How to ‘Do It Well’ in short-term mission overseas
Monday 1st August 2011
It’s been encouraging to see in recent years an ever increasing number of our congregations wanting to be, and indeed becoming, directly involved in mission overseas, largely through the sending of teams to engage short-term in mission in a variety of ways, and in different parts of the world.
Being properly prepared before going and having some idea of what to expect once overseas is vitally important if team members are to be effective in the mission work they are going to do.
When Christ sent his first ‘short-term mission teams’ out (Luke 9 & 10), he made sure they were prepared for what lay ahead by explaining what the work would involve and what they should expect to encounter.
In the same way, it is important for congregations sending teams or individuals overseas to realise the importance of taking adequate time to train and prepare their members before they go.
They should also know how to help the team when they return home to process what they have seen and learnt; while participants should be given appropriate opportunities (more than a 10-minute slot in a Sunday morning service!) to share their stories and experiences with others in the congregation and in the wider community.
However, it can often be difficult for congregations to access the expert help and advice needed to successfully establish an overseas partnership, to prepare and send a team overseas, and to receive them back again.
In the absence of such help, and when folk are really keen to go overseas, it can be tempting just to forge ahead and hope that everything will somehow work out alright. But this may lead to doing the wrong thing altogether, or not doing things as well as they could have been done with sound advice and thorough preparation.
Recognising the need for appropriate help and advice to be readily available in one user-friendly resource pack, Presbyterian Mission Overseas (The Board of Mission Overseas) has developed the ‘Do It Well’ Mission Toolkit – a significant new resource providing comprehensive advice and guidelines to help congregations, and the members of short-term Mission Teams they send overseas, to be 'properly prepared' at all stages, and, in their mission, to 'do it well' from start to finish.
Although the toolkit is principally aimed at teams, much of the content is also highly relevant for individuals who may be planning to engage short-term in mission in an overseas context.
Consider these questions
Are you thinking of sending or taking a team overseas but aren’t sure if you should?
Are you among those who are frustrated by not knowing where to go for help or advice?
You have decided to send a team overseas, but why? Is God clearly calling you, or is it because others are sending teams overseas and you think it’s time you did as well?
Where does sending a team overseas fit into the ongoing life and witness of your congregation, and particularly in relation to your mission in your own community ‘at home’?
Are you clear about where the team should go, who it should work with and what it should do?
Whose agenda should you serve - yours or that of those who you will work with overseas?
How are you going to select your team? Should you take anyone who is willing to go, or is it better to use some kind of selection process?
Does the team leader know what his or her role involves?
Is your whole congregation ‘involved’ or is the team just a sideline activity being organised by a few enthusiastic members?
Do your team members know how to adjust to, and cope with, a different culture?
You have lots of questions about practical issues. Would you like to know what’s likely to work in an overseas context and what probably won’t?
How are your congregation and team members going to process this experience after the team comes home?
If these or similar questions are ones you are looking for answers to, then you need to get your hands on the ‘Do It Well’ Mission Toolkit and start reading it as soon as possible! And if you are planning to send a team or individual overseas and none of these questions have been in your mind, then it’s even more important that you get hold of this new toolkit to see what it has to say on these and numerous other important issues.
“So what’s in the ‘Do It Well’ Mission Toolkit?” It comprises five, A5-sized, easy-to-read booklets that offer helpful advice and practical tips to those who are responsible for 'sending', as well as those who will be 'going on', short-term mission teams overseas.
In summary
Booklet 1 ‘Thinking of Going?’covers the ‘Exploration’ stage, and helps address these important questions: To go or not to go?; What’s your congregation’s sense of call?; What’s the cost?; What’s the point of your visit?; Who needs to be involved?; and What’s involved? Take time to think through and pray over these questions and you will make a good start in preparing to send a team overseas.
Booklet 2 ‘Doing the Groundwork’examines the ‘Preparation’stage under five main headings: Developing a sending congregation; Establishing a partnership overseas; Planning together; Forming your team; and Getting down to details.
Booklet 3 ‘Ready, Steady, Go’ deals with the many practical details that involve ‘The Team’both before they go and while they are overseas. Six main areas are dealt with in some detail: Team issues; Spiritual issues; Commissioning; Culture & language issues; Ministry issues; and Practical issues.
Booklet 4 ‘Finishing Well’ unpacks the ‘Home Again’ stage under eight topics: Some possible challenges; How to cope; Physical health; Debriefing; Evaluation: Senders & Hosts; Telling your story; Maintaining contact with your hosts; and Taking it further.
Booklet 5 ‘ Resources and Links’which is designed to be used, as appropriate, at ‘Any Stage’, gives details of useful additional resources and reference sources - books and web sites - along with samples of some of the all-important forms that most teams will require. Copies of these forms, which may be amended if required, can be downloaded in Microsoft® Word format from: www.pcimissionoverseas.org/publications/.
It is hoped that EVERY congregation involved in sending teams or individuals on short-term mission overseas will avail of this valuable new resource.
Copies of the 'Do It Well Mission Toolkit, which is only available as a complete set and comes shrink-wrapped in a handy storage ‘box’, may be obtained from the Mission Overseas Office in Church House at a cost of £10.00 (€12.00) per set. Postage and packing will be charged extra.
The ‘Do It Well’ Mission Toolkit ‘home-page link’ at www.pcimissionoverseas.org, leads to an overview of the resource.
Included in this overview is a link to a 5-minute promotional video, in which Sharon Creighton, Leader of the Malawi Teachers’ Team 2010, explains what the toolkit contains, how it helped her and her team prepare for going to Malawi, and how it can benefit congregations that are thinking about sending a team overseas, as well as those who will be going to serve short-term in mission overseas.
From thinking of going to returning home again and everything in between, the ‘Do It Well’ Mission Toolkit is designed to help you and your team at every stage.
Be sure to get your copy and let it help you ‘Do It Well’, to the glory of God whose mission we partner in.
Nigel Eves
Mission Development Officer
Presbyterian Mission Overseas
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