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Contact: Craig Waddell
In cooperation with domestic and international BGAV Partners, Impact Mission Staff provide meaningful avenues for college students and young adults to engage in mission opportunities, specifically during the summer months. Included below are possible placements for Summer Venturers, recognizing that this list is not exhaustive. Each of these placements is intended for a service period of six to eight weeks. Shorter assignments are possible in some cases.
All summer Venturers will attend an orientation and a debrief event alongside other students who have served during the summer through other Baptist partners.
The costs listed below do not include airfare estimates. Students can raise funds individually or through the BGAV. The BGAV can create a page for each Summer Venturer that hosts their blog posts and an opportunity for people to contribute financially to the cost of their experience.
Summer Venturer Opportunities
Project Ruth – Bucharest, Romania: 4 students
Project Ruth is a school and multi-faceted ministry center which focuses on the Roma community in Bucharest’s Ferentari District. Summmer Venturers would media projects such as taking pictures, creating videos and reels, and updating the students sponsorship profiles. They would help lead summer clubs for approximately 60 Roma/ impoverished students, ages 5-12 years, on a weekly basis at the Ruth School, as well as clubs and Vacation Bible School activities in various Roma villages and churches on a semi-regular basis. Responsibilities may also include various tasks at the Ruth School such as cleaning classrooms, repair work, painting, light administrative tasks and hospitality for visiting mission teams.
Approximate cost – $350/week
Church Ministry Practicum – Chisinau, Moldova
Many Baptist Churches in Moldova provide summer programming for the children in their villages and communities. Summer Venturers would lead Vacation Bible School activities and sports discipleship in villages, and participate in local church life. There are several new church plants and congregations that would benefit greatly from Summer Venturers in their outreach efforts.
Approximate cost - $350/week
More Than Nets – Yendi, Ghana
More Than Nets is a strategic partnership with the Ghana Baptist Convention to target malaria in Yendi, a small municipality in northern Ghana, and to plant new churches. The goal is to provide chemically treated mosquito nets to protect the entire population of this region. In addition to the nets, we are working to plant a church in each of the 435 villages that are within this region. Summer Venturers will work alongside one of the Missionary Emmanuel Mustapha – "Muss", and other volunteers to distribute nets, plant churches, manage volunteer groups and provide other general ministry functions. Additional information can be found on these web-sites: www.facebook.com/morethannets and More Than Nets.
Approximate cost – $250/week
Orphan Homes Network – Moldova
The Baptist Union of Moldova has a network of 66 residential homes for orphans throughout the country. Summer Venturers would be assigned to a small region within that network to assist with special activities in multiple homes. Activities include English training and conversation, sports, and discipleship. Interaction with the orphan home staff provides insights and reflection on the intersection between one’s discipleship pathway and vocation, with questions like, "How can I bring God’s redemptive power to bear on the needs of my community?" This assignment can also be a practicum in psyco-social support for an under-resourced population.
Approximate cost - $350/week
Summer Venturers Church Practicum – Vienna, Austria
"Every person who comes through the door is a gift from God." It’s a motto that the international group of believers in one church take to heart in Vienna, Austria. projekt:gemeinde is a young Baptist church in the middle of Vienna, Austria. Their journey to discover the relevance of faith and church in the 21st century has lead them to connect their lives with the refugees in the community.
Projekt:gemeinde is a member of the Austrian Baptist Union which supports the work of Austrian Baptist Aid(ABA). Throughout Austria, ABA is involved in refugee integration work, with much of the work centered in Vienna at projekt:gemeinde. Through language courses, weekly Bible studies, and legal aid, the ABA’s refugee integration work seeks to address the realities of refugees while also integrating them into the community.
Currently the church is renovating its meeting space, including a caf? which doubles as a hospitality vocational site for under-resourced trainees, and a ballroom/conference space which helps finance the ministry programs.
Approximate cost – $2,000
Venturers
If you’re interested in an even longer time of service, consider being part of our Venturers program. Venturers are individuals at least eighteen years of age who serve in hands-on mission roles for a period of six months to two years. The Venturer program provides opportunities for longer term mission service in local and global settings.
We work to get to know the individuals applying to be part of the program and help connect their gifts and calling with a partner who has specific needs. We have a few outstanding requests for Venturers and a wealth of relationships with partners who have a variety of needs that we are ready to help meet with the person who has the required skills and sense of call.