F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions) For Internships

Q: Where are we going to live? What are the living conditions I might expect?

A: Since you are in the first internship that our team has done in Los Angeles we will not have the exact place you will live settled until August of 2007. Our past interns have lived in both houses and apartments. You will live in close quarters with members of the same sex. You will have a bed, a personal storage area, and a shared bathroom.

Q: What kind of food can I expect. Help I have special dietary needs!

A: The food is community style American/Latin food that will be prepared by the internship assistant leaders and you! Mornings is a self prepared meal with food provided, lunch and dinners are a community prepared meal. If you have special dietary needs you have to make pre arrangements during the application process to see if we can accommodate you.

Q: What does the $3,500 cover?

A: It covers almost everything. There is no comprehensive list, but in short, all essentials are covered. Your housing, meals, travel, outreaches, and learning materials are covered. When you leave you will have copies of many classes on CD/DVD as well as conference sets from Expression58 conferences. You will get books from various Expression58 team members given to you as well. There are very few overhead expenses in the internship because only administration staff get paid. That means that everyone else who is leading classes, speaking into your life, and leading outreaches are doing it to sow into you.

Q: Are there any breaks during the internships?

A: For the Fall course there is a week long thanksgiving break. If you plan to stay in Los Angeles there will be food that you can self prepare during that time. During the late winter/Spring internship there are no breaks at this point. For your days off and breaks you are always welcome to spend the time around the Expression58 ministry base.

Q: Can Friends/Family Visit me in the internship?

A: Family is always welcome to come to be with us for a short trip. If you have parents or siblings who want to come for a weekend during the course of the internship they are welcome! We love meeting your family. We have to limit this to a shorter time duration because we want you to be completely focused on your internship and many times family overstaying can be a distraction (even if a good one at times). If you have friends who want to visit you have to apply for specific permission to see if their visit would fit into the specific time period for the internship. Most likely we will not allow friends to visit but there are exceptions. No one will have permission to stay overnight with you, but they can eat with the time for the normal cost of the meals for the day if it is preplanned. In other words we would love to have your family come but they need to host themselves financially.

Q: Are there any staff positions available after my internship? Do you ever help place those who go through into other ministries for staff positions?

A: How our particular staffing works is through organic relationships developing. If there is an opening you are welcome to apply but everything we do we do prayerfully and organically. We are not offering anyone who graduates the internship a staff position in our ministry but it doesn't mean it can not happen. We have not placed interns into other ministries before as staff but we have made staff positions known to our interns and if they were qualified they could get hired. We have successfully seen many go on into other ministries and begin to fulfill their dreams.

Q: Can I get in trouble in the internship?

A: Yes you are human so there is a chance that you will get in trouble. When someone breaks rules, resists direction, doesn't do their work, slacks on chores, there is a chance you will be given what we call day off club. That means on your day off you have to work a given number of hours. Its no fun having to work on the day off, so don't do the crime and you won't do the time.

Q: Can I be asked to leave the internship?

A: You can be asked to leave the internship if you lie on your application or about character/moral issues you are dealing with. In the internships you will obviously be working hard at self development so weaknesses and inner healing will most likely come up. If there are issues that begin to dominate your life and the internship in a way that is all consuming we would have no other choice then to allow you to be released into a season of pursuing a true overcoming life style. This could happen as a result of addictions, sexual disorientation, consistently immoral behavior, demoniacally influenced behavior, rebellion against leadership, etc. If you were ever asked to leave the internship you would receive the portion of your intern fee back that had not been used for the expense of having you in the internship minus five hundred dollars. This has only happened once in all of our internships so it is not common.

Q: Why is the application so long and detailed?

A: Because we don't get to do personal interviews except over the phone, we need as much information as possible so we can prayerfully consider you. Every time we have done internships we have learned more things we want to know about our applicants before they would come. This helps us to also determine how to build the foundational weeks in the program differently depending on the overall experience of interns.

Q: How come you accept so few people? That means you have to say no to a lot of applicants!

A: We want there to be a real focus on quality and individuality. This means we have to have fewer interns then a lot of schools/internships. We would rather be small and intimate then large and fractured for the type of internship we provide. This means we can only accept up to 25 students per internship.

Q: I don't have past leadership experience in the church and I have never been in another school/internship. Can I still apply?

A: It depends on your life experience. If you have been a leader in sports, school activities, business, etc then this might translate to some of the skills that we don't have to lay a foundation for. Not everyone who comes to FLI will be at the same level of leadership, but everyone needs to be able to track with the basics and this internship will not build the basics in you. Therefore if you apply and do not have any past leadership experience that can translate into a leadership foundation for ministry there is a good chance that this might not be the program for you.

Q: Are there scholarships availabe for the internships?

A: For people from 3rd world nations we do prayerfully offer from time to time scholarships. Many ministers wonder if we offer scholarships or discounts for their kids, we do not. Part of this is because we have had people sacrifice greatly to come from all walks of life, so we believe because this is a young adult program where people need to pursue the finances in faith. That may mean working and saving up for it. In our experience many local churches will raise funds for their young adults to have a scholarship for a program like this.

Additional Q&A for FLI:

Q: I am over/under the age limit of what you accept in the internship, can I still apply?

A: The FLI internship is a young adult internship for ages 18-27 and we will not accept anyone older or younger then that (unless it is by one year or less). We will have other internships and eventually a school in the future for all adult ages.

Q: Can I be married and go through FLI?

A: No, it is for single people at this point. We do not have housing to accommodate married people and we do not feel that it is right to separate you from your spouse for the three months.

Q: Can I date while I attend the internship?

A: The answer is no. If you are already dating someone, you must put this relationship into a hold status so that you can be fully focused on the program. We will not ask that you excommunicate them for the three months, but we do want you to sacrifice this so we can sacrifice for you. If you are not in a relationship do not start one during the program. There is to be no going out and dating during the program. Interns can not date each other during the program because we want an environment that has easy boundaries and is safe. We create a family feel where the other interns are your brothers and sisters. Do not apply for this internship hoping to find your mate.