the international Story trainer internship
During a StoryRunners® one-year International Story Trainer internship, you will be part of a team that travels the world to facilitate School of Storying (SOS) workshops. You will guide local speakers in an unreached people group as they produce The Promise, a series of oral Bible stories from Creation to the Return of Jesus, in their heart language through an oral method. And what’s more, you will get to coach the same local people to plant churches and launch the oral equivalent of Bible studies in their language. These men and women will unleash the life-changing message of God’s love and forgiveness among their unreached people group.
Join us to help fulfill the Great Commission among unreached people groups in oral cultures.
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Find answers in the FAQs section below. Don’t find an answer to your question? Ask us!
Ready to Apply?
Application Tips: Choose “U.S. Intern” for Position because you are based in the United States. Choose “Other Ministry” for Ministry Preference, then choose “StoryRunners” as your Sub-Ministry Preference.
When you are in the United States, you will have an office-based job in Orlando, Florida, with StoryRunners, which is located at Lake Hart, the headquarters of Cru®. You will receive ongoing training to develop as an International Story Trainer, a leader, a follower of Christ and an office professional. You will also lead U.S.-based storytelling trainings. You will be a part of a thriving team of mission-minded staff and fellow interns. Whether on the field or in the office, you will be helping transform lives as God’s Word goes forth.
Expect to travel with your team to three or four different international locations per year to conduct SOS workshops, which are each typically four weeks long.
During the first month of your internship, StoryRunners hosts an intensive training for all International Story Trainers. You will be fully equipped to go cross-culturally to an unreached people group, work with local speakers to produce oral Bible stories and make high-quality recordings of the stories. You will learn how to teach local speakers to use oral stories from God’s Word in a ministry of evangelism, discipleship and church planting.
In the months leading up to your internship, you will develop a team of partners to financially invest in your ministry. Then, the one-year SOS internship begins when you move to Orlando on August 1 and ends on July 31 of the following calendar year.
You must be at least 20 years old with a high school diploma, and you must have completed at least one year of college or Bible school, or have equivalent life experience; but, you don’t need a college degree. Cross-cultural ministry and/or international mission experience is helpful but not required. You must speak English fluently, but no other language is required. We look for people with teachable hearts, flexible attitudes and adventurous spirits! As part of the application process, you will participate in multiple interviews to ensure that StoryRunners is the best fit for you.
StoryRunners will train and coach you to develop a team of ministry partners in the months leading up to the start of your internship. Like many other mission organizations, each individual team member depends upon the consistent financial support of concerned individuals and churches. Those contributions are used to fund your internship. StoryRunners funding will cover your international travel expenses for SOS projects.
Debt does not automatically disqualify you from an internship. Our desire is to ensure that you do not have a monthly debt payment that is a hardship based on your monthly salary. We also want to help you be the best steward of your life for Christ. If you have debt, we would love to talk more with you to learn about your situation.
March 1 is the application deadline for an August 1 – July 31 internship. If you would like to discuss alternatives for the internship length, contact us.
Choose “U.S. Intern” for Position because you are based in the United States. Choose “Other Ministry” for Ministry Preference, then choose “StoryRunners” as your Sub-Ministry Preference.
You will need four people to be references for you:
- A Cru staff member
- Your current discipler/mentor or someone who knows you well in a spiritual capacity
- Your roommate or a friend who knows you well
- Another friend who knows you well.
Note: A reference cannot be a relative or your spouse. If you do not know a Cru staff person, ask someone with whom you’ve interacted the most in ministry or a person to whom you are most accountable spiritually (e.g. discipler, Bible study leader, pastor, etc.).
After you complete your application and we receive your references, StoryRunners needs four to six weeks to complete your interviews and process your application. Upon acceptance, you will attend a Cru Orientation Weekend to meet your ministry partner development coach and the other StoryRunners interns; during this orientation, you will learn how to develop your team of ministry partners. You will spend about three months inviting people to partner with you to cover your salary and ministry expenses before you report to Orlando.
Contact our mobilization/human resources team at StoryRunners@cru.org. Someone will answer your questions and guide you through the application process.