Immersion 3X Austin, Texas Internship

Come to Austin, Texas to be immersed in God's word, to be formed and to learn Christian witness!  Interns will be committed to Memorization of Scripture and Delightful Mediation on it that leads to Formation.  Formation starts to take shape as we walk in the Spirit of God and this will spill over into witness.  

Immersion is 3X:  Immersion in God's Word, in God's Spirit, and God's World.  The focus will be direct engagement with all three of these and a minimization of speculation (i.e. reading books) about God's Word, his Spirit, and the people of the nations in Austin, Texas.  

Interns will live in North Austin's Lamar and Runberg area which is a lower income and very diverse area of Austin.  By living in proximity and living without a car in this area interns will rub shoulders with people on busses and shopping in local stores.  As students learn to delight in God's word digested in them they will also learn to pray in the Spirit as they rub shoulders with people from around the world.  There will not be a targeting of any specific people group or a religious block in an exclusive way as we are exploring God's heart for people in general.  

Cultural knowledge and skills will be learned almost exclusively through learning to ask good questions and to listen to people from various parts of the world and to enter into their stories empathetically.  We will not be reading books about ministry, culture, technique etc although we may watch short videos (and even create them) to help understand key cultural concepts.  Please read this on Double Listening to God's Word/Spirit and to People/Culture.

Time will be spent memorizing and meditating on God's Word, playing out formation in our lives in community, walking in the Spirit on the streets of Austin, and entering peoples lives through empathetic listening and question asking and responding as God's Spirit leads through his internalized Word.  

Though this may all sound very "Zen" there will be systematic development in understanding God's word by following the Be A Tree systematic approach to Biblical confidence building.  This is done by selecting a verse in each chapter of the New Testament and sections of the Old Testament and memorizing them.  The student is left with an intimate stake hold in each of the NT and many of the OT chapters that will serve them for a lifetime of discipleship and disciple making.  

For students who have a specific second language they are called to or are already learning they will use both versions of the Bible, marking their peg verses in yellow highlighter both in the English NIV and in their second language.  

Regular coaching with Paul in various formats will be part of the internship but other mentors will be introduced as well (especially for female interns).  Interns should not expect daily classes though they will gather daily for time sharing what God is doing as they look together into the Scriptures at the passages they are digesting and to pray.  These gatherings should quickly include people from the area who are entering discipleship.  These gatherings will be in conjunction with church plants or begin multi-national church plants and possibly mono-ethnic church plants as appropriate. 

Funding models and expectations are TBD but interns will be learning to live frugally.  Housing will be provided at a cost of $300 a month (all bills paid) and a bus pass will be given but food and other needs will be purchased through funds brought with the student or through local jobs.  Local jobs will need to be approved and will be evaluated by their ability to give the students some combination of 1) time and space to focus on memorization and meditation and/or 2) quality human contact that facilitates deep interaction and sharing.  Students will live in apartments and houses that are set up dormitory style and part of making the internship sustainable and fruitful in disciple making it will require students to invite single people from the nations to live with them for a life of cheap rent, shared food, and discipleship.

There will be a principal of 100% transparency applied to the Be A Tree Internship.  No meetings are secret and nothing is hidden about finances or intentions.  All nations and people and ethnicities are invited into discipleship of the Lord Jesus and when it comes to disciple making the door is open to people to anyone who will take up their cross and follow Jesus.  

Students will learn financial skills that will apply principals from the FIRE Movement (Financial Independence and Retire Early).  Ministry funding models that emphasize support raising are not wrong but they are only feasible for those who come come from socio-economic communities that are privileged.  Privilege is not a bad thing or something that needs to be sabotaged and abandoned...it needs to be stewarded.  Interns will work on financial models that build toward a life of effective ministry that is sustainable in later stages of life and are either 1) reproducible for less economically privileged brothers and sisters or 2) is designed to leverage privilege for the benefit of less advantaged people.

If you are interested in this internship please contact us!