Heart of the Shepherd's Intern / Apprentice Program at Shepherd's Cross

farm@shepherdscross.com April 2, 2021 No Comments

Heart of the Shepherd’s Intern / Apprentice Program at Shepherd’s Cross Heart of the Shepherd’s internship program has been in place since 2009. Over 70 interns have participated in our program. The internship program at the farm equips students with basic farming skills and arms them with Biblical references to farming and shepherding. The objective of the internship program is to teach an awareness of basic agriculture, develop basic agricultural skills, expose students to the many agricultural parables found in The Bible, and to teach an appreciation for historical agriculture, laced with a healthy appreciation for industrialized agriculture. Students will learn in the same manner as an apprentice learns. Watch the shepherd, practice with the shepherd, and then do the activity unassisted. The farm is primarily a sheep farm, with several hundred sheep; however there are many other activities on the farm and through the ministry, Heart of the Shepherd. There is a cattle herd, horses, donkeys, chickens, at least one goat, lama, alpaca, sheep dogs, barn cats, a Farm Museum, a Farm Store, hay harvest, pecan harvest, walnut harvest, walnut hulling, a wool mill, shearing school, fiber arts retreats and classes, a Bible Garden which produces vegetables and fruit for farm use and for sale, and a Mission Shop. There is a live on site veterinarian and a veterinary care unit for the animals on the farm. Opportunities abound for learning. Dr. Diane Dickinson, the director for the Internship Program, is an agriculturalist with a Bachelors in Agriculture, a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine, and over five decades of farm