Come trace the history of writing. Find out where your alphabet came from—and how people are still making alphabets today. Or learn the importance of minority languages, and how former Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas made a difference. Admission is always free.
No matter how old we are, visiting new environments can sometimes make us feel nervous. That’s why we’ve created this booklet using a template from Libraries and Autism to help you know what to expect when you visit the Museum of the Alphabet!
This booklet explains what you will learn about at the museum, some activities that you can do during your visit, a few rules to keep in mind, and important information like our hours of operation and bathroom locations. We welcome people of all ages and abilities, and want your visit to be as enjoyable as possible!
Be transported around the world as you visit the Museum of the Alphabet, where displays throughout 12 rooms trace the history of the world’s alphabets, from cuneiform to tonal languages to Native American language syllabaries. Explore other writing systems such as mathematics, music, and Braille. Learn modern stories of communities being transformed through literacy and Bible translation.
Reviewers on TripAdvisor give it five stars, and readers of Union County Weekly voted us Best Local Museum. Come see why!
Learn how faith, service, and friendship between former Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas and JAARS founder, Cameron Townsend, paved the way for Bible translation around the world. See examples of outstanding folk art, ancient jewelry, embroidered traditional costumes, Mayan and Aztecan school books, and historical photographs of President Cárdenas.
COVID-19 Protocols: Face masks and social distancing are optional. The museum will be sanitized frequently. Guided and group tours are available. We also have a new cell phone tour to guide you through the museum.
Please also check our Facebook page for the latest on closures, special events, and more.
Guided and group tours are available. We also have a new cell phone tour to guide you through the museum.
Eligibility
Recent graduates, graduate students, and business professionals are eligible to apply for fellowships. Qualifications for all fellows positions include:
Housing
Fellows are required to live in housing on JAARS Center. Housing is not included in compensation. Monthly rent is $100, including utilities, internet, and laundry facilities. Singles are assigned to a 2-bedroom, 2-bath (or 2-bedroom, 1-bath) apartment with one roommate or a 1-bedroom, 1-bath apartment with no roommate. This depends on the number of Fellows in the cohort and available housing units. Married fellows work directly with JAARS housing to find a unit that works for the needs of their family. All apartments are fully equipped with furniture (including a small TV, but not a DVD player), linens (sheets and towels), and kitchen supplies.
Wages
Fellows are compensated $11 per hour.
Benefits
Fellows are eligible for health insurance benefits and receive 10 PTO (paid time off) days, approximately 10 sick days, and paid holidays (approximately 8). Additional benefits for fellows includes life skills training (a.k.a. Life Hacks) and coverage of the costs of Intercultural Communications Course, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course, and outings.
Work Schedule
All fellows positions are full-time (40 hours per week). Most positions work 8:00 am to 5:00 with an hour for lunch. However, work schedules vary for certain positions that require involvement in evening and weekend programs.
Yes! JAARS Fellows are paid $11 per hour.
A JAARS Fellows candidate must be a believer with a deep and growing relationship with God, can agree to the JAARS statement of faith, and embraces the vision and mission of JAARS. Beyond that, we require an Associates or Bachelor’s degree (or life/experience equivalent – i.e. YWAM Discipleship Training School, relevant work experience, etc.) and a learner attitude.
Beyond the $11 per hour compensation, the Fellows benefits package includes paid holidays, sick days, and vacation days. Health insurance is also available for those who need it. Additional benefits include community outings, life hacks (life skills classes), and enrollment in the Intercultural Communications Course and the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course.
Fellows receive 10 paid sick days and 10 paid vacation days after their initial 90 days. In addition, there are at least 8 paid holidays.
Fellows are expected to participate in one life hack and one outing a month. This is approximately 6 hours per month outside of work hours. Fellows spend 1-2 hours per week in intentional community time with their cohort(s). This time could include games, food, conversation, etc.
All one-hour spiritual coaching and professional coaching times are during work hours. During the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course, fellows spend 6 hours on content during work hours. Life hacks and outings are not part of paid time but will enhance your overall experience as a Fellow.
All fellows help departments at JAARS fulfill crucial roles that will in turn support mission workers overseas. Each position contributes to the vision and mission of JAARS in different ways. This is a great topic to discuss in the second interview with the hiring manager.
Yes. Historically, we have had approximately 39% of fellows join JAARS staff after the completion of their fellowship. Some of those have filled short-term roles, while others have filled long-term staff roles. If there is an interest in staying at JAARS after the fellowship, fellows are encouraged to discuss potential opportunities with their supervisor/professional coach and the HR Director.
After you have gone through an initial interview, you will be invited to a Hiring Manager interview where, if the HR team and hiring manager feel confident in you as the top choice, you will receive a formal offer letter to join JAARS Fellows.
Celebrate this exciting, new step. Also, complete all of the onboarding paperwork that is sent to you by the HR Fellow and Fellows Coordinator. If you have any questions about that paperwork, reach out via phone or email.
Fellows rent fully-furnished apartments at the JAARS Center. Usually these are shared, and each person has their own room and bathroom. Apartments include a kitchen, cooking appliances, living room, one or two bedrooms, and one or two bathrooms. Monthly rent is $100, including utilities, internet, and laundry facilities.
Apartments are fully furnished, so only bring what you really need, such as clothes and personal supplies. Decorations can also never hurt! Check out photos and a video walkthrough of one of the two bedroom, two bath apartments at this link.
Fellows participate in approximately one life hack per month to add various life skills to their repertoires. We also do approximately one fun outing every other month. These are just the scheduled activities; you will have plenty of time for recreational community building activities with your cohort. Read more about outings and life hacks in the “How do we invest in our fellows?” section of this webpage.
With the exception of occasional meals during outings and life hacks, fellows are responsible for their own meals. To encourage community, fellows are asked to eat meals together often. Campus housing is equipped with a kitchen that includes pots, pans, dishes, and utensils.
While you are at JAARS, you will use the following addresses:
Letters:
JAARS/Fellows
Your Name
PO Box 248
Waxhaw, NC 28173
Packages:
JAARS/Fellows
Your Name
7601 Radin Road
Waxhaw, NC 28173
The JAARS Center is located about 6 miles from Waxhaw, North Carolina, and 10 miles from Lancaster, South Carolina. While a car is not required for JAARS Fellows, most people find it helpful to bring their own car.
JAARS is located 30 minutes south of the outer beltway of Charlotte, North Carolina, and 20 minutes from Lancaster, South Carolina. We are 10 minutes from Main Street in “downtown” Waxhaw.
JAARS is located on a beautiful 500+ acre rural campus with recreational areas and a swimming pool, library, dining room, health clinic, RV Park, childcare facilities, and youth ministries. In the community, one can find game night groups, volleyball groups, Bible studies, as well as other special events.
Waxhaw, North Carolina, is a family-friendly, historic, small town, surrounded by a natural backdrop of rolling hills, horse country, and outdoor recreation. It has creative and performing arts, vibrant music, antiques, and good old-fashioned parades.
Lancaster, South Carolina, is also a historic, small town with a state university campus, shopping areas, several festivals and events, as well as a Christmas parade each year.
Recreational activities in the Waxhaw area include escape rooms, mini golf, beautiful parks, delicious places to eat, and much more! Here are some examples of what is in the area:
These classes enhance your overall understanding of your place in the Great Commission and how to effectively engage in it. Our God is a missional God, therefore JAARS values missions. Both of these courses prepare kingdom workers. Whether God calls you to missions or the marketplace after your fellowship, you will be equipped to advocate for missions in all future endeavors.
Perspectives is structured like a college-level course. Read the course overview here. Fellows take the course at a certificate level which includes videos, readings, reviews, discussions, and an integrated project.
JAARS offers an interactive, 4 week course that trains and prepares missionaries to serve the Lord in multicultural, multigenerational teams, whether overseas or stateside. In ICC, you will learn how to further your interpersonal skills, understand differing worldviews, and deepen your relationship with God.
Fellows attend this course as their first month of the fellowship. JAARS compensates fellows for 40-hours per week as though they were working and also covers the registration cost (approximately $900). Upon completion of the course, they join their departments in their roles for the remaining 10 months of the fellowship.
All fellows positions are full-time (40 hours per week). Most positions work 8:00 am to 5:00 with an hour for lunch. However, work schedules vary for certain positions that require involvement in evening and weekend programs.
You will meet weekly with a spiritual coach, who will get to know you, and ultimately disciple you into a more mature follower of Christ. Your spiritual coach will be assigned to you after you’re given the opportunity to interact with multiple spiritual coaches and you have provided input as to which individual you’d enjoy working with.
You will have a professional coach whom you will meet with weekly, this individual also happens to be your manager/supervisor. They will work with you through the various aspects of your role, talking to you about areas of interest for you, the parts of the job you may not like. They are there to help you navigate your job and even into your career beyond JAARS.
JAARS partners closely with SIL International, 100+ organizations of the Wycliffe Global Alliance, and with other local and global organizations. The majority of our supported staff are Wycliffe members (their funding and sending organization) assigned to JAARS, or seconded to SIL International and located at JAARS.
Yes! JAARS Interns are paid $10 per hour.
A JAARS Interns candidate must be a believer with a deep and growing relationship with God, can agree to the JAARS statement of faith, and embraces the vision and mission of JAARS. Beyond that, we require the completion of four semesters of college and a learner attitude.
Benefits for interns include a life skills workshop (aka Life Hack), coverage of the cost of the Highlands Ability Battery and the corresponding career advising/coaching, outings, personal, spiritual, and professional development, and one paid holiday (Memorial Day).
Interns are expected to participate in one life hack and two outings during their 10-week internship. This is approximately 9 hours outside of work hours.
All one-hour coaching times and group Bible studies are during work hours. Two hours of career advising with a Highlands Ability Battery coach is paid time, however the assessment itself is approximately three hours of unpaid time. Life hacks and outings are not part of paid time but will enhance your overall experience as an Intern.
All interns help departments at JAARS complete crucial projects that will in turn support mission workers overseas. Each project contributes to the vision and mission of JAARS in different ways. This is a great topic to discuss in the second and third interview with the Interns Coordinator and project manager.
Yes. If there is an interest in staying at JAARS after the internship, we encourage interns to pursue JAARS Fellows after they graduate. Other opportunities to stay connected to JAARS could be through volunteering.
After you have gone through the three interviews, if the HR team, Interns Team, and project manager feel confident in you as the top choice, you will receive a formal offer letter to join JAARS Interns.
Celebrate this exciting, new step. Also, complete all of the onboarding paperwork that is sent to you by the HR Fellow and Interns Coordinator. If you have any questions about that paperwork, reach out via phone or email.
Interns rent fully-furnished apartments at the JAARS Center. Usually these are shared, and each person has their own room and a shared bathroom. Apartments include a kitchen, cooking appliances, living room, one or two bedrooms, and one or two bathrooms. Monthly rent is $100, including, including utilities, internet, and laundry facilities.
Apartments are fully furnished, so only bring what you really need, such as clothes and personal supplies. Decorations can also never hurt! Check out photos and a video walkthrough of one of the two bedroom, two bath apartments at this link.
Interns participate in approximately one life hack during the internship to add various life skills to their repertoires. We also do approximately two fun outings. These are just the scheduled activities; you will have plenty of time for recreational community building activities with your cohort and the JAARS Fellows on campus.
With the exception of occasional meals during outings and life hacks, interns are responsible for their own meals. Campus housing is equipped with a kitchen that includes pots, pans, dishes, and utensils.
While you are at JAARS, you will use the following addresses:
Letters:
JAARS/Interns
Your Name
PO Box 248
Waxhaw, NC 28173
Packages:
JAARS/Interns
Your Name
7601 Radin Road
Waxhaw, NC 28173
The JAARS Center is located about 6 miles from Waxhaw, North Carolina, and 10 miles from Lancaster, South Carolina. While a car is not required for JAARS Fellows, most people find it helpful to bring their own car.
JAARS is located 30 minutes south of the outer beltway of Charlotte, North Carolina, and 20 minutes from Lancaster, South Carolina. We are 10 minutes from Main Street in “downtown” Waxhaw.
JAARS is located on a beautiful 500+ acre rural campus with recreational areas and a swimming pool, library, dining room, health clinic, RV Park, childcare facilities, and youth ministries. In the community, one can find game night groups, volleyball groups, Bible studies, as well as other special events.
Waxhaw, North Carolina, is a family-friendly, historic, small town, surrounded by a natural backdrop of rolling hills, horse country, and outdoor recreation. It has creative and performing arts, vibrant music, antiques, and good old-fashioned parades.
Lancaster, South Carolina, is also a historic, small town with a state university campus, shopping areas, several festivals and events, as well as a Christmas parade each year.
Recreational activities in the Waxhaw area include escape rooms, mini golf, beautiful parks, delicious places to eat, and much more! Here are some examples of what is in the area:
All interns positions are full-time (40 hours per week). Most positions work 8:00 am to 5:00 with an hour for lunch. However, work schedules vary for certain projects that require involvement in evening and weekend programs.
You will meet weekly with the other interns in your cohort as well as an Interns team member for a group Bible study. Additionally, you will meet weekly with a coach, who will get to know you, and ultimately disciple you into a more mature follower of Christ.
You will have a project manager whom you will meet with weekly. They will work with you through the various aspects of your project(s). In addition to your project manager, you will receive professional coaching. This coach (same as above for spiritual coaching) will talk with you about your areas of interest, the parts of the job you like and may not like, and will help you navigate your internship and even your career beyond JAARS. Additionally, you will take the Highlands Ability Battery and will receive career advisement from a Highlands Consultant.
The Highlands Ability Battery (HAB) is a human assessment tool that objectively measures your natural abilities by asking you to perform specific tasks or exercises. As part of the Highlands Whole Person Model, the HAB is the foundation and starting point to identify the career best suited for you.
The HAB is unique in that it measures your abilities based on performance rather than perception. Exercises such as recreating designs from memory, manipulating blocks in space, and putting images in logical sequence are some of the virtual tasks you are asked to perform within a set amount of time. Results based on timed performance are far more reliable than results based on self-perception or personal opinion.
Read more here.
JAARS partners closely with SIL International, 100+ organizations of the Wycliffe Global Alliance, and with other local and global organizations. The majority of our supported staff are Wycliffe members (their funding and sending organization) assigned to JAARS, or seconded to SIL International and located at JAARS.
Key Dates
October 1 – February 28: Applications are open and interviews begin with select candidates
March & April: Interns are selected and notified
May 19–21: Interns move in
May 22: Mandatory 1-day orientation
May 22 – July 28: Interns serve at JAARS
July 28: Interns celebration
Eligibility
Qualifications for all interns include:
Housing
Interns are required to live in housing on the JAARS campus. Housing is not included in compensation. Monthly rent is $100, including a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment shared with a roommate; a two-bedroom, one-bath apartment shared with a roommate; or a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment with no roommate. Assignments depend on the number of interns in the cohort and available housing units. All apartments are fully equipped with furniture (including a small TV, but not a DVD player), linens (bedding and towels), and kitchen supplies.
Wages
Compensation for interns is $10 per hour.
Benefits
Benefits for interns include a life skills workshop (aka Life Hack), coverage of the cost of the Highlands Ability Battery and the corresponding career advising/coaching, outings, personal, spiritual, and professional development, and one paid holiday (Memorial Day).
Work Schedule
All interns work full-time (40 hours per week). Most interns work 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with an hour for lunch. However, work schedules may vary for certain projects that could require involvement in evening and weekend programs.
This guide details the steps we take to ensure a thorough and communicative hiring process. From job creation to onboarding, this list helps candidates understand where they are in the process and what to expect next.
The hiring process takes anywhere from 30–120 days. The process varies for individuals depending on candidate pool and application completion date.
This guide helps detail the steps we take to ensure a thorough and communicative hiring process. From job creation to onboarding, this list helps you understand where you are in the process and what to expect next.
Our hiring process takes anywhere from 30-120 days. The process varies for individuals depending on the position, candidate pool, applicant date, and the cohort for which a candidate is applying.
