Many colleges require an internship, which can feel like one more big hurdle to cross before finally earning your degree. But an internship, especially one that’s carefully crafted, can offer much more than course credit. Though you’ve taken a lot of classes taught by wise professors, an internship allows God himself to teach you as you graduate and make choices for your future.

SEND runs two internship programs—Engage and D House—with locations in North America, Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia, Russia, Macedonia, and Spain. Interns in these programs live in missional communities where they explore:

• Cross-cultural ministry: Serve on a team engaging in evangelism and disciple-making among the unreached.
• Personal discipleship: Grow in Christ-likeness and obedience to God’s Word.
• Clarity in calling: Understand more clearly SEND’s vision for a community and what your role might be in fulfilling that vision.
• Ministry skills: Become noticeably more confident and/or proficient in making disciples.
• Life skills: Grow adept at living in a cross-cultural context.
• Academic growth: Fulfill university internship requirements.

Timothy Burda liked his D House Japan experience so much, he did it twice! Now, he’s preparing to return to Japan as a full-time missionary.

"Before D House, my only ministry experience came from my serving at the local church,” Timothy said. “In Japan, I loved the community that SEND had, and I loved the people I got to meet. I needed to taste what life would be like and what I would be doing to help give me the confidence I needed to join SEND as a missionary.”

Timothy entered the D House program unsure about what he would be able to do. He didn’t speak Japanese and he had never traveled outside of the United States. At the start of his internship, he was reserved and even suffered a knee injury that limited his ability to connect in the community.

But God used Timothy anyway! While in Japan, he learned that he could ask deep questions in a way that sparked conversation, despite language barriers. With empathy, he noted that many people he met seemed lonely, so he started weekly dinner gatherings. 

“By involving myself and a couple other church-planting missionaries in these relationships, Timothy laid the groundwork to begin a Bible study with some members of an English conversation group,” said John Edwards, a SEND Japan missionary who runs the D House in Sendai. “God chose to take a short-term missionary, with all of his weaknesses, to lay the groundwork for a new church plant.”

As you sort through your internship options, consider whether God might have something to teach you outside of the classroom and outside of your own culture! This necessary step toward earning your degree could bring eternal change to people’s lives. Click here to explore SEND’s D House and Engage internships.  

P.S. The D House and Engage programs aren’t just for students! Even if you don’t need course credit, you can sign up to make a difference in your own life and in the lives of others.

The path to missions can feel overwhelming! Our experienced mission coaches will walk alongside you every step of the way.

• Find out how you can become a SEND missionary.

• Explore where and how you can serve with SEND. 

• Subscribe to Explore, our free monthly newsletter full of inspiration, ideas, and encouragement for people interested in discovering their role in cross-cultural missions.