Jesus is calling - who will answer? Mission Year is an invitation to engage a life on mission, to embrace a common life of prayer and service, and to chose to answer your calling as a ordinary radical living as a disciple on mission. The invitation is to live and serve in Detroit, building relationships and living among God's people in the city, while receiving Christian formation and staffing the programs of YouthWorks-Detroit.
Mission Year participants give one (or more) years to intense discipleship through: living a common life together, sacrificing certain luxuries, and receiving training in youth work and urban issues.
While mentoring high school youth, leading or supervising work crews in the StreetTeam Leadership Program, building relationships with community neighbors and homeless friends, teaching in after-school programs, and engaging in our common life of prayer and service, participants play a formative role in many people's lives in the city, while being touched by the wisdom, strength, and faith of their neighbors from Detroit and transformed from the inside out by the love of God. Missionaries will also have opportunities to have many other experiences serving in the city, inviting others into the life of the kingdom, and to learn many new skills and build many new and lasting relationships over the course of their time in Detroit.
Mission Year is about young men and women choosing to radically seek after the fullness of what God has for them and learning to live a life poured out on mission for Christ.
Interested?
Download our:
Mission Year - Initial Questionnaire
by February 1st, and send it back to the contacts indicated. We will respond quickly to let you know if space is available for your application!
FAQ
Who is eligible to participate?
Mission Year with YouthWorks-Detroit is ideally designed for college graduates, but in Detroit is open to young people between 18-25 years of age. It is especially designed for youth from communities of the Sword of the Spirit, University Christian Outreach (UCO), or Saint Paul's Outreach (SPO), but it is open to others as well.
Who runs Mission Year?
Hopefully Jesus! But also. . . YouthWorks-Detroit, in association with Detroit Community Outreach, a missionary outreach of the Sword of the Spirit among the people of Detroit, and UCO Missions, a college outreach of the Sword of the Spirit North American regional youth program. The Sword of the Spirit is a network of charismatic, ecumenical, covenant Christian communities. Mission Year-Detroit is hosted by Detroit Community Outreach.
Where will the missionaries be living and serving?
Our households will be located in a near Midtown Detroit, and in the Woodbridge neighborhood of Detroit. Woodbridge is located near downtown, adjacent to Wayne State University. The service programs will take you throughout the city.
Does “Household Life” kinda mean we’re married for the year?
Well, no, but we sure will share a lot of our life together! Our daily and weekly life will be very full, quite active and rather scheduled. Prayer time, meditations, sharing, and “our common life” will all be integral parts of what Mission Year is all about. It’ll be demanding, but I guarantee it will be an extremely rich and rewarding experience.
Money: What’s the Real Deal?
Missionaries will raise personal support for room and board and other living costs. Missionaries from the USA will be on payroll with YouthWorks-Detroit. International friends will need to raise enough money to cover their costs for the year and transportation to and from Detroit. Have no fear! God will provide for you—I’ve never seen someone financially ruined by participating in our program. When you are accepted in the program you will be invited to a mandatory personal support raising bootcamp to be held in May. You will also receive a packet of materials which will explain things further and help give you pointers and suggestions for meeting your fundraising goals by the due dates.
Am I paying money to volunteer?
Actually, you are inviting friends to come along side you and support you for the most transformative year of your life! $4,800 for room and board for a year is less money than it would cost you to live almost anywhere else, unless you are still living for free with your parents. And after covering your additional living expenses and travel costs ($2,500 - $5,000 depending on your situation), your salary should allow you to actually save some money by the end of the year. And finally, looking back at the end of the year, you'll understand that the skills you have learned and the experiences you have had are priceless.
When does the program begin and end?
You will spend your summer raising support, move into Detroit around the 3rd week of August, and leave the following August, unless you decide to stay for a second year.
Isn’t Detroit a pretty dangerous place to live for a year?
Detroit is a vibrant and exciting community with many new opportunities developing every week. Is it dangerous? Yes and no. The bottom line is that Detroit is only dangerous when you put yourself in a dangerous situation. If you use good sense and follow our policies, it is as safe as most other places in the world. And remember, the safest place you can be is in the center of God’s will.
