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SUMMER Internship Opportunities
   
‘All that apologetics has come in very useful as the CU has been doing its freshers’ week stuff. I had some interesting conversations which I’d never have managed before this summer.’ Matt, 2008
last year's summer interns:
The summer of 2009 was the fifth year of our summer internships. We were grateful for the time, energy and talents that Leeann Moe (Phoenix, US), Laurel Neustaedter (Manitoba, Canada) and Richard Witney (Exeter, UK) brought to the work here.
The last couple years I have felt a desire to do some form of short-term mission work. My dilemma, however, was that my skills and interests did not fit in with common types of Christian service work: education, medical, construction, or evangelism. This being said, I happened across Christian Heritage in a seemingly haphazard way. Searching on the internet for a heritage internship to do back home in Canada for the summer, Christian Heritage’s internship program came up as an option. I was intrigued by the organization and their work – here was an opportunity to bring together my passion for history and museums with my desire to do service work for God.
My experience at Christian Heritage has certainly been much more than just a volunteer internship. What I have seen here has changed my perception of history. Having just completed my undergraduate degree in history from a secular university, the most I heard about Christianity in history was its negative effects on the past. So I admit that I came as a curious sceptic, wondering if one could actually show how Christianity has positively impacted our Western society with out skewing history to meet our own ends. I have found Christian Heritage to be very objective and well-rounded in their research and presentation. As one aspiring to a career in the museum field, I have come to realize that such a career is ripe with opportunity to bring glory to God, through challenging people to see how Western culture is different because of the influence of Christ on his followers.
Leaving Christian Heritage and the Round Church after doing a six week internship, I can only hope that I have given back half as much as I have gotten out of the experience here. Balancing summer schools and running the visitor centre during the busy summer months can at times be chaotic, but a very exciting time as one gets to see (and experience) the impact of the summer schools on participants, as well as the many visitors who come into the Round Church and are appreciative of the walks, exhibit and video. I know I have certainly been impacted by the work of Christian Heritage, and know that their work here is only the tip of the iceberg. The history field is full of potential for bringing God’s truth to the world.
Laurel Neustaedter (Manitoba, Canada) History & Business Graduate pursuing a career in museums.
This summer, Laurel used her knowledge about libraries to suggest improvements and to rethink the order of books. She attended, recorded and edited the apologetics courses, stuffed mail, put together a new leaflet for the exhibition and helped administrate the Cambridge Scholars Network conference.
Our preconceived notions of a place are often shattered by reality when we actually get there. That is exactly what happened to me when I arrived in Cambridge to be an intern with Christian Heritage. I came because I loved England, and I wanted to be a part of a ministry there. I never expected to discover the world.
Cambridge is quintessentially English with its century-old colleges, its rich layers of history, its tree-shaded avenues and greens, and its beautiful river spanned by graceful bridges. I soon discovered, however, that it is also a vibrant International community with 15,000 students from all over the world as well as millions of tourists who flood the streets each year. Walking along the streets, I never knew what accent or language I was going to hear. In the short time I was in Cambridge, I met an amazing variety of people from all sorts of walks of life – the highly intelligent Ph.D. student from Europe, the weather-beaten homeless man begging for money for his next bottle of wine, the successful businessman with an influential job in London, the passionate street performer who believed that any god who had a name and lived in a building was too small to be her God.
It is into this setting that God has placed Christian Heritage. Based in the 900-year-old Round Church in the heart of Cambridge, Christian Heritage has the remarkable opportunity to share the love of Christ with the people of an increasingly secular society, millions of tourists from all over the world, and thousands of students who will be the future leaders of their societies. I was blessed this summer to be a small part of their ministry, and I hope to continue to be involved in some way in the future.
Leeann Moe, (Phoenix, Arizona; Kenya) English and Education graduate, artist and writer. Leeann recorded and edited summer school talks, was proactive about speaking to visitors about her faith, polished the wooden pews to perfection, revamped our children’s leaflet and wowed us with her flower arranging skills.
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