Our Mission: The Lakota Journey is a Christian non-profit short-term missions organization committed to discovering the hope of God’s vision in the heart of Native America.

Our Values: What we care about with missions.
• Gospel Presence: We want to be an active part of living the gospel of Christ.
• Partnering with Reservation Pastors and Ministries: We want to serve alongside existing reservation ministries whenever possible to aid, assist, and encourage what is already taking place.
• Long-term Perspective: We want to chip away at the negative effects of many short-term mission projects by strongly encouraging groups and individuals to stay active and committed to the communities they serve beyond the weeklong trip.
• Training Disciples: We seek to equip believers for gospel-centered ministry at home, on the reservation, and to the ends of the earth.

Our Venues: The structures through which we seek God’s vision.
• Lakota Journey Week: A weeklong summer trip in June where church groups build and nourish relationships with a specific community on the reservation.
• Summer Internships: An 8-week summer program where college-aged students volunteer with organizations on the reservation and form deeper relationships with the local community.
• Alumni Presence: A community of individuals who have been involved in the Lakota Journey Week or Internships who now live in the reservation, seeking to act out the gospel in their daily lives.

Our Purpose: The main purpose of the Lakota Journey Summer Internship is to provide an accessible next step for those who feel the tugging of the Holy Spirit to explore their relationship with God and the Rosebud and Pine Ridge reservations further. Many participants in the internship are strongly considering whether or not they may be lead to live for Christ on the reservation longer-term. Others know that living on the reservation long-term is not for them but feel lead by the Holy Spirit to engage further in the work that God is doing and to learn more about the communities we seek to partner with. Throughout the 8 weeks of the internship, participants live in Christ-centered community and volunteer with organizations on the reservation related to their post-secondary area of study. Through it all, they seek what God’s vision is for the Rosebud Reservation and what their personal relationship with it may be.

The Support We Provide: Lakota Journey provides for the basic living needs of interns. This includes housing, food and gas for their travel around the reservation. Interns essentially customize their own internship experience by developing their own goals and seeking out their own volunteer opportunities. In order to have a successful experience, interns must be courageous, self-driven and sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in their daily lives. Lakota Journey provides minimal structures of support to guide interns through professional growth, spiritual growth and relational growth throughout the summer. Each intern has a supervisor to check in with throughout the summer. However, the largest emotional and spiritual support of interns comes from the gospel-centered community they share.

The Financial Commitment: $700 in the minimum financial commitment for the internship. Lakota Journey strongly encourages interns to raise their own support. After interns complete the summer experience and fulfill the internship requirements, interns receive a salary check based on their support raising. If interns raise $7,000 or more, 90% of the money raised is given to them as a salary. If interns raise less than $7,000, they receive the amount they raised minus $700. Lakota Journey requires that interns provide at least $700 dollars to the organization. If they choose not to raise support, they may pay Lakota Journey $700 directly.

Why Interns Raise Support: The idea of raising support can be uncomfortable. However, we strongly encourage interns to go through a support raising process. The reality is that support raising is not simply about asking others to pay for your summer missions experience. It’s about much more than that:
1. Raising support builds a strong Christ-centered community to encourage you throughout your journey this summer and beyond.
2. Raising support raises awareness about the people of the Rosebud Reservation and the hope for God’s vision in Native America.
3. Raising support engages more people throughout the Christian family in the mission, vision and values of Lakota Journey.
4. Raising support contributes to the financial security of Lakota Journey.

Professional Responsibilities:
• Seek out and design your own Monday-Friday volunteer experience for the summer, partnering with existing organizations on the reservation.
• Develop and set goals related to your post-secondary area of study or personal interests that will focus and drive your volunteer experience.
• Perform to the best of your ability for the benefit and aid of the organization you choose to work with.

Relational Responsibilities:
• Live in Christ-centered and gospel-centered community with all Lakota Journey interns.
• Engage in the intern community through regular participation in team meetings, team dinners, curriculum discussions, team prayer and other means of support.
• Seek out ways to regularly nourish relationships with the local community outside of your volunteer experience, engaging with individuals and communities as the Spirit leads.

Spiritual Responsibilities:
• Spend time with God daily and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit throughout the summer.
• Develop and follow your own personal plan for spiritual growth over the summer.
• Get plugged in with a local community of believers and regularly worship with them.

Responsibilities Related to Lakota Journey Week:
• Work as a team with our director to set up and run the Lakota Journey Ministry Week, June 9-15, 2019.
• Coordinate and supervise housing and dining areas.
• Plan and lead daily large group sessions.
• Manage finances.
• Serve as a resource for and assistant to participating church groups as needed.

In order to be considered for the internship, all applicants must:
• Be at least 17 years of age by the start of the internship experience, June 6, 2020.
• Have had at least two different short-term missions experiences totaling at least two weeks of full time involvement prior to application. Both experiences can be with the same organization.
• Be able to participate in training sessions leading up to the internship in person or remotely.
• Be available for be present on the reservation regularly and work full time for the duration of the internship, June 6 to August 7, 2020.
• Be able to raise his or her own support for the summer and provide Lakota Journey at least $700 to supplement your cost of living for the summer.
• Provide 2 character references that are not immediate family members, to be mailed directly to Lakota Journey.
• Demonstrate the ability to handle administrative responsibilities, a high level of stress and a certain amount of unpredictability and instability.
• Demonstrate the ability to be self-directed with little imposed structure. The internship experience is custom-designed by each intern and only includes minimal structure. Interns must be able to set their own schedules, develop their own goals and plans, and hold themselves accountable.
• Agree to contract with Lakota Journey as Independent Contractors under Lakota Journey’s terms and conditions. Contracts including terms and conditions will be distributed upon acceptance into the internship.