Click a Hands-On activity below to see an explanation…

Overview

Hands-On Ministry refers to the large portion of the Into His Harvest training that generally takes place outside of the classroom.

A.K.A. Practical Ministry… Hands-On Ministry is known as "Practical Ministry" in Years One and Two. It also includes the Year Three Internship and Year Two Mini-Internship.

Year One hands-on, Practical Ministry activities (see list above) are grouped into "classes" — Practical Ministry 1 and Practical Ministry 2 — each of which is evaluated as the equivalent of one academic class per term.

In Year Two a third Practical Ministry "class" is added to accomodate The Church Plant Challenge as well as a Job Shadowing Mini-Internship.

• Auditing: Auditing is not available for the Practical Ministry portion of the courses because auditing, by definition, makes participation optional. In the Practical Ministry training, participants depend on one another to be on hand for team and mentoring activities. Therefore, opting out is not an option.

• Prerequisites: Into His Harvest’s Practical Ministry training is designed to mesh with the full-time courses’ classroom training. Therefore, the prerequisite for participation in Practical Ministry is full-time, for-credit participation in classroom training.

• Exceptions: Prerequisites may be waived or credits may be granted to applicants with previously earned Into His Harvest credits or equivalent education at other schools, or for “mature students” with a background of equivalent ministry experience.

Prayer

A high priority of the Practical Ministry training is prayer. Participants are scheduled to spend a minimum of three hours each week developing their prayer life individually and corporately (“corporately” means: with the student body, in church prayer meetings and/or with inter-church prayer groups).

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Special Ops Teams

Working in parallel with Into His Harvest Cross Training are the Special Ops teams. Where Cross Training emphasizes diversification, Special Ops teams allow for a degree of specialization by helping students develop a higher level of expertise in their particular gifting or area of interest.

Year One students choose a Special Ops area of focus (see below). Then they work as a team with a staff leader, concentrating on developing skills and completing ministry projects in their specific area.

Special Ops focus area availability may vary depending on student choices, but may include:

• Youth Team
• Outreach/Evangelism Team
• Cross-Cultural Team
• Children’s Team
• Worship Team (music)
• Arts Team (drama, dance, drawing/painting, writing, etc.)
• Media/Graphic Design Team (video, desktop publishing, websites, etc.)
• Healing and Deliverance Team

An example of a Special Ops team in action… members of an Outreach/Evangelism Team create or develop a number of presentation pieces, rehearse them, then go and present them at a variety of venues around the city and beyond. Participants can learn both "out front" skills and behind the scenes support roles.

Church Planting… For Year Two Special Ops, the students team up to take on "The Church Plant Challenge: Gather unchurched people and plant at least one house church by the end of the school year." With covering from the school and the hosting church, the students live out a real-life church planting scenario, an exploit that stretches their faith and gives them invaluable insights and experience.

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Cross Training

Practical Ministry provides diversity by giving Year One & Two participants training assignments in numerous areas such as communication arts (music recording, drama, mime, graphic arts, etc.), various types of evangelism (lifestyle, servant, initiative, etc.), children’s ministry and administrative support functions. Cross training aims to give participants a well-rounded skill set so they are able to contribute to a variety of ministries.

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Job Shadowing

In Job Shadowing, trainees "shadow" veteran Christian workers in one or more approved ministry activities — a very profitable way to learn both by doing and by observation. In Year Two, Job Shadowing is intensified to a mini-internship with a ministry leader mentor. Job Shadowing ministries may include the following:

• Outreach / Evangelism
• Serving in a local church
• Healing Rooms of Regina
• Sunday School
• Athletes in Action
• Youth Ministry
• Media Production
• Alpha (seeker/new believer ministry)
• Dance and Drama
• Harvest City Christian Academy (grades K-12)
• Souls Harbour Rescue Mission
• International Student Ministry
• Options Pregnancy Centre
• Circle Square or other camp ministry
• City Kidz (child evangelism)
• Other approved ministry activities

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Mission Trips

Cross-cultural mission trips are another aspect of Practical Ministry. In conjunction with the Year One class “Relating and Ministering Cross-Culturally,” Practical Ministry participants can be used by the Lord to extend His love across cultural lines. The most obvious opportunity for this is an IHH Mission Trip (see next paragraph), but other opportunities are made available both in Regina and in the surrounding area.

Participation in an Into His Harvest mission trip (either a regional trip or an optional international trip) is graded as the equivalent of one class in both Year One and Year Two. That is, participation in a mission trip is required for graduation from Into His Harvest. (See Graduation Requirements and Mission Trip Finances for more information).

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Internship

The Local Church Internship is the ultimate Into His Harvest hands-on ministry opportunity. Those who qualify for an internship (see Entrance Requirements) are matched with a partnering local church or a particular ministry within a local church. The church can be nearby or anywhere around the globe, as long as a working relationship can be established between it and IHH.

After preparing with an orientation at the IHH campus, interns then spend about nine months ministering at their partnering church. Working daily alongside local church leaders, interns' gifts, knowledge and skills are activated and put to the test in real world situations. The internship ends with a debriefing and, of course, graduation back at the IHH campus.

Into His Harvest Internship opens avenues for interns to be released into God’s call for their lives. Internship activities vary considerably, depending on the arrangements agreed on between the intern and the partnering church or church ministry. However, in general terms the intern can expect the following to take place:

• Ministry apprenticeship;
• Testing out your calling;
• Expanding and refining your skill set;
• Establishing ministry contacts and reputation;
• Learning to relate and minister to various age groups, interest groups, needs — perhaps even new cultures, races, etc.

These are some other activities required of Year Three interns:

• team up with prayer partners;
• maintain a written journal of the internship experience;
• maintain communication and accountability with their supervisor on site, and with their Into His Harvest Internship Overseer (e.g. submit reports on activities, problems, victories, etc.);
• submit, at the end of every second term (roughly every ten weeks), a paper of approximately 1,000 words. These papers are on topics agreed on by both the intern and his/her IHH overseer.

For more information, click IHH Graduation Requirements or click HERE for our Message Form and check off "Internship Information" to request an Internship Program information package.

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