Orphan Outreach urgently needs interns

India (MNN) ― Just ten days away from the application deadline, Orphan Outreach urgently needs six interns to spend July in India.

If you feel like you're experiencing déjà-vu, it's because this very internship has been featured at Mission Network News before--and pretty recently. But since word has been out about the Orphan Outreach trips, all the slots for positions in Russia have filled up while the six for India have gone completely untouched.

"This is one of our most stable programs, but it's one that a lot of people have a little fear about," says Tiffany Taylor with Orphan Outreach. "We hear about people going to Russia all the time, but India is a place that people aren't as comfortable imagining going to. I would just ask those people that are being nudged by God to consider India that they'd be open to that. The people that go to India are just blown away by what God is doing in the lives of the people there."

The six college students or young professionals that end up in India will get to have a significant, relational impact on the lives of kids in the nation. "They would literally be with the children every day, working with these children, building relationships, sharing the love of the Lord," says Taylor.

All this effort is poured into some of the neediest kids. "One of the reasons many of them are orphans is because AIDS has affected their families and themselves. So truly it's on the frontline of getting the Gospel to people in desperate need."

As a bonus for interns, adds Taylor, "They will also learn a lot about the culture of India and be exposed to the people and Christians in India."

Interns will be helping the staff of Orphan Outreach in India and bringing the Good News to children as they serve, but they will also be taking away invaluable experience. This internship has changed the life course of some past interns and has transformed the way others interact on a daily basis.

You won't get the experience if you don't sign up, though, and the deadline for application is fast approaching.

"Our deadline for internship applications is January 15, so we just urge people to go online. You can read a lot more information about the trips, about past students who have been, about the opportunity to go and serve in India."

Internships last from June 30 to July 22 in 2012, and cost about $2,400 without airfare. Orphan Outreach will help you raise support.Learn more about all the logistics when you head to orphanoutreach.org. 

Interns needed to get away from mundane work and onto the mission field

Last summer's five Orphan's Heart
 interns all called their experience
 "life-changing."

Guatemala (MNN) ― Most college students are taking a break now after weeks of hard work and days of exhausting exams. Enjoying the rest could naturally lead to thinking about the summer.

This summer could be more than just enjoying the sunshine though. It could be life changing.

"Very rarely do students describe their internships as a life-changing experience, but all five of our interns said that very same thing at the end of the summer last year," says Howard Hooper with Orphan's Heart.

Most people at the university level need to do some sort of internship. Orphan's Heart summer interns are able not only to get that requirement over with, but to do it while impacting the lives of precious children.

"With Orphan's Heart, you have an opportunity to make a lasting impact on the lives of some of the neediest children in the world," explains Hooper. "Guatemala's known, unfortunately, to have a 45% malnutrition rate among its children."

Interns spend a great deal of their time at the Orphan's Heart Malnutrition Center where kids are nursed back to health. The interns' job is to help direct and administer the volunteers that come to the Center, but also just to love on the children.

While most internships involve being stuck in an gloomy office doing mundane work, Orphan's Heart interns are able to get out on the field and work as a missionary would--living out Christ's love to everyone they encounter in Guatemala.

"We're not only ministering at the Malnutrition Center, but we're also ministering in the grocery store, we're ministering in the local market....We're able to witness, we're able to share, we're able to be light in a dark world wherever we go," says Hooper.

As if these life-changing elements were not enough, the logistics of the Orphan's Heart internships are icing to the cake. Interns essentially get to choose their own schedules: they need to be available for at least four to five weeks over the summer, but it can be in June or July. Orphan's Heart will work around schedules.

As any missionary would, students are required to raise their own support, which, including airfare, is about $3,500. Orphan's Heart will help you get started.

If you or someone you know would be interested in a life-changing summer for college credit with Orphan's Heart, check out the details at the ministry's Web site. Potential candidates can apply atwww.orphansheart.org.