Koinonia Farms, a Christian intentional community, has an internship program allowing participants to gain experience living and working on the farm. Daniel Abbott first came to Koinonia for a three-month internship 10 years ago. After a divorce, he decided to return. “I knew to come here would be a good place to heal, and it has been that.”

Abbott told how the first time he came, he was drawn on a quest for intentional Christian community. “I found Jesus People in Chicago. So I went there for a stay, probably about three, four months, and then someone there referred me to here, you know, just to go check it out.”

Abbott shared how his desire to find a community like Koinonia came after realizing going to church on Sunday and Wednesday every week was not enough for him. He told how he had a desire to get more immersed in the spiritual aspect of life.

He described his experience after finding it. “It’s definitely been good for the soul, but it also comes with a lot of challenges.” He told how it forced participants to learn to love practically and up close. “Out in the world, if there’s someone you don’t particularly care for, you just don’t hang around them. But here in Christian community, you’re constantly exercising your love and your faith.” But while he found the experience challenging, he did add that; “for the most part, everybody’s great.”

Abbott talking about what his work focused on as an intern. “I am in charge, or partially in charge, of interviewing new incoming interns and people that we call CSASers, which stands for Come Stay Awhile and Serve.” He told how they were people who came to the farm, trading work for room and partial board. “I’m also doing a lot of web work trying to . . .launch a new website, which should be pretty soon, and then doing a lot of work on our online store.”

Abbott told how the internship also allowed participants to learn whether they wanted to make a deeper commitment to Christian communal living. “The internship, more than any other position on [the] farm, is designed for people that are seeking this way of life, because usually the next step, if it’s a good fit for everyone, is membership.”

Carolina Valverde has been an intern at Koinonia Farms since September 2023, after graduating with a biology degree. “I graduated from college two years ago in December, and I was looking for a internship, and so I typed into Google sustainable agriculture internships. But then I also was looking for something that involved ministry. And so Koinonia popped up.”

Valverde talked about the daily tasks of interns, telling how they do a little bit of everything. “As the internship goes on, they kind of figure out what you’re good at, and so you might do some things more than others, but it could be work in the bakery, because that’s a big part of the farm, work in our garden, or just helping out with, like, whatever is being harvested, grapes, blueberries, pecans.” She told how she had come to focus more on hospitality and the garden. The farm frequently gets church groups and retreats. “It’s a lot of coming and going of different people, but you get to meet so many people.”

Valverde told how life on the farm was different from what she had previously found familiar. “I had no idea what community life was really like.”
She told how living and working with others on the farm had allowed her to meet people she normally wouldn’t have formed close connections with. “I’ve become friends with a lot of people of different ages, which I really appreciate and I don’t think a lot of people my age have.”

Valverde told how the farm often saw people coming from a diverse range of cultures, telling of one intern, and later volunteer, who was from the Philippines. “He’s been an amazing part of this community, and we’re going to miss him when he has to go.” She told how the visitors from other countries allowed her to learn how different cultures interact and view things with unique perspectives.

Valverde talked about how the experience affected her. “Just learning to live together and like respect each other, and recognizing that we have so much to teach each other, and that everyone has. . . their own value, no matter where they are in life, that’s just something I wasn’t expecting to find here, but I’m pleasantly surprised.”