Frequently Asked Questions
Our mandatory intern training is May 19-23. Bases will deploy at different times coming out of training for their Base Site. All Base teams will return to the US for intern debrief August 5-7 and be officially dismissed on August 7th.
Every Base is different, but expect costs to be around $5,000-$7,000, depending on your location; this will cover all expenses for your entire trip. Each base will have a specific budget for those interns. As most people will not have the money to pay in full on their own, they will raise support through the donations of others. You are welcome to give to your own account to cover your expenses (or to someone else on your team!).
Our application is found on our website, engagethenations.com . Once your application if turned in and your two references are returned, your base leader and long term team will review your application.
Engage the Nations is a combination of over thirty base teams working across 24 nations on 5 continents. Each Base will have a leadership team and summer interns totaling about 15 people. The base team will be responsible for working with the long term Antioch team as well as local ministry partners to reach out to those who don’t know Jesus.
As anyone who has been on a mission trip knows, there is no such thing as ‘’normal’’ 🙂 That said, as each base team gets settled, there are basic elements you can expect: spending individual time with Jesus, team meetings, prayer, and outreach. Ministry will primarily consist of engaging with locals and looking for Spirit-prepared “People of Peace” in the base city and surrounding areas. A typical day may look like the following:
- Wake up and spend time with Jesus
- Breakfast
- Connect with the team to discuss details for the day
- Team Prayer time
- Lunch
- Afternoon outreach
- Dinner
- Outreach and follow up
The primary vision for your internship is that you will 1) support the work of the long term team and 2) be developed as a follower of Jesus! Our hope is that you will be equipped in the basics of making disciples – how to engage the lost, simple tools for evangelism, and helping people encounter Jesus through the Word. Day by day, you will live out the book of Acts – seeking Jesus with your community through prayer and worship, and then going out to share that love with those that have never heard. While you may have different platforms to create those interactions – from English clubs to sports ministry to praying for the sick- all will be aimed at finding people that are spiritually hungry who can, in turn, reach others in a way that leads to a movement.
We find that when it comes to setting you up for a great trip (or potentially derailing it), few things are as critical as rightly placed expectations. While we can’t give you an exhaustive list, here are some things to be aware of. Expect:
- ETN training will be in the Dallas area and is the beginning of ETN, and will close with a debrief in the Dallas area. ETN dates including training and debrief are May 18 – August 8.
- Interns are expected to be on site at their location for the duration of the internship. The only exception to this is if they are in a wedding or a family member is getting married.
- Bases will work alongside LTT (Long Term Team) to accomplish the intended goal of that region.
- Each intern is under the direct leadership of the Base Leaders and submits to their decisions.
- Interns and Base leaders are submitted to the LTT and their overall vision for ETN.
- Interns are asked to be flexible and allow their schedule to be set by the Base leaders and LTT.
- Interns are asked to refrain from starting dating relationships during their internship, either with a team member or locals.
- Interns are expected to comply with all security precautions as set by the LTT, including social media restrictions.
- Interns are expected to comply with all standards set by the LTT and Base leaders for living above reproach for the summer.
- Before deployment and while on the field, interns are expected to fully participate in and complete team assignments and expectations.
- At any point in the trip, if an intern is detrimental to the health of the team and ministry, they may be sent home at the discretion of the LTT.
There will be a combination of leaders involved to make your internship for you and those you will be working with. Each base will have a Base Leadership Team, which will consist of your base leaders, base administrator, and (at some sites) base parents. These are the people that will be walking with you before, during and after your internship. They are deeply committed to you and will be very involved both pre-field and during the summer.
Additionally, at each base there will be an Antioch long term team; these long term workers will, in many ways, have bottom-line oversight for everything related to your base. While you may not interact with them daily, they will be a significant part of your covering as well.
Last but not least, Engage the Nations staff will be working behind the scenes to ensure that from start to finish you have an incredible internship experience.
Each will base will be located in a city where English levels will differ. For areas where English is limited, you may work with translators. Please contact us if you have a question about a specific city/nation.
Each intern is encouraged to process with the Lord, their church leadership and community to get a sense of what team/nation God may be leading you to for an internship. In the ETN application, you will be asked to give some of your preferences. ETN will work with base leaders and long term teams to find the best fit for you. That said, we cannot guarantee that the team you pref is the one you will be on. We ask that everyone apply with ‘’open hands’’ as to where they will serve.
Over the course of the summer- as locals begin the journey of walking with Jesus—they will be networked with long term church planters and local ministry partners to continue learning how to be a disciple. While some of these locals may later decide to not follow Jesus despite some initial enthusiasm, we believe that we will find ‘’Fourth Soil People” as described by Jesus in the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4) that live incredibly fruitful Kingdom lives. These are the people we believe will ultimately catalyze streams of disciple-making and church-planting movements! Your role is to continue to stay involved through intentional prayer for both the long-term church planters as well as for these young believers.
Yes! We encourage couples and families with kids to prayerfully consider jumping in on ETN. We realize that it is a step of faith to take children overseas, but we believe that this is one of the best things parents can give kids—a chance to be a part of the Great Commission. Moreover, kids aren’t just tagging along but will bring something unique to their team and base that otherwise would be missing. Practically, it could impact what you as mom and dad can do with your team, so contact ETN to process what it could look for your family to go.
No! While we do encourage people to go on short term trips prior to an internship, it is not a requirement.
Applying for Engage the Nations is not complicated or competitive. We ask applicants to answer all questions as openly as possible, and not worry about ‘’putting the best foot forward’’. The application process and the questions therein are to ensure Engage the Nations is a healthy experience for you and for the people around you.
The process begins with filling out the intern application and requesting references. The base leadership team representing your preferred location will contact you after receiving your application and references. From there, your application will be sent on to the long term team. In some instances, you may participate in a short interview with the base leadership team. Once the process is completed and is prayerfully reviewed, the base leaders will promptly communicate with you the status of your application.
In the event that the capacity of your preferred base has already been filled, you will be redirected to your second preference/another base.
Interns must be 18 years old and are strongly suggested to have completed 1 semester of college or equivalent life experience by the time their ETN internship starts.
Absolutely! Each person will need to apply separately, but Engage the Nations is an amazing way to experience God as a couple.
All interns will participate in a mandatory training May 18-23, 2020 and will cover a range of relevant topics. The training will be highly interactive and will be aimed at equipping you in what is expected over the course of summer.
We encourage you to start doing what you will be doing on your internship now. You can do this by spending time with Jesus in the morning, being active in your life group/community, serving at your local church, sharing the story of the Gospel and investing in people that want to learn about following Jesus. Building these rhythms in your life now will only increase the level of impact on your life and your effectiveness during the internship.
Your primary responsibilities will include but are not limited to:
- Support raising*
- Filling out required documents in a timely manner
- Pre-field training assignments
- Attending team meetings
- Other tasks as directed by your base leader/administrator
*ETN will provide every team resources to equip you in how to effectively support raise. Ultimately, we trust the Lord to provide; that said, our faithfulness allows us to partner with the Holy Spirit to see all our needs taken care of!
This is often the most delicate and vulnerable part of moving forward as part of ETN. We encourage you to include your parents in the decision process of your summer plans. Rather than ‘’reporting’’ to them what you are planning on doing, invite them to pray with you about the decision as you start to apply. Listen to their input—they love you and want the best for you!
We are exhorted by the Word to “Honor our father and mother” (Exodus 20:12 ; Ephesians 6:2), and so this isn’t just our admonition to applicants but a Biblical command for us to follow. As a rule of thumb, if your parents are still paying your bills (tuition, rent, food, cell phone, car, insurance, etc.) then they have the right to make decisions in your life. So, honor your parents and include them in this decision with you.
If your parents have questions and concerns, please feel free to have them email us directly at [email protected]. Please make sure they include your name and your local church in the body of their email.
We recognize that there are dangers everywhere (including the US) and that travel brings an added element of risk. We have worked hard to put extensive safety protocols in place. That said, Engage the Nations is not for everyone. Applicants need to consider things happen we can’t predict. People get sick and accidents happen. Because we minister amongst the poor and sometimes in remote locations, it is possible you will encounter people with any number of challenges. To address the issues we face, we work closely with a variety of organizations on the ground to monitor political, security, health, weather and other risks in the regions that we minister. This information includes the U.S. State Department travel warnings. All interns are required to have a travel insurance policy that works closely to ensure you will receive the care you need if it should arise. Moreover, interns are required to register with the State Department prior to deployment.
The questions outlined below in orange are all in relation to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. If you have questions about our response to this pandemic that are not listed below, please email [email protected] and we will try and answer your question to the best of our ability. These questions were updated as of *January 15th, 2022*.
If the participant gets COVID before departure then they could leave later and join the team. Please follow the CDC guidelines for quarantining and testing before leaving to join the team. We will work with the base team, intern, and airlines to reschedule flight information.
Our Long-Term Team in country will monitor health of the interns and provide needed guidance for how to navigate COVID while on location if the intern tests positive for COVID while on their base location.
Each base location is different in terms of available medical treatment however we encourage each parent and intern to look into what is available prior to departure. The Long-Term Teams are aware of the medical scene. The Long-Term Team will be the best point of contact for all things medical/hospital during your time on the base.
For every location we recommend following the CDC guidelines for mask wearing, social distancing, and hand washing. As long as the participant adheres to their guidelines then they will be at a lower risk of contracting COVID-19 while on their ETN base. In some locations the governing body will have additional guidelines they will need to follow, and alternatively other locations will have less than what the CDC suggests. All of our teams will at a minimum adhere to the guidelines given by the CDC for limiting the spread of COVID.
Most ETN locations require masks to be worn at all times in both indoor and outdoor areas with the exception of when eating, drinking, and exercising outdoors. We recommend that if you are within 6ft/2m of another person to mask up, still in most situations even with adhering to social distancing we ask that you be mindful of the culture you are in and wear a mask.
It is the responsibility of the participant to adhere to local guidelines for mask wearing.
In the event that COVID-19 testing and quarantine is needed we will defer to the medical community in your location as well as the Long-Term Team for your respective base. We continue to recommend following the CDC guidelines for quarantining and testing if symptoms develop. If additional safety measures are recommended from the local medical community as well as from the Long-Term Team then we would advise to follow those guidelines in addition to what the CDC recommends.
In each ETN base location there is access to reliable and quick COVID testing.
In the event that interns are exposed, they and their "house" will undergo quarantine until the exposure timeline has passed based on the CDC's guidelines for quarantining. If your base location's government requires more than what the CDC recommends then we will have the base team defer to those guidelines.
We recommend everyone that travels to any of our locations review the CDC and State Department websites (linked below) for recommended vaccines for your area. These are the same resources we recommend for all ETN interns even before the global COVID-19 pandemic. Certain countries and airlines might require a vaccine for entry so please check with them before arriving at the airport for departure.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/index.html
We can only recommend what the CDC and State Department recommend for international travel. However, if it is required for entry to your location by either the governing country or the airline you are traveling on then you might require written documentation from a medical professional stating your desire to not vaccinate, or you might not be able to progress on the trip without the vaccine.
All itineraries for regional travel must first be approved by the ETN staff. As a staff we continue to be vigilant about checking the State Department website for up to date Travel Advisories. Certain locations for potential regional travel into neighboring countries might be more affected by COVID safety measures, therefore it is our goal to make the best possible arrangements and decisions for the safety of the team regarding regional travel. This will be on a case by case basis only for certain ETN bases, if you have a specific question about your location and the surrounding countries please email [email protected]
ETN staff and the Long-Term Team are consistently monitoring the advancement of COVID in each base location by continuing to monitor both the CDC and State Department websites. In the event that a lockdown is initiated for the base we will review the requirement with the Long-Term Team and determine if staying or coming home is the best course of action. This will depend on the length of the lockdown, available flights, and if the lockdown affects tourists in country as some do not.
All donations given to ETN are given with the understanding that by contributing to this project, donors acknowledge that the church/missions agency has the authority to apply contributions designated for this project to another, related purpose in the event that the project is canceled. Unfortunately there will be no refunds that can be given.
If your specific base gets canceled but other bases are still operating then you are able to switch locations assuming there is availability.
We will have safety checks every morning that will include identifying symptoms, doing temperature checks, and requiring masks to be worn when interns are around people from other bases. Each intern will also be required to submit a complete health check form upon arrival. The health check states they have not been exposed in the past 14 days, have not tested positive in the past 14 days, and have no symptoms.
Questions?
Please feel free to drop us a message with any questions you have about Engage the Nations!
Contact Us