Volunteering opportunities
CAMBODIA
- Teaching English
Location: The Rainbow Student Hostel (Phnom Penh)
Time frame: at least 3 months
Accommodation: at the Rainbow Student Hostel - Community Musicians and Teachers
Location: Tang Krang, a small rural community about 1 hour drive from Phnom Penh. The Lutheran Church in Cambodia has established a Community Centre where church and education mix
Time frame: at least 3 months
Accommodation: on site
Volunteers are asked to become a witness of Jesus to the community they serve and live in - Children’s Holiday Club team
Location: Tang Krang Community Centre
Time frame: 5 day program
Accommodation: on site
Plan and run the program for children, including Biblical content, crafts, games/sport. You will need to come fully prepared to lead and run all the program content - Medical Missions
Next year the focus will be on an eye surgery medical team. Projects are divided into three phases – screening, surgery, post ops care.
The team works with Khmer sight foundation which helps with customs and provides a medical venue. Local pastoral personnel are involved in follow up at pre ops and post ops
INDONESIA
- Teaching English
Location: Adbi Sabda seminary, located in Medan, North Sumatra
Time frame: during July and August
Qualifications: Fluency in English to help improve the students’ conversation levels. Native speakers are preferred. A TESOL certificate is not essential, but is preferable
Accommodation: available at the seminary
The seminary has 160 students and 16 lecturers who take part in the program. Teaching qualifications are preferred. Volunteers who teach English here are also often asked to teach a 4 week block of English to the students of the STT Deminary in Siantar (about 2 hours drive from Medan) - Teaching conversational English
Location: Bible Frau school, situated in a small rural town in North Sumatra
Time frame: at least 1 month
Qualifications: Fluency in English to help improve the students’ conversation levels. Native speakers are preferred. A TESOL certificate is not essential, but is preferable
Accommodation: on site (2 bedrooms, basic kitchen and bath area)
The school has a strong choral focus and trains young women to teach and preach the Word of God in their local communities. Qualifications are not essential. You shop for and cook your own meals - Assistance to Develop the Library and Teaching English to the Students
Location: Deaconess School, in the heart of Sumatra.
Time frame:
Accommodation: three rooms and a toilet are available for volunteers. Meals are taken with the school community but shops are nearby
It is very well run, efficiently structured and organised. This would suit individuals or small congregation groups. Visits to the communities where the women come from is part of the experience of living in this community. - Teaching English to students and staff
Location: Lutheran schools in Indonesia (including vocational training schools). If interested, placement is negotiated before the volunteer arrives
Time frame: 2 months
Qualifications: Fluency in English to help improve the students’ conversation levels. Native speakers are preferred. A TESOL certificate is not essential, but is preferable
Accommodation: if interested, accommodation and meals are negotiated before the volunteer arrives
Best suited to current or retired teachers looking to experience education in another setting
MALAYSIA
- Special Needs Teacher/Assistant
Location: BCCM Agape Centre, in Sandakan, East Malaysia – a day care for intellectually disabled children
Time frame: Minimum two weeks
Qualifications: Flexible, enthusiastic, and qualifications in teaching children with special needs or with speech and physical therapy preferred.
Accommodation: with the Basel Christian Church of Malaysia (BCCM) Sandakan church
BCCM Agape Centre currently has an enrolment of 20 students and 4 teaching staff. Their main goal is to educate and train intellectually disabled children in functional skills toward being socially independent and, if possible, economically independent. - Support with Graphic Design, Web Design, Copyright or Content Creation
Location: Kuala Lumpur
Time frame: at least 2 weeks
Accommodation: provided free of charge
Lutheran Church in Malaysia (LCM) Lutheran Education Malaysia are seeking IT support personnel to assist their congregations to go digital. - Farming Knowledge and Practical Skills
Location: Rural areas of Sabah (East Malaysia) where many of the local people are poor and struggling to make an income for their family
Time frame: 2 months
Accommodation: provided free of charge. The volunteer would pay for the cost of meals
Ideal experience for an individual, a family or the beginnings of a congregational partnership - Photographer or Videographer
Location: East and West Malaysia
Time frame: 2 weeks
Qualifications: Have experience in taking photographs or producing quality video materials
Accommodation: Will need to be covered by the volunteer
LCA International Mission would like to have an experienced photographer or videographer travel with us to film and photograph spontaneous, real-time footage to bring the joys and needs of the Malaysian churches to the attention of those in Australia and New Zealand, so they can learn about and pray for the people you visit. You will need to provide your own equipment
MYANMAR
- Teaching English, IT or Business Management to assist training staff
Location: Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Yangon
Time frame: 3–6 months
Accommodation: - Farming
Location: Rural Myanmar
Time frame: at least 2 weeks
Accommodation: in a local village
Farm or agriculturalists keen to learn about traditional farming in Myanmar and keen to help plant crops with local villages while sharing skills and taking part in conversational English. Six months prior notice is to be given for this volunteering role - Teaching Worship Music
Location: Myanmar Institute of Lutheran Theology, North Dagon (with Lutheran Church of Myanmar)
Time frame: minimum 2 weeks
Accommodation: Damadi Home or nearby hotel. This will need to be covered by the volunteer.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
- Builder/handyman able to help with maintenance, and construction of houses
Location: Ogelbeng Seminary
Time frame: 1–2 weeks
Accommodation: provided but food costs would be covered by the volunteers
An ideal opportunity for a men’s group, some of whom are experienced in building maintenance. Would involve fellowship with the staff and students of the seminary - Teaching Theology and English
Location: Martin Luther Seminar in Lae or Ogelbeng Seminary at Mt. Hagen
Time frame: 2–4 weeks
Accommodation: available at the seminaries through negotiation. Food costs are the responsibility of the volunteer
This role is also suitable for secondary teachers with a DipTh - English Teachers
Location: available at both rural and city schools
Time frame: generally a stay of more than 4 weeks has greater impact on the learning achieved
Qualifications: Fluency in English to help improve the students’ conversation levels. Native speakers are preferred. A TESOL certificate is not essential, but is preferable
Accommodation: - Photographer or Videographer
Location: Papua New Guinea
Time frame: 2 weeks
Qualifications: Have experience in taking photographs or producing quality video materials
Accommodation: Will need to be covered by the volunteer
LCA International Mission would like to have an experienced photographer or videographer travel with us to film and photograph spontaneous, real-time footage to bring the joys and needs of the Papua New Guinean churches to the attention of those in Australia and New Zealand, so they can learn about and pray for the people you visit. You will need to provide your own equipment - Location: Myanmar Institute of Lutheran Theology, North Dagon (with Lutheran Church of Myanmar)
Time frame: minimum 2 weeks
Accommodation: Damadi Home or nearby hotel. This will need to be covered by the volunteer.
THAILAND
- Helping Hand and Listener
Location: Home of Grace, a home where unmarried women and their infants can be cared for
Time frame: 2–3 months so that relationships can be built
Accommodation: on site and free but you pay for the electricity used in the room
Useful skills for a volunteer to have include: Handcraft, conversational English, cafe skills. You need to be independent as you will also spend time by yourself - Teaching, Special Education, IT Support
Location: Home of Praise, a day-care centre for infants and children living in the slums of Bangkok
Time frame: 2–3 months is preferred (not over Christmas or in April)
Accommodation: available at an ELCT church building. Costs apply
Skills needed would include music, art, teaching English, Special Ed and IT competence - Conversational English
Location: Lutheran Seminary in Thailand
Time frame: 3 months
Qualifications: Fluency in English to help improve the students’ conversation levels. Native speakers are preferred. A TESOL certificate is not essential, but is preferable
Accommodation: provided on site. Volunteers need to provide funds for their meals (50 BTh per day) - Photographer or Videographer
Location: Bangkok and Northern Thailand
Time frame: 2 weeks
Qualifications: Have experience in taking photographs or producing quality video materials
Accommodation: Will need to be covered by the volunteer
LCA International Mission would like to have an experienced photographer or videographer travel with us to film and photograph spontaneous, real-time footage to bring the joys and needs of the Thailand churches to the attention of those in Australia and New Zealand, so they can learn about and pray for the people you visit. You will need to provide your own equipment - Myanmar Institute of Lutheran Theology, North Dagon (with Lutheran Church of Myanmar)
Time frame: minimum 2 weeks
Accommodation: Damadi Home or nearby hotel. This will need to be covered by the volunteer.
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
- Editing articles and stories
Editing of the stories and articles which are then used for LCA International Mission publications, newsletters, eNews and promotions of mission. This person could be based anywhere in Australia as the writings can be sent via email. - LCA International Mission Congregational Representative
Being a volunteer Congregational Representative for LCA International Mission in your home congregation involves encouraging others in mission by sharing resources with your congregation and promoting LCA International Mission opportunities.
Information is regularly emailed to LCA International Mission Congregational Representatives to help them in their role. - Resources for Teaching English
LCA International Mission wants to put together resources for volunteers to use when they are teaching English overseas. This is ideal for people who have some experience with teaching English as a second language.
AUSTRALIA
- Cleaner
LCA International Mission hosts guests from overseas in a unit in North Adelaide. Up to six times a year, we would appreciate assistance in cleaning the unit between guests. Cleaning products are supplied. - Scholarship-holder supporters
Caring for scholarship holders who live for several months in a flat on Archer Street, North Adelaide.
Part of this role would involve taking the guests on day trips to experience Australian culture, providing transportation and company. - Border Crossings mailout
Helping to pack the Border Crossings magazine into envelopes to be distributed three times a year.
The mail-outs are done from LCA National Office, North Adelaide.
Preparing well
Volunteering can be life-changing.
Volunteering to serve God overseas can be life-changing for you and the people you serve. Serving others in another country, and being a living example of God’s word, is faith in action which can produce incredible fruit for the gospel.
God uses people from a huge variety of backgrounds to humbly do his will overseas. Doctors, nurses, teachers, mechanics, accountants, research assistants, students, retired people and even young people wanting to fill a gap year – have been able to join pastors in serving God and his people in other nations.
You may be:
- young and looking for a Gap Year opportunity
- looking to volunteer during a holiday period
- part of a friendship group wanting to engage with the wider church
- retired and keen to unpack God’s prompts
- someone who would like to help LCA International Mission at the local level
- anyone – just ready to serve!
If so, please consider offering your time to serve in a wide range of exciting ministry areas with our overseas partner churches and here in Australia and New Zealand.
