New Zealand Partnership
MBC has partnered with Christian Camping New Zealand to provide a one-year camp exchange program for Canadians students to experience life abroad while serving God in a new environment.
You’ll start your experience at MBC serving in the fall season helping in a variety of service areas while making friends with our New Zealander friends. In late October, you’ll head to New Zealand for six months, working a Christian camp while enjoying the local culture and community. After that, you’ll return to Canada for a summer of service at Muskoka Bible Centre, serving either at our family conference centre or our camp for marginalized youth, Widjiitiwin. There’s lots of space on both ends for travel and fun with new and old friends from around the world.
Want to know more about what the experience in New Zealand will be like? Watch the video below for more details.
You can also read an article from our Resilient Magazine for a first hand account of the experience.
Article: “Another side of the world“
The Experience
Here is a seasonal breakdown of the one-year experience:
- Fall 2023: Just after Canadian Thanksgiving, you’ll fly out to Auckland and meet the CCI New Zealand team. There, you’ll take part in a three-day welcome session (setting up your NZ bank account, visiting a Maori village and more). After this, you’ll fly out to the local camp where you’ll be volunteering (a few of the camp options that are on the table: Highland Home, Waipara Adventure Centre, Narrows Park, Teapot Valley, Bridge Valley, CYC Ngaruarawahia). The camps will be responsible for your training, room and board and making sure that you’re growing in your faith during your time there.
- Winter 2024: Unlike Canada, New Zealand operates in the southern hemisphere, which means that their summer season is during our winter season. You can expect a hot December, January and February while volunteering at your camps. There will be times to get out, explore the country, surrounding cities and more! During this time, we’ll also be connecting with you about your application and 2024 position at MBC.
- Spring/Summer 2024: Your time volunteering in New Zealand will wrap up around mid-March. At that point, you’ll have decided to either return home and take a break in Canada for the month of April, or you may spend time traveling in NZ. Either way, we’ll expect you at our Spring Crew Orientation weekend for your MBC role in the summer of 2024. Your Kiwi teammates will also join us at that point for the summer season. Take a look at our Summer Staff options at MBC to get an idea of what your time spent at MBC will look like. The decision of your preferred department to serve in will have been decided in the winter.
- Fall 2024: At the end of the summer, your program experience will be complete! We’re planning on offering a few Canadian experiences to our Kiwi friends, and there may be an opportunity to participate in that, as well!
The Cost
Here’s a brief outline of the cost breakdown:
– On the Canadian side, we will treat you like any other summer staff member – the pay looks similar to this year, etc.
– On the New Zealand side, you be responsible for paying for your flights and an admin fee (about $2000 CAD), but all room and board is covered while you’re in NZ, and you also get a weekly stipend of about $100 CAD) to spend on whatever you choose. The admin fee covers a three day welcome / country induction including setting up a domestic bank account for tax purposes and an overnight stay in a Marae (Maori village). It also includes internal flights / transport to the camp following the induction, return flights/transport at the end of the volunteer period, and a three day debrief and fun time together before flying home.
$5000 | TOTAL COST
Estimated Income Breakdown (all in Canadian dollars)
As you can see – there is a cost to going, but all in all, you can come out of the year of volunteering and serving at MBC ahead. There are also opportunities to work here at MBC this September / October (as casual hourly fall staff) before you leave for New Zealand, if you are looking for more opportunities to save financially.
How To Apply
If this is something you are interested in doing… great!
CCI New Zealand has put together an application portal (find it by clicking here). Once you’ve completed the application, they will walk you through the selection of camps in New Zealand, so that you can get to know each camp better and the right role for you. You will need a Canadian passport, and CCI NZ will help you with your visa application.
As a New Zealander coming to work in Canada, you’ll apply to our student discipleship program, which is available to New Zealanders who are 18-25 years old. We call that program “Immerse”, which comes from 1 Timothy 4:12-15. We believe that the best way to grow as a disciple of Jesus isn’t just to read about His life – we want our student staff to practice living out their faith. That means we’re looking for students who don’t just want a summer job, but who want to actively grow in their faith and contribute to a healthy Christian community.
We believe that every student who serves at MBC should be growing not only in their work skills and experience, but creating a deeper faith in God. To do that, we work each year to build a unique community of students who are committed to serving well, learning together and spending time asking questions of each other and their leaders about what faith looks like and how it impacts their everyday life.
The Experience
You’ll arrive in early May to serve as a part of our spring crew team – helping in a variety of departments as we prepare for July and August, our (Canadian) summer ministry months. You can serve in any of our MBC departments, including Kids Min, recreation, maintenance or our kids camp, Widjiitiwin. As a part of the MBC summer team, you’ll have a lot of chances to get to know Canadian students, and participate in our activities. In the fall (September and October), you’ll have the chance to participate in a number of Canadian cultural experiences (some ideas: canoe trips, Niagara Falls excursion, baseball games and much more!)
The Cost
Unlike the New Zealand experience, our staff are all paid for their work. You can expect to earn between $8,000 to $10,000 NZD during your time with us, depending on the number of hours that you want to work in the fall months. You’ll be expected to pay for your flights to Canada, visa application fees, and incidental costs related to some of the cultural experiences in Canada.
How to Apply
To apply to work in Canada, you need to complete our staff application, using the link below. As a part of the application process, you’ll need to apply for a visa to work in Canada. Contact hr@muskokabible.com and let us know you’re an interested New Zealader so that we can work with you specifically.