Saturday 23 March 2013

Interns - Yes or No?

So a conversation I had with a fellow missionary here a week or two ago keeps rolling around in my brain.
 
She had come over to pick up a few things and we caught up with life. We got into discussing interns.
 
Definition - An individual who joins our ministry for a period of time up to one year is called an intern.
 
Are they worth the hassle?
Are they really worth the time and effort needed to orientate, lead, participate in meaningful ministry...?
 
International Teams Rwanda, whom we minister with, will host up to 4 interns per year. We`re getting three this year for periods of time from 6 weeks to one year. Looking forward to having each of them here for sure.
 
BUT there is always the risk.
Will they turn out to be all that we think they should and can be?
 
As we look over the years, we only see a few blips along the way in all the interns we have hosted. Most have been incredible assets to the ministry here - while they were here and after. We do know that hosting interns is part of who we are.
 
Our friend is just getting into hosting interns but thinking they`ll have more in the future. If they`re all like the current one, they are having second thoughts!
 
As we chatted, I reminded her that yes you need to screen them hard, it is okay to say no when they don`t seem to fit for one reason or another and that also God sometimes has other plans for that person - maybe they were brought here, not to fulfill all that you had planned for them but to speak into their lives - to allow them mature and grow up just a bit more in themselves and in their faith. Not a waste of time or money... just different than what we had planned.
 
I have no idea who said it ... `Make the interruptions - God interruptions.`
 
Sometimes they just last for more than a few minutes...

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