Internships

Intern Ministry

The Midland Bible Church Intern Ministry ("MBCIM") seeks to equip young men and women for ministry irrespective of vocation. The MBCIM uses a holistic, integrated approach to training, treating all aspects of the experience as an opportunity to equip participants to live a life that reaches the fullest potential intended by our Creator, utilizing the unique gifts and capacities of each person as being a unique creation.

Resources

Intern Application
Click the link above to access the form.

Brother Timothy - 1st Edition
Click the link above to access the form.

Community

Interns serve as a member of an Intern community. There is a male house and a female house, with a sponsor couple that administers each domicile. Interns have specific requirements to serve the community formally with sharing chores as well as informally in bolstering healthy relationships.

Classroom Training: Fall and Spring

The Fall and Spring training track requires a nine month commitment, from late August/early September to mid-May. This should allow participants that desire to work in summer ministries the flexibility to do so.

Each Intern is provided with roughly 10 hours per week of formal classroom training. These classes can cover a broad range of subjects, but will always be centered on the mutual discovery and application of Truth as we seek together to ".receive with meekness the implanted word." Subjects anticipated to be covered include worldviews and apologetics, great literature of Western Civilization, practical life-skills from Scripture, Relationships, Creativity, Stewardship, and Winning in Life for Eternity.

Classroom trainers will largely consist of "laypersons" from MBC that are actively ministering but are not full time vocational ministers, although there will be some of them as well. MBC believes that all believers are called to be ministers, and some are called to be equippers and teachers. Therefore there is little distinction made.

Formal training sessions will typically be conducted in a discussion, or Socratic format and therefore will require advanced preparation around ten hours per week.

Depending upon availability and need there is also opportunity for individual mentoring tailored to the interests and preferences of the individual intern. This may involve five to ten hours per week.

Classroom Training: Summer

The Summer session focuses on reading Scripture. The desire is for the entire Bible to be read by each participant multiple times through the summer, at least one time out loud as a group. A facilitator that will endeavor to lead each person increase their skill in "rightly dividing the Word" will lead training sessions. The goal of this track is to equip participants to more fully understand and apply 2 Timothy 3:16.

The Summer session begins in late May/early June and runs through late July/early August.

Participants may apply for the Summer sessions and Fall/Spring sessions either jointly or separately.

Internship

Each participant is also encouraged to apply to a local ministry to serve as an intern. This can include Midland Bible Church as well as several para-church organizations that are headquartered in Midland including Worldview Academy, China Aid and CrossStaff ministries, along with a local classical education private school, Midland Classical Academy. Please contact David Curtis at Next Step Discipleship Ministries or check the links at the top of this page for available internship opportunities.

Each internship will require a minimum of thirty hours per week of active service. Application and acceptance to both the MBCIM and an intern ministry position is required for entrance into the MBCIM program.

Cost

MBC provides a place to stay in the sponsor house and food to eat there at no charge to the participant! Also, the training sessions are provided at no charge to the participant!

Location

The MBCIM is located in Midland, Texas. Together with its sister city of Odessa, there is roughly a local population of 250,000. The climate is semi-arid or desert-like. Rather than spending 40 days in the wilderness, as Christ did, or 40 years as Moses did, you will spend either 3, 9 or 12 months in the wilderness! The number of distractions from your purpose in enrolling in the MBCIM will be reduced somewhat in Midland versus a larger city.

House Rules

The intern houses will generally be free of television and other media sources and are intended to provide an environment that nurtures relationship and study. Interns are asked to commit to abstain from the use of tobacco or non-prescription uses of drugs, including alcohol, during their tenure. Interns will do their own laundry as well as provide for routine maintenance and housekeeping during the week. There will also typically be a time each week for special projects such as gardening or grounds improvement. Interns will also be offered to assist the local community and neighborhood with upkeep and other service projects.

Of course, the overriding principle of treating others as more important than ourselves will be actively promoted and encouraged.

Questions You Might Ask

Q: What's the catch, no one gives something for nothing?

This question is often asked, but another way to phrase it is "What is MBC's motivation?" The answer is found in Paul's writings. For example, in 2 Timothy 1:12 Paul states: "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day." MBC seeks to invest the talents it has been granted by God to an end that He will be pleased. To know what is right and not to do it would be sin. (James 4:17)

It is certainly not unique to MBC, but we know and believe we have been given the incredible gift of being able to read and understand God's Word - the good news, or "Gospel" of Christ, the living Word. As Paul discusses in 1 Corinthians 9:17-27, winning in life means investing our gifts in a manner that pleases the Lord of Life. Conversely, as Paul states in that same passage, woe is us if we do not share that good news.

Q: Do I get paid for my internship?

Maybe. Each intern sponsoring agency is responsible for making that arrangement directly with the intern. Some sponsors pay a stipend, some provide benefits, and some allow participants to raise a support team. MBC will only be directly involved in this with interns that serve on its staff.

Q: Do I have to attend Midland Bible Church if I am not an MBC intern?

Interns are invited but not required to attend MBC. There are four college campuses within 40 miles of Midland. These schools are primarily commuter campuses. One of the goals of MBC is to create a critical mass of young persons as a gathering point for college ministry, and each intern's assistance in this endeavor is encouraged.

Q: How much time will it take?

All of it!

It is estimated that the intern program will require the majority of each intern's waking hours each week. The goal of the intern program is to prepare each person for ministry and service, and the essence of ministry and service is to deny the flesh and serve in obedience. Accordingly, the MBCIM will endeavor to provide every opportunity for each participant to, as Paul states in 1 Cor 9, ".buffet his flesh and make it his slave."

An approximate weekly schedule might serve as an indicator (although it would be expected that this might vary substantially as the program is designed to flex with the needs and interests of the participants:

      MBCIM Directed:

      Training discussion - 10 hours
      Preparation for Training - 10 hours
      Mentoring and informal training (including community discussions) - 5-10 hours
      Community "chores" - 10 hours
      Intern service - 30-40 hours

      Self directed:

      Sleep and personal hygiene - 56 hours
      Church attendance, community/personal ministry, and recreation - 5-10 hours

One of the principles that MBCIM will attempt to embody is that there are no "off" hours for serving Christ.

Q: Can I come back for a second year?

There is no formal second year program, but there is opportunity for a second year to be especially designed if there is a mutual interest. But generally, the intern program is just a one year program.

Q: Can I go to work for the ministries after the intern program?

There should be no expectation that there will be a permanent job for any intern at the termination of the intern term. However, there is no prohibition for any intern graduate with respect to employment once they leave the intern program.

Q: Will I get a degree or certification? Does this training apply toward an advanced degree?

No, there is no certification or credit toward an advanced degree. The MBCIM desires to train in practical ministry that can apply to homemakers, blue collar workers, bankers or politicians.

Q: What is the prerequisite for application to the MBCIM?

The MBCIM is generally intended for recent college graduates, but the only specific prerequisite is proficiency in English, application, acceptance, and compliance with government rules (primarily for foreign participants).

Q: Who might I be participating with?

It is likely that there may be participants at any given time that could be from anywhere in the world including China, Africa, and Russia.

The Intern Program at MBC will bring in ministry-minded, young people to live in a community focused around intensive discipleship, Bible study, World-view study, service, and practical ministry.

The interns will have the opportunity to serve in numerous ministries, such as:

      Midland Bible Church
      Worldview Academy
      China Aid
      Midland Classical Academy
      Cross-Staff Ministries
      Other ministries, as God leads

We are hoping to eventually have interns from the U.S., China, Africa, and Russia. The program provides a wonderful chance for MBC to multiply its message throughout the world.

Every person in the MBC family is invited to participate in this exciting new program through teaching, mentoring, funding, ministry, and/or service!

"For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." :: 1 Cor. 4: 6-7