If you are a mid-termer – individuals who have worked in a cross-cultural setting for one month to one year – I would appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to help out others planning a mid-term experience themselves.
Click here to take this survey to provide valuable feedback for others as they prepare. You can also navigate there from the Surveys link at the top of this page.
Thanks
Thanks!
Here is an series of emails that I sent home to Supriya a few years ago when I was in Sierra Leone. I like how they remind me of the realities of travel. The ebb and flow of strange customs and basic differences, the joys and frustrations. Makes me wish I was back there …
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Arrived, safe and almost sound.
My appreciation for air travel was again diminished as I traveled from Calgary to Toronto, beginning with the surly Customer ‘Service’ Agents shouting at people lining up in the too small waiting area. Although I arrived 2 hours before the flight and was the second person in the lounge, I still had a crappy seat near the back (although I was able to change for a window – being a night flight) soon after we took off, I began coughing as a very sharp odor came wafting forward, I thought it was the disinfectant or something, but was soon proved wrong.
My seat companion also began coughing, and after a couple more episodes, I turned backward, to the woman behind me, and asked if she was spraying something. She told me that she needed to use these essential oils, but it was okay, because they were natural. I tried to reason with her, my seat companion joining in – natural or not, they were causing respiration failure – but she would have none of our reason – not for her.
I am not sure how to describe the stench, somewhere between sandalwood and methane … with notes of cat pee, vinegar, and pepper thrown in for good measure.
Did you notice the new link at the top of the page?
a) what link?
b) yes, and I already clicked
c) not interested
d) I never do web surveys …
Anyways, if you are still wondering what this post is about … look up at the title bar and there, somewhere right of ‘About Mark’, lies the new addition – ‘Take the Survey’. Click it and you will be brought to a short 10 question survey.
When it comes to international work, many novices feel that good intentions and a positive outlook are all that is necessary to accomplish great methods and outcomes. While intentions and positivity re very, very important … there are other necessary considerations to keep in mind when planning an international team experience.
A tool I have used for many years is the very helpful EFC Code of Best Practices. The code helps to set a minimum standard of preparation for teams and individuals engaging in international mission.
When I began training, and then later found this resource, I realised I was sadly lacking in many areas. I started small, worked on improving what I was doing well, as well as adding the most important elements I realized I was missing at the time.
Check them out for yourself, examine your own preparation process against the standards, and email or call me for assistance if you want to begin better preparation!
Section 1: Aims and Objectives
1.1 A Short-Term Mission program will have a defined purpose within Christian mission.
1.2 A Short-Term Mission program will have clear and realistic aims and objectives, which include viability, expectations of outcomes, and consideration of how the program serves the long-term objectives of all those involved.
1.3 The benefits to, and responsibilities of, the participant, the sending organization, the sending local church, the host organization and the host local church will be clearly defined and communicated.
1.4 Partnerships will be established, as far as possible, with host local churches and communities. These relationships, in the context of unity love, will be defined in terms of agreed-upon priorities, ownership, and expectations.
1.5 Appropriate sending local church involvement will be sought. A partnership will be developed, as far as is feasible, between the agency, participant and sending local church.
1.6 There will be a commitment to the participant to provide opportunities for personal and spiritual development throughout the experience.
Continue reading »
Travellers are well aware that Heathrow in London, England is often the hub through which you connect to the rest of the world. Often the stopover is several hours, or a day. What do you do with a short term mission team? Several team leaders and friends have asked my advice on how to spend the day in London, here is the itinerary I put together … enjoy your next Stopover!
My friend Matt at the STM Network recently put together a few Dangerous STM questions … I responded to this one … #2 in his series …
This is a bit of a long post, but if you can take a few moments to read it, then to the best of your ability, please try to give me an answer at the end. I think this is an important thought for us to collect.
I am attempting to discover current practitioners who can describe original (new) and beneficial (effective and working) methods of team based Short-Term Missions (STM).
I am specifically interested in discovering STM team initiatives attempting specific development projects within the majority world (also known as the Third World or Southern world). Specifically projects focused on sustainable, community owned and community-wide incremental growth. SEE endnote 1 regarding my summary of difference between Relief and Development goals and initiatives.
Here is an audio copy of a debriefing session I was teaching to a group in Saskatchewan. The audio quality is a little shaky, but the message does come through … if you are working with a short term mission team this should be helpful for you.
check out others at the podcast page.
I just added a link to the Government of Canada Travel Info page for travelers, you can find it under my link at the top of the page ‘A Full Suitcase’, then scroll down to travel agent. While I find this a helpful link, and important information on helping make the decision regarding safey and security while travelling, I certainly do not treat this as Scripture while preparing any team for short term missions. I try to keep in mind that often percieved risk is higher than actual danger.
The only promise regarding a life of mission is that it will be real, raw and life-changing. Although all reasonable care and caution is considered, risks assessed and participants informed for each initiative undertaken, it is important to note that while risk management is very important, it is not the primary method by which we determine our future mission endeavors.
The reality is that the greatest risk for participants in travel to foreign destinations is the same primary risk that all Canadians face every day – auto accidents are the number one issue for injuries for missionaries on the field (Source: Murray Cornelious. Director of Missions PAOC). Additionally, by far, the most dangerous place for Canadians to travel the last couple of years has been the resort towns of Mexico, with several national publications headlining a variety of attacks and injuries on Canadians. It is the unknown and exotic quality of African and other distant travel that tends to elicit a stronger reaction to most people when it comes to risk management. Similar to the fear of international guests afraid to travel to Alberta because of a few SARS cases in Ontario a few years ago; the fear of the unknown (coupled with an all to common ignorance of geography in this case) exaggerated the actual risk.
In keeping with similar organizations involved in missions relief and development – and within the primary foundation of our calling by Christ to people in need – the following determinants will provide the missions committee the appropriate information in order to make an informed determination of the allowable risk:
• Government of Canada travel advisories.
o Intended to provide a helpful starting line to determine future risk management, not to be the determining factor.
o See the next section ‘Travel Warnings’
• Like minded organizations involvement
• Insurance assessment
• Partner perspective
o Need and Opportunities
o Our capacity to meet the need and opportunity
• On Field Host Assessment
o Nature of the danger.
o Frequency of the danger
o Distance of the project/partner from the danger.
o Capacity to mitigate or avoid the danger.
• Scout Trip Assessment
o Missions Committee Member
o Informed and Experienced Leadership Scout Trip Assessment
After weighing all applicable factors, the prudent mission committee will offer a recommendation to the Senior leadership for for written approval. Understanding the risk often allows for better training and risk management strategies.
Travel Warnings
The Government of Canada uses a website to relay information to assess the threat level of a destination. Travel Reports and Warnings.
In short there are four specific categorizations of risk:
• Advisement for Canadians in the specified country to leave
• Advisement against all travel to a country
• Advisement for Canadians in a specified region(s) of a country to leave
• Advisement against all travel to a specified region(s) of a country
The four broad categorizations are also further specified into ‘all travel’ and ‘non-essential travel’. These various categories are combined to form the nine travel warnings found on the Government of Canada website.
It is important that the leadership of a group interested in international work make the determination of their own risk and liability expertise and ability. Once this is determined it is important that board of director approval is written and obtained.
For example, the following recomendation may work for some experienced or entrepreneurial agencies.
The Missions committee is not asking for permission for travel to countries or specified regions where the Government of Canada (GC) advisement is for Canadians to leave, or where the GC advisement is against all travel to a specified country.
The Missions Committee is requesting that the board of directors would:
• Approve travel to countries where there is no advisement against all travel to the country.
• Approve travel to regions where there is no advisement against travel to that region.
• Approve travel through regions where there is an advisement against travel in the specified region in order to reach a final destination in a region where there is no travel advisory.
• Require a travel restriction to international initiatives only when it refers to ‘all travel’, and not to ‘non-essential’ travel
In short, the following nine travel warnings would be taken into consideration, and would be used alongside the determination of partner perspectives, other organizations knowledge, and scout trips to help make a determination on destination selection. The government warnings are not intended to be the final arbitrator of travel approval, but instead are helpful starting points to allow for a reasoned strategy for missional engagement, participant warning/education and risk management.
I just added a new link on the main page called ‘twelve sessions‘ … these are the key sessions I train my teams with. Never exhaustive, yet I feel that these 12 give a great basic outline.
Many international hosts have informed me they appreciate this as a baseline for an effective and trained team.
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