Volunteering/Internships
Volunteering and interning at Bethel China is a unique and rewarding experience. You will be joining a team that seeks to support Bethel’s children in our vision: to live life to the fullest. We are looking for compassionate individuals with experience in the following fields:
Preschool/Primary school
English
English Braille
Orientation and Mobility
Early Childhood Development
Early Intervention
Music
Fundraising
Photography/Video
Research and Statistics
Speech and Language
Occupational Therapy
Physical Therapy
Counseling
Report writing
Graphic Designer
Translator (English, Chinese)
Communications and Marketing
Adoption advocacy
Website support
Teaching Interns
If you are a passionate volunteer with experience working with young children, we invite you to apply to be an English teaching volunteer. Teaching volunteers will play the fundamental role in our English classrooms where our students not only learn their ABCs, but are also prepared for their transition to the U.S. If you are interested, please fill out our application form. Since our work with the children is built on a foundation of trust and attachment, we ask for a 12-week commitment from our teachers. Housing and 2 meals a day will be provided. Bethel staff will conduct interviews to see if you are the right fit for our team.
We hire full time ayis/nannies to look after our children. They are thoroughly trained and as a result of this, caring for the children on a day-to-day basis is not necessarily a need that interns need to fill.
Specialist Volunteers:
If you are a specialist (speech and language, occupational therapy, physical therapy, counseling, etc.) interested in sharing your expertise, you may be able to commit a shorter time. We need specialists to travel to China and train Bethel staff, families or other special education professionals. If you are interested, please fill out our application form.
VOLUNTEER TESTIMONIAL: "It is difficult to put into words how
meaningful volunteering at Bethel was for me. I am a special education
teacher by nature and by heart and I have worked with many special
needs children before, but never with children who were blind or had
visual impairments. This was a huge learning opportunity for me. I had to
change my way of thinking and be creative to find new ways of teaching
and learning. It was also fun (but challenging) to teach English from the
very beginning level and complete immersion. Five out of my six
students had never been exposed to English, so there were some
frustrations in the beginning. They caught on quickly and I loved seeing
and hearing how fast they were learning! While I was there, one of my
students (13 years old) got adopted. I will never forget the pure joy on his
face and in his voice when he shared the news with me, and our class, that he was getting a mom and dad! It was absolutely the best moment there, but it was also heartbreaking that he had to wait so long, and heartbreaking that he almost aged out of eligibility. Volunteering there was somewhat of a healing opportunity for me. It was a fulfillment to God’s calling. It solidified my thoughts about adoption that I had been having since I was a young child.
I was at Bethel for 3 months and I really bonded with all the kids in my class. They were all so special and I wish I could provide a home for all of them. They will always have a special place in my heart, but there was one child in particular who I connected with a little more. I started thinking more seriously about adoption, and it became hard to envision my life without this little guy. I was not sure if I was ready for adoption as I always thought I’d adopt when I was a bit older, married, or had more money. My heart and God were telling me now is the time. I felt God telling me to trust Him in this process as I had a lot of logistics to figure out when I arrived back in the US. Everything started lining up and falling into place and I started the process about 4 months after leaving China. The timing perfectly aligned with the release of the child’s paperwork. It is a long process, but now having my son has made it absolutely worth it!"
