Attention all students looking to sustain a sense of community and service after graduation. The Shalom Project is looking for students to participate in a yearlong internship that helps serve a community and its members. The Shalom Project has roots in the Anabaptist tradition, which has helped to initiate a relationship between the organization and Bluffton University, its faculty and students. Students interested in the organization and its mission may apply to become part of The Shalom Project after graduation.
The Shalom Project is a non-profit organization based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that connects members with non-profits to be involved in and out of Lancaster. Students live in provided housing in Lancaster for a full year while completing their assigned project. Students are paired with different projects/nonprofits based on their personality traits, strengths, and weaknesses. Possible placements could be with Church World Service who provide service to refugees and immigrants, Advoz serving in conflict mediation and restorative practices, Mennonite Disaster Service or one of the many others offered.
Julian Harnish, a Goshen (Indiana) College graduate, participated in The Shalom Project after graduation. Harnish left the program after finishing his assignment, starting a normal 9-5 job not affiliated with the organization. He immediately felt disconnected from his job and the mission of the organization he worked for.
“I needed a sense of purpose in what I was doing,” Harnish said.
Harnish, who is a Bluffton native, found importance in helping others while involved in The Shalom Project. The form of capital from an internship like The Shalom Project isn’t necessarily in the form of money, but in something Harnish seems to feel is richer than money. The relationships built and connections the project can make for people are more important and profitable in Harnish’s opinion. With these benefits as well as the relation to his values and overall mission in life, Harnish found his way back to The Shalom Project working as a coordinator for the organization, leading him to reach out about recruits.
Harnish reached out to Jackie Wyse-Rhoads, Bluffton’s campus pastor and assistant professor of religion, to help spread the word about The Shalom Project to her students. When Harnish contacted Wyse-Rhoads she immediately thought of particular seniors of hers that she thought could benefit from this opportunity.
Wyse-Rhoads talked to her senior students and discovered some of them are uncertain as to what they should do after graduation and no real idea as to where life will take them. Wyse-Rhodes believes that an experience like The Shalom Project will help those students discover their true passions and continue their passion for community outside of Bluffton.
Jackie Wyse-Rhoads was asked to help recruit for The Shalom Project. Photo by Payton Stephens.
“Sometimes your calling and vocation is bigger than your job,” Wyse-Rhodes said. “To find that passion outside of your job can be important, to find other ways to exercise your gifts.”
Wyse-Rhoads said she believes that with organizations like The Shalom Project, doors can be opened through the workforce, but also through personal passion and gifts. That passion and mission that stayed with Harnish is what led him back to The Shalom Project, where he is now able to connect with what he does, and share the project with others to find their passion in community as well.
