How To
The process of creating a mission opportunity contains specific steps that are listed out below.
Step 1: Serve God
The most important step is to find a service opportunity that allows you to serve God and others, using your gifts and talents successfully.
- "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship." -Romans 12:1
- God calls to serve not only Him, but also His creation. Serve others with love, kindness, and humility to point glory not at yourself, but to the Father who give us all life. It is up to you to put this commandment in action.
- Your service project does not explicitly have to be in association with a Christian organization, but the idea of serving God and His people should be the focus. Making sure this is incorporated is huge in creating a lasting and meaningful project.
Step 2: Communication
This is a vital step in your journey of service as it determines where you serve and who you serve with. It is also the step you will continue with throughout the entire journey, to keep with any updates and to set expectations.
- First, you need to reach out to organizations you are looking at serving with. This step can have a lot of back and forth which is okay. Every service project has a go to person that organizes with others how to serve. Utilize this resource as much as you need, as they will be your main connection to the project until you arrive for your actual service opportunity.
- I personally prefer a phone call to an email, but either form of communication is perfect. However, you need to use both types (even if it is one phone call before the actual event).
- Do not be afraid to ask questions and encourage your team members to voice theirs, to eliminate any confusion.
Step 3: Finances
All service projects have some kind of monetary commitment. It may be as small as gas for 5 miles to as big as an international flight. Being forward and in front of finances creates an exciting and positive environment for your project.
- Research and ask how much it will cost for your trip. You need to think about every kind of cost that will be accrued throughout your timing. For example, food, gas, transportation, registration fees, material fees, and hotels/shelter are all good places to start.
- There are always options for lessening an overall cost and placing more responsibility on the individual. It may be possible where you are serving for everyone to buy their own meals. This is typically a great option if you have older individuals on the project serving. However, it may be convenient in other circumstances to pay a fee to the hosting organization to prepare group meals.
- Make sure you always have some extra money as the group leader. You can never predict everything and something can easily come up.
Step 4: Travel & Transportation
Clearly an important step in executing your plans for your service trip is the transportation to get there. Transportation can be tricky but getting input from your point of contact for the service organization can help you narrow down choices.
- Plan and figure out all your options before bringing them to your team, whether you are giving them a personal choice or the same plan for everyone.
- Do not be afraid of asking many questions yourself or recieving numerous questions concerning this topic. You should be confident in answering your team's questions, even down to the time your plane may be departing from the airport.
- Pick an option that you feel comfortable with. Your team will respond well to you being relaxed and in charge, which you can be if you make choices for you, as well.
Step 5: Loose Ends
There are going to different kinds of loose ends with any kind of project you are planning. This step is impacted by your location and group.
- Your service trip may be an area that is culturally different from where you are coming from. A dress code may need to be outlined and given out to team members.
- Packing lists are a fascination of many when embarking on this kind of journey. Be ready with one as soon as you possibly can to ease some questions from your group.
- The group may decide on wanting tee-shirts or another memento to symbolize their trip. This process can be difficult, if not started early.
- Will there be room in your schedule for fun activities or rest time? If so, boundaries and expectations for these times also need to be shared with the group.
- Liability and team covenant forms should also be included in this section, if you feel they are needed.
- There will be other odd needs that come your way in terms of your service opportunity. Be confident and problem solve it. Anything can be fixed, you may just need some assistance in seeing how.
Step 6: Pull the Plan Together
The easiest way to pull all your pieces together is to put it into a document or outline for your team members to view.
- Introducing as much information as possible helps the team to understand right off the bat what your plans are and how it will work with them.
- There will still be questions that arise from the team members, but you will be able to answer many to all of these due to the research and planning you have already done.
- You may want to create a low-key handout that catches peoples attention to your service opportunity. This needs to include date/time, location, and a the why behind your trip. It should be kept simple but also draws in attention to get your word out there.
- At your first meeting, you will need to give out more detailed information like the project's description, your means of transportation in getting there, a packing list, and possibly some trip/team expectations.
Be Confident & Be Ready
The steps above give a general outline for your plan. The following pages are dedicated examples of how all the listed steps work practically and successfully, in creating meaningful service opportunities.