Converge Fellows Program
internships • outreach projects • study centre residents
How Converge Fellowships Work
You can lead or host a team or join. We make it easy to host Fellows to complete projects for your organization.
Free Access to the Converge Course
For a limited time, you may audit the course for free. You may create your outreach experience and learn how to make a difference.
You can download the course syllabus outlining the phases, assignments, and curriculum in more detail. Even if you do not apply for a Converge Fellowship, you can use the course to chart your path to make a difference using your training, skills, and passions.
Converge Fellows Program
This competitive serving-learning opportunity is for university students and young adults who will complete a collaboratively designed field project with a YWAM, a ministry partner host, or our YWAM Christian Study Centre. We have coordinated international internships for over three decades. Though many have opted not to seek academic credit, students from over 100 universities in nine countries have integrated their studies with service projects worldwide. They served in over 40 countries on more than seventy- five project teams. Typically, student gather for a pre-service orientation at an appropriate location. Previous orientations have been in El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Switzerland, and eight States in the USA. To streamline the orientation experience, we now offer most of our pre-service training content online, which we encourage you to digest before the Fellowship begins.
The Online Converge Course
Converge Fellows are enrolled in pre-departure orientation through our online Converge Course.
Why online training?
The majority Church today, including the future majority of missionaries, live in the Global
South. Most of the energy and passion for world missions is in Latin America, Sub-Sahara Africa, and parts of Asia. The majority of students in those regions do not have the financial resources necessary to travel to a location for a ten-day orientation before their internship.
Converge Fellows are guided by the course content and choose a personal Mentor through preparation, enculturation, assessment, collaboration, and completion of their project. The course includes over 50 relevant and insightful video interviews arranged in 10 pre-departure lessons. Fellows begin the course several weeks before their Fellowship begins. The course continues with on site assignments designed to help every Converge Fellow to work closely with their host supervisor and to successfully complete their project and engage at a deep level with the host community. This course was originally designed exclusively for college internships, however, now we also accept any highly motivated young adult to apply to be a Converge Fellow.
Review the Five Phases of the Converge Course
Pre-Departure.
The pre-departure Orientation consists of ten lessons with 50 short videos (2-5 minutes), and online questions for you to respond to course content and engage with your personal Mentor, your Host, other Fellows on your team, and Converge Coordinators.
Lesson 1 – The Changing Face of Missions
Lesson 2 – Understanding History
Lesson 3 – Prayer & Priorities
Lesson 4 – Knowing and Hearing God
Lesson 5 – Biblical Worldview
Lesson 6 – Right Relationships
Lesson 7 – Crossing Cultures
Lesson 8 – Justice & the Greatness of God
Lesson 9 – Calling
Lesson 10 – Final Reflections
All Converge Fellows are required to choose a Mentor from their own community, a faculty member, a pastor, a missionary, or any mature Christ-follower who will meet with you, pray with you, advocate for you, and advise you through this life-changing experience.
Enculturation.
Meet your Host Supervisor when you arrive. In addition to showing you hospitality, your Host will give you some important instruction about the social and cultural “do’s and don’ts” and safety recommendations to help you navigate your new surroundings and pray for the people and place where you will be working. Your Host will introduce you to the people you will be working with and help you understand the vision, history, and the current status of the field project. Part of enculturation includes learning to use public transportation, and finding local services (such as the bank, shopping, and medical facilities). The objective is for you to join in the rhythm’s of community life, ready to join Jesus in the neighborhood. During this phase, you will complete a Mapping exercise designed to help you engage with the community you will serve.
Assessment.
In addition to your regular weekly schedule, you will build new relationships. Your mapping exercise will help you plan and conduct interviews to help you research and pray about your Field Project, which you will design to meet a community need. First you will interview leaders at the Host site to discuss the need you see and what you propose to do. Your Mentor, though remote, may meet with you online to help you develop your project proposal. When considering your Field Project, ask yourself: “If I were to move to this community, what would I do to make a difference for the glory of God?”
Project.
The Project is your unique contribution to your host organization and community. The guiding question of your Project should be: “What can I do to empower the community and make a difference for the glory of God?” As you work on your Project, write a Final Report documenting what you did and reflect on your learning experiences. Include objectives and goals and describe the resources you needed and challenges you faced. Your Final Report may take a traditional form such as a document, or it may be a non-traditional submission, such as a photo-journal, podcast, website, or video.
Debriefing.
How much did you grow? Debriefing is a time to review and celebrate your experiences. Before you depart from the field, you will debrief with your Host Supervisor, and then with your Mentor. You may meet with your Mentor online before you travel, or in-person when you return home.
Reporting.
Prepare five copies of your Field Project Report. Written copies and photos or a short video should be given to: 1. Your Host Supervisor, 2. Your Mentor, 3. Your college Academic Supervisor, 4. the YWAM Converge office, and 5. one for You.
Get Converge Fellows for your Organization
If you are a friend of YWAM missionaries who has experience hosting teams or interns, we invite you to become a Converge Fellows Host Organization. You will be registered to get exclusive use to our Converge App to define the opportunity at your location and administrate your Converge Fellows program. We will help you step-by-step from design to publication, approvals to fundraising, flights to travel insurance, and arrival orientation to debriefing interviews. The Converge App can save you about 80 hours of administrative tasks.
“You really made this mountain climbable.”
Mary Cartisano -
Build the $300 annual subscription into your program fees. Post a dedicated organization profile and individual fundraising profile pages for those you accept to your Converge Fellowship Program.
The App is for all Converge Fellows Program Hosts and more…
Where We’ve Been
See a list of the places we have led our courses, internships, outreaches, and more…
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To Know God & Make Him Known
In Nations through Vocations
Address: YWAM Christian Study Centre at Haven House, 204 Liebig St., Galloway, NJ 08215 USA
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