Main Menu
Primary Focus
Other Areas
| Short-Term Missions |
 |
 |
 |
Short-Term Missions Preparing to Go. Is God calling you to lead a short-term work team to one of our mission fields? Here are some basic steps. Contact the C&MA National Office at 1-719-599-5999 and talk to the Short Term Missions Coordinator for destination and process. If you already have an invitation and project to accomplish, establish dates, describe the project, learn the cost for travel, shots, passport, etc., and then invite people on a best-qualified, first-come-first-served basis. This is a simple process but must be done right to bless and be blessed. For more information, go to our checklist. Go Prepared . The most comprehensive, practical, easy to understand and enjoyable short-term missions training video series. Three-video tape set or one-DVD package with six-session series. Designed to prepare you and your team for the best short-term missions experience. In this six-session series, well-known mission experts cover vital topics such as spiritual preparation, building your team, cross-cultural training, re-entry and debriefing. A Team Leader's Guide is included with each set. Whether you are a seasoned short-term missionary or a first-timer, this video training series will help you get prepared. Get ready to go... but Go Prepared! Check with your district office for a copy. Cross Cultural Engagement. It is important to recognize cultural differences when engaging the people with who you will be working. For example, our concept of time will likely be the opposite of those you will be helping. We generally see time as limited and a valuable resource not to be wasted. The majority world, however, views time as unlimited. There will always be more time. plans and schedules are merely guidelines. In addition, Short-termers need to avoid the God-complex. That is, believing that we know what is best or we have a better way. We need to avoid imposing our methods on those we are helping. Further, the cultures of the majority world tend to be collective in their approach to life while we tend to be individualistic. Collectiveist cultures tend to focus on the wellbeing of the group rather than the individual. Finally it more valuable to partner with the people you are going to help rather than doing it for them. (These thoughts are taken from a chapter on short-term missions the the book, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor ... and Yourself, by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2009.) C&MA Short-Term Missions Office Helpful Documents
|