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 at www.orphansheart.org.
