For two months college age men and women (approx. 18-25yrs.) live and serve in Detroit, while receiving Christian formation to prepare them for a life of mission.
Interns give two months of their summer to intense discipleship through: living a common life together (men and women separate), sacrificing certain luxuries, and receiving training in youth work and urban issues.
While leading, supervising, and mentoring work crews in the StreetTeam Leadership Program, interns play a formative role in the lives of high school age youth from the city. Interns will also have opportunity to serve with Bezalel Project, our academic, arts, and leadership training program for students in grades 3-8.
These two months are 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.
FAQ
Who is eligible to participate?
Detroit Summer Outreach is open to young people between 18-25 years of age. It is especially designed for youth from University Christian Outreach (UCO), Saint Paul's Outreach (SPO), and communities of the Sword of the Spirit, but it is open to others as well.
Who runs Detroit Summer Outreach?
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 Kairos, the Sword of the Spirit North American regional youth program. The Sword of the Spirit is a network of charismatic, ecumenical, covenant Christian communities. DSO is hosted by Detroit Community Outreach.
Where will the summer interns be living and serving?
The men's household will be located at our newly renovated youth center, and the women will stay 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 summer?
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 DSO 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?
Each intern will need to pay $1,500 for room and board and other central costs. This helps us pay our bills, but really only covers a portion of what it costs to keep you alive for the summer. You can either fundraise for this amount or just pay it. In addition, you can do further fundraising, either $3,000 or $4,000, in order to receive a corresponding stipend at the end of the summer (approximate after-tax take-home pay of either $1,200 or $2,000). 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 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.
Why would I pay money to volunteer?
That’s not the most helpful way to look at it. First of all, you can fundraise and end up getting paid a small amount. In addition, $1,500 for room and board and miscellaneous expenses for two months is less money than it would cost you to live almost anywhere else, unless your parents are still keeping you for free. And finally, at the end of the summer, you won’t even be thinking about the cost of the program; the experiences you will have are priceless.
When does the program begin and end?
You will move into Detroit on May 26th, and leave on July 29th.
Isn’t Detroit a pretty dangerous place to live for the summer?
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.
