are enrolled in the converge course

The intern is encouraged to reach out to you the first week of the Converge course, sixty days prior to arrival at the field location. You can then provide special travel information and other important project preparation information interns will need. We will remind you of your role as a host, including the important few days upon arrival. You are responsible for the enculturation phase of the Converge course. (Note: The Converge site has general resources to help interns find up to date information about health, safety, passport and visa requirements for travel.)

If you want to know what your interns are viewing to prepare for their internship, you can get enrolled in the course too. Just ask us.

Preview the Converge Course on Udemy

Download Course Syllabus

when interns arrive

You meet Intern(s) at the port of entry when they arrive at your location. You will arrange for airport pickup when student(s) arrive.

You conduct the Enculturation phase of the Converge course

You will welcome the Intern(s) to your community, help situate them in the housing you have arranged, and introduce them to the field project personnel. The Enculturation phase must include the following:
(a) Information about the organization, culture, language, and safety issues in the community.
(b) Clear, accurate, and up to date information on conduct, meals, local transportation, and any other logistics related to life in your community.
(c) Detailed information on the work site(s), schedules, and expectations of volunteers/interns.

Check on the Intern(s) daily and meet weekly

You are the primary contact for the Intern(s) during their stay in your community. Your willingness to show hospitality is a vital part of Converge.

personalized missions project

In addition to the regular schedule assigned, your Intern(s) will be there to complete a unique project related to their field of study and the needs you and others share. Interns are instructed to observe, ask open-ended questions, and listen during the first few weeks. During the Assessment Phase, you may advise the Intern(s) about the kind of unique project they can complete in the time they have in your community. An Intern’s unique project may be to help start a business with a business plan or accounting system. It may be help planting a church, establishing an HIV/AIDS counseling clinic, or development of a health awareness campaign. The Intern’s project may be to install a water pump or a storage facility. Or it may be the development of therapy routines for disabled children in an orphanage. Interns may complete a project performing research on patient records in a medical clinic, or establishing a working pharmacy with donated pharmaceuticals. Intern projects could be to develop a nutritional plan for a hospice, or to create a curriculum for a school. The aim of Converge for interns to experience what it means to follow God’s call, and begin a kingdom witness through their life and work.

departure & evaluation

Before the end of the Converge Session at your location, we will send you an email and a simple online form to prepare for the Intern(s) departure. It is important that Intern(s) complete their unique project assignment and leave you with a full report. It is also important that the Intern(s) meet with you for a debriefing interview during their final days in your community. We provide some sample questions to help you. Included in that online form will be a few evaluation questions we ask you to respond to in order to help us improve Converge.

continuing the partnership

You may be only one of many potential Hosts in your organization. When your internship session ends, we invite you to re-register an internship for another session. 

If you like converge, invite others from your organization or network to Create an Internship too.