Internships - Please click here to download our current Prospectus

What other's have said!

We asked some of our current interns to comment on the following three points;

Daniel Sih
	1.	I felt it was the best way to gain the practical mission skills and experience necessary to do mission effectively in the West.
	2.	My placement is with Third Place Communities, Hobart. I am participating in the life and mission of this community, as well as dreaming about and forming new areas of mission.
	3.	I eventually hope to develop and lead a missional community as part of Third Place Communities in Hobart. I’m particularly interested in merging social justice with local mission in third places.

		Helen Ridley
1.	Initially I was looking for a way of exploring questions I had about how to share my reason for living and basis for hope with students that I had contact with – the majority of whom came from non-church backgrounds and knew more about Hitler than they did about Jesus.  Someone who was in the process of doing an Internship with Forge encouraged me to use this option as a means of exploring and discussing these issues.
2.	Early in my internship, I was appointed as Chaplain at Ogilvie High School – the largest public high school in Tasmania.  It was overwhelming to be in a community of 1100 girls and 100 staff.  However, in applying the principles of being incarnational, relational and intentional, I was able to view my involvement with a sense of purpose and see that God had been at work in this place a long time before I had arrived on the scene.  AND He was still at work!
3.	I hope to keep the principles and awareness of how God works in our culture and sub-cultures - gained from my Internship year - at the forefront of why and what I choose to do at Ogilvie.  This is helping me to make daily and big picture decisions about how to invest the limited time that I spend in this community.  It is an exciting journey to be on … not safe, a bit scary, but still exciting!

Nick Damen
	1.	A close mate did an internship. I was meeting with him each week and he’d share about his experience and how it really challenged and encouraged him. I saw positive change so thought I should really think about doing something like it. I also felt that in my walk with God I needed to be sharing Jesus with people, I wanted help and encouragement in this and the internship style of training suited me to a tee practical,  practical, practical. I don’t like reading about it, I want to get out there and do it.
	2.	My placement is at Geilston Bay High School. I am working alongside Third Place Communities in the life skills program. This also includes a mentoring program through surfing with the young people on the weekend in partnership with Third Place Communities and Christian Surfers.
	3.	I hope firstly to grow in my relationship with God, then I would like to be able to share the message with others in a real and changing way and see people come to know God. I want to really understand and be more aware that I’m a missionary everyday and letting God use me.

		Dave Cooper
1.	I initially felt a call to pastoral ministry, but also a passion to reach people who are not interested in church as we know it.
2.	I have a leadership role in a church that meets in our home. It has been a place of healing and personal growth, and is slowly becoming a group with a purpose of reaching others with the gospel. I also have a role in a group sponsored by the Baptist Union whose purpose is to promote the planting of organic churches with a vision for multiplication.
3.	I have been exposed to Forge training now for a period of 4 years. During my first internship experience I struggled to find my mission role beyond my leadership position in the local church and ambitions of being a pastor. I am now free from this and need to be obedient to my calling.

Stephen Keating
	1.	I came to the realisation that church as we know it wouldn't be able to be sustained in the long term. Consequently I needed to explore other options. It was last year at the Forge Dangerous Stories summit that I caught a glimpse at a way forward—the missional way, and decided I needed to understand why, what and how.
	2.	I’m volunteering at the Northern Suburbs Community Centre in Launceston. The opportunities are many. I’m getting to know the staff there with the hope people will ask me about my faith; they know I am a Pastor and they are really open and ready to talk about any issue.
	3.	I hope to get a good handle on Missional Church concepts. I hope too that we (my team and I) will be able to plant the first of many churches that multiply and eventually take the city of Launceston.

		Tom Smith
1.	Mostly from the relationships I had with people who had already been involved with Forge. I saw the positive impact Forge training had on some of my mates.
2.	My placement needs further definition but basically involves connecting with people interested in film making.
3.	I hope to develop meaningful relationships with a few non-Christians, develop a sense of connection with the big-bad-world-out-there, and develop some missional/spiritual rhythms

Amy McCormack
	1.	I enrolled as a Forge intern for multiple reasons: • Had been part of Third Place Communities (TPC) for a year, and I want to go deeper in the study/practice of the missional values central to Forge and TPC. • In going part-time with my job, I need something to keep me on track and growing in my faith • I am keen to have the chance to explore a mission placement • The aspect of having a coach is a great and valuable opportunity for me to work through a lot of things, especially some of the big challenges I face in terms of my future ministry.
	2.	I don’t have a mission placement yet, a work in progress. My ideal placement would be community based, hopefully in a low-socioeconomic area.  The temptation is to provide a service, but I’m hoping to join a project that is already running, and just be a part of it.
	3.	I hope that as a result of this internship I will be nearer to Jesus and knowing how He wants me to live.

		Ben Pangas
1.	I had read the book ‘shaping of things to come’ enjoyed it and wanted to know more; To grow spiritually, strengthening my leadership and ability to see others and God accurately. To build a stronger foundation for myself in understanding the role of church and of structures that can best serve its purpose.
2.	I am currently working with Fusion looking at community development and community structures that serve the kingdom. Connected to that I’m involved in the development stages of a ‘church plant’ in a suburb of Launceston, how we can intentionally build community there.
3.	Greater Skill in community development. A worshiping community a Rocherlea. Increased understanding of a biblical approach to mission and the integrity to implement in my life.