The bless internship

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FAQs

A Bless internship is an opportunity to grow as an individual, to explore your talents & passions whilst also serving with an amazing international community. You’ll learn new skills & languages, and be stretched but encouraged as you join in with a week of very varied activities serving our local church & our non-profit with with Caen-based refugees from around the world.
Our interns have a weekly rhythm that involves serving meals out of an old converted ambulance in a run-down docks area in the city, playing Uno & other fun games, sorting clothing, and helping with church and community roles in serving our local international church. Plus we love to get to know you and your passions and use those gifts & skills - so if you’re a keen photographer for example then you can help with documenting our fun evenings or updating our photos for social media! So talk to us about what you love and your talents.
An average week is:
Monday - team lunch & catch up. Serving in SOS Chai 2-9pm
Tuesday - serving at Bethanie with the team there and time to enjoy the beautiful surroundings.
Wednesday - SOS Chai day (as per Monday)
Thursday - Training days. Meals with the team and opportunities to work on projects.
Fri/Sat - time off.
Sunday - serve the local international Bless Church. (Work with children, hosting, or helping to cook and serve breakfasts or lunches.
We are based in Normandie in northern France. We have a center with accommodation in an old cider farm which is now our hub for gathering our church community and hosting our 7 stories program. But our work in Caen and our home there is 50 minutes drive. Driving helps but is not essential as there is some local public transport.
An average internship is 3 months. Talk to us if we require longer or less but this is a good period of time to join in, learn from what we’re doing plus add your uniqueness to our wonderful multicultural team!
We ask interns to cover a monthly contribution for bills (200€ per month) & to cover their food and travel. We cover the day-to-day of getting in & out of Caen to work.
And we regularly eat together in a week so quite a few meals are provided.

Apply here

Hear from some past interns…

Eliza Pelling

2022
“For a long time I was unsure how I wanted to spend my gap year, until I stumbled across the Bless internship, and felt that it sounded like everything I hadn’t even realised I wanted to do during my gap year. I was apprehensive at the beginning, unsure of what to expect, and nervous about living away from home for the first time in another country, but I was met with nothing less than incredible community and amazing people who have become like a second family. I don’t think I could have spent my gap year in a better way, from spending afternoons teaching French to the refugees and learning more about their cultures, to playing volleyball or Jenga with them on the Presqu’île in the evenings, getting involved with worship at church and exploring different parts of France on days off. I feel that over the course of my internship I grew in confidence, got to meet loads of new people, grew deeper in my faith, and found a passion for teaching and supporting refugees, something that I am now looking to pursue further after my degree..”
Jemima Saner-Haigh

2022
‘‘Interning with Bless was the best decision I ever made. I met the best people and saw God at work in so many lives. I initially went with the focus on doing SOS chai, but I loved getting stuck in with the Church and doing 7 stories. Over the course of three months, I realised God had given me a great passion for refugees, I loved getting to know them individually and playing chaotic games of UNO on the presqu’île. The internship also gave me the chance to work with kids in the church, which was so much fun with planning activities and helping out with Blesstival. As with any church internship, Bless had us doing everything from cleaning and weeding at Béthanie, to helping people move house, but it was all so rewarding and no day was like another, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much in my life. Days off gave us a chance to explore Normandie and even time for a short trip to Italy. Caen is such a beautiful city, God’s presence there is so strong and it was such a blessing to be there. The feeling of knowing you are living the life God has planned for you is like no other, I would not change a single thing about my time with bless, it was an absolutely incredible three months.
Josie Taylor

2021
My time interning with SOS CHAI/ Bless was incredibly defining. Both the team and the refugees were welcoming and friendly. I learnt so much and had many opportunities to try new things such as cooking meals and organising hygiene packs. The work that SOS CHAI do is vital and being part of it is exciting as well as tough. I loved how we prayed before going out onto the Pres’quille as it was a reminder that the work was never in our on strength and God had us through it all.
Hollie Stone

2017
My 3 month long Bless internship came at just the right time! I was between school and uni and had planned to study French at uni. Bless was recommended to me by people at my church, who said ‘oh Hollie you’d love it’, and of course I did, and I still love to return to this day! I helped set up Bethanie for events, helped maintain the grounds, cooked food for visitors, I went to Amsterdam to help out at a European Freedom Network event, hung out in Caen, and spent some precious time at the Jungle in Calais before it was bulldozed. I met amazing people and grew in my faith in ways I can’t explain. Being at Bethanie I felt closer to God than I ever had and my faith became my own in my time there. And Chrissie and Gerard and the rest of the team are a total dream to be around. There’s nothing quite like the Bless community!