How to Prepare

So you want to go on Short-Term Mission … perhaps you are a team leader and you are not sure of what you it is you will need to prepare yourself – not to mention the team!

Perhaps you are planning on heading overseas for a few months in the next year, you may have a destination in mind (or not), you may know what international development skills you can bring (or not), and you may be worried about the cross-cultural preparation and costs (or not).

Wherever you are in the process, this page can help you prepare to go.

  1. Take the survey – start here. In order to find out where you are in your Short-Term Mission preparation process take 4-5 minutes and fill out this survey. Once you have completed the questions you will be emailed a link to look at your results. These results are an excellent starting point for your Mission team or personal preparation.
  2. Review 12 sessions. This will give a team leader or Short-Term Missionary some of the material you will require in order to succeed when you go to your international experience.
  3. Contact Me. Let me know who you are and where you are going, ask a few questions, take me out for coffee if you live nearby.
  4. Listen to my podcast: The why and what for of missions. You can find this podcast at the Podcasts link on this site, or subscribe to ‘Mark Crocker Stopover’ on Itunes.
  5. Check out the categories on the right. Search the site for information relevant to your particular trip. Team Building, How-To and Cultural Diversity are good places to start
  6. Leave some feedback, let me know what has been helpful (or not). Email me, link back to my site from yours, or leave a comment on a particularly helpful post.
  7. Go! (keep in touch)
  8. When you return, many people have a tough time Debriefing their experience. Although this is normal, it can be a difficult time for many people. make sure you have some good people around you who understand what is going on. As a bare minimum, listen to “unpacking the experience” debriefing podcast and spend further time in personal reflection.
  9. Let me know what your Short-Term Mission experience was like. Tell a friend about Stopover.CA.