Christian mission trip opportunities abound in areas that take into account unique skills and attributes.

It’s estimated that 1.6 million American Christians travel to remote areas of the world on short-term mission vacations annually. Roger Peterson, president of STEM International (Short Term Evangelical Missions), estimates that 50,000 churches in the United States are sending members out on mission vacation trips each year.

Have you ever thought about being involved in international volunteer organizations?

Christian mission trips and opportunities abound. However, finding and deciding on an organization where you can do volunteer work abroad and find fulfillment – given your unique skills, personality and desires – can be a challenge.

Most people looking for such opportunities probably don’t realize the variety of activities in which they could be involved. Positions requiring skills such as accounting, teaching, administrative, business, computer, construction, electrical, counseling, language, medical, plumbing, music, tutoring and website management are available. And these are just the tip of the iceberg once you start researching.

Myriad of opportunities
When it comes to overseas mission work, people often think in terms of directly sharing the Gospel or being involved in Bible translation work. However, it is common to miss the myriad of opportunities to provide support to other full-time missionaries. For instance, being able to help missionaries with a construction project is a calling that has been extremely joyous and rewarding for many.

If you enjoy or have experience in teaching, perhaps you could consider specific projects to help others, like advising teachers in the developing world, compiling handbooks and materials, giving online learning support to missionary families, or helping establish specialized schools.

Other volunteer projects can include: building schools, helping in clinics, farming, conducting rainforest conservation, tree planting, computer training, health and environmental education, and youth work.

The decision to serve others with your talents and skills brings you such a wide range of opportunity. You will find that you grow and develop spiritually, progress professionally, work practically, expand relationally and grow personally.

Match talents and skills
Wycliffe Associates believes they have a great opportunity to match talents and skills with volunteer opportunities. Volunteers can go at any time, for as long as they wish. This could be on a volunteer short-term mission vacation basis, a full-time basis, or anything in between.

If fears about capability and adequacy are a concern, many quality organizations provide volunteers with training, language preparation and/or field support, empowering them to make an impact that will last long after they leave.

While volunteering overseas can be a very fulfilling and rewarding experience, those who want to gain international experience but don’t want to travel overseas can volunteer with one of the many international community organizations based in the United States. Consider redirecting your vacation time toward international volunteer organizations and find that the “vacation” of choice for many is in the mission field.

Bruce Smith is president of Wycliffe Associates, Orlando, FL. Since 1967 Wycliffe Associates has supported the worldwide
efforts of Bible translators.  www.wycliffeassociates.org

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See the world and the word

WordSpring Discovery Center in Orlando offers an opportunity to see the world and the Word in a whole new way. Immerse yourself in a living cultural adventure as you explore the history of the Bible, the world’s languages and the ongoing work of Bible translation. Multimedia presentations, interactive computer games and simulations, audio dramas, and hands-on activities for all ages broaden horizons and refresh the spirit. Lunch and snacks are available in Café Karibuni. The Village Shop features exotic and unique gifts from around the world as well as missions resources. www.wycliffe.org/wordspring — From website

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A launching pad for mission

The Wycliffe Associates Volunteer Mobilization Center in Orlando is strategically located next to the Wycliffe U.S.A. headquarters. Built by volunteers, the newly completed Volunteer Mobilization Center is the launching pad for sending out a growing number of talented, skilled volunteers from across the U.S. to share the load with Bible translators. Our goal is to have volunteers providing 250,000 hours of service in critical international roles in 2010. Orlando is where they receive training, logistical support and encouragement.

Volunteers from across the country travel to Orlando to spend days, weeks, and even months filling important jobs that are vital to the translation of the Scriptures into remaining languages.

During the winter months, the Volunteer Center’s RV site overflows with volunteers who want to make a difference. Many of them, after getting their feet wet in Orlando, realize that it is not only possible, but exciting and fulfilling to devote their time and energy to get God’s Word to those who need it. They decide to plunge in and do volunteer work overseas, where the need is greatest and where they can make the maximum difference. — Bruce Smith

By Jeff Gulleson

Rodger Murchison, associate pastor of the First Baptist Church of Augusta in Georgia, faced a missions pastor’s worst fear — the death of a team member while on a mission trip. When the enthusiastic group of nine assembled in the church parking lot to head for earthquake-ravaged Chile, no one could have guessed one of their group members would not return with them.

At 59 years old, Debbie Williams was an active member of her church and community. She and her husband had spent more than three decades serving those in need on various short-term medical trips. Their plans to assist a Chilean clinic seemed routine for this active couple. But Debbie fell ill on the flight. When the plane landed, she was rushed to a nearby hospital. Sadly, nothing could be done to save her.

The possibility of such a tragedy must cross the mind of every missions pastor. But those who have faced the reality will tell you it is much more horrendous than most pastors can imagine. And if that weren’t enough, a team member can always fall ill or become injured and require medical evacuation in order to return home to the United States.

Financial hardship

Not only do these procedures require mounds of paperwork, but without travel insurance they are also cause financial hardship. The family of Don Jenkins of Ashland, KY, was stuck with a bill of $90,000 after he tripped and hit his head while on a mission to Costa Rica. The family of Britt Leis had to pay $55,000 just for his medical evacuation after he was mugged in Ecuador. No doctor or missions pastor could have foreseen or prevented these events.

But even in the midst of grief and the miles of red-tape required to return Debbie’s body to the U.S., Murchison could pause to be thankful. You see, it was Debbie who had urged him to add team travel insurance to his last-minute plans. And in the midst of tragedy, team travel insurance would see her returned to her family.

So what can travel insurance do for your short-term missions team?

1. Cover overseas medical bills. While missions pastors always remember to insist that their team members secure a passport for their trip, few remember to have them check their health insurance for international coverage. Medicare and many domestic health insurance plans do not cover services rendered outside of the country. And the new health care bill has not changed this lack of coverage. Short-term team travel insurance can cover any medical emergencies the team might encounter.

2. Provide medical evacuation for ill or injured team members. Medical evacuation can be very expensive and the need for it can arise suddenly and unexpectedly. However, there are no domestic medical plans that cover medical evacuation even if they might cover services at an overseas hospital. Travel insurance is the only way to obtain this type of coverage.

3. Return the remains of a deceased team member. When tragedy strikes, flying the body of a deceased team member home can be as expensive as medical evacuation. And on top of all the red tape, flight arrangements are commonly tricky. Most travel insurance plans include an often overlooked benefit that can be invaluable in such as situation. Insurance representatives experienced in making arrangements in out-of-the-way places can often be reached with just a phone call.

4. Offer assistance and peace of mind. In fact, you may find the unnoticed benefits of travel insurance to be the most valuable. A traveler in Vietnam who suffered a perforated ulcer discovered this. Insurance representatives determined that the medical facilities available in the area were inadequate for his care and arranged a medical evacuation for him to nearby Thailand where he could obtain proper medical treatment. The transfer undoubtedly saved his life.

Additional services

And the services a good travel insurance broker can arrange for you don’t end there. Scouting trips necessary to set up mission trips can be covered by an individual travel plan offering the same benefits as team plans.

If you commonly make multiple missions trips each year, a multi-trip travel insurance plan will save you money while covering all of your missions travel. Trip cancellation insurance covers the cost of your flight should political unrest, a missed connection or natural disaster disrupt your plans.

In spite of its many benefits, travel insurance coverage is relatively inexpensive. So before you finalize your plans for the next missions trip, remember to contact a qualified travel insurance broker. You’ll be glad you did.

Jeff Gulleson founded Good Neighbor Insurance, Gilbert, AZ, a firm that specializes in international health, travel and life insurance. [www.gninsurance.com]

Unique program combines mission work and adventure travel.

By Bethanie Hestermann

The Orange River Challenge was the adventure of Brian Gray’s lifetime. The rafting excursion down South Africa’s longest river, in which Gray and his group of 17 encountered 90 kilometers of white water over the course of five days, was something he had never experienced before. In fact, before the 2005 trip Gray never hoped to, because he is a paraplegic. Even more amazing, Gray was not the only unique member of the group; it also contained five visually impaired members and a quadriplegic.

This very expedition led by Mandy Rapson, an employee of African Encounter which facilitates Christian mission trips to Southern and Eastern Africa under a sector called ACTS, blossomed into Able Africa, a new arm of the company that specializes in trips for disabled Christians and groups with mixed abilities.

The program is unique on two levels: It offers disabled (and able-bodied) adventurers the opportunity to combine mission work and adventure travel or sightseeing, and it seeks to uplift the local disabled community in Cape Town, South Africa.

“It’s about doing something different and giving people the opportunity to do what would otherwise not be possible,” Rapson says. “I want people to reach out of their comfort zones and learn to overcome the obstacles in their lives, whatever they may be.”

Connections empower and uplift

Past Able Africa volunteers have worked in a home for people with spinal injuries, engaging in the mental and physical stimulation of residents who otherwise receive little interaction. Rapson says this stimulation involves cognitive activities such as reading, playing checkers, chess or cards, and initiating games such as painting, bowling, song and dance that involve fine and gross motor skills.

“African Encounter and ACTS have also been involved in various disabled projects because of the great need in this area,” says Rapson. “Some projects include teaching mentally disabled children, supporting child welfare and computer literacy programs, assisting at the local crèche and visiting long-term patients in the township hospital.”

Rapson says when volunteers come to South Africa to interact with, learn from and love these individuals, it makes them feel important — and shows them there is no such thing as an insignificant life.

“Self pride and self respect encroach upon them like a blanket,” she says. “And that blanket is the love of God shared with them through their visitors.”

Making a memorable mission

Able Africa also allows disabled Christians to try new, adventurous activities as a part of their trip. Quad biking, skydiving, river rafting, sailing and shark cage diving are some of the options the program offers depending on the specific abilities in a group. Other options include open-air safaris, golf and sightseeing.

A sample Cape Town outreach trip consists of 11 days, two for traveling, four for customized recreation and five for community service and outreaches, also customizable depending on the group’s strengths.

Transportation and accommodations are designed to support all levels of ability. Ten percent of proceeds are automatically donated to sustaining initiatives for the disabled throughout Africa.

Gray says he doesn’t think many people with disabilities believe a trip such as the one he participated in is possible. But, he says, Able Africa has the equipment, experienced staff and professional expertise to make it happen. “Considering my situation I had some concerns going into the trip,” Gray says, “but I was able to easily contact Mandy (Rapson) and discuss those concerns. They even arranged a ‘test run’ on a local dam to look at what adaptations I may need on the canoe.”

Darrell Gwaltney, who has led three groups and more than 60 Christians on short-term mission trips hosted by ACTS, Able Africa’s sister company, agrees. “ACTS has one of the best support systems I’ve ever experienced in thirty years of ministry and after more than a dozen mission trips,” he says.

Gwaltney especially appreciates the environment of fellowship and team building, and speaks to Rapson’s commitment, compassion and respect for other people. Thanks to their host Gwaltney says his teams always rest well, eat well, and grow closer together on a mission trip.

“Able Africa gives disabled Christians the chance to fulfill dreams, to live big, and to have a positive, sustainable impact on Africa,” Rapson says. “The ultimate goal is to give all Christians the opportunity to participate in short-term missions. To empower them to, in turn, empower others.”

Planning a mission trip for a group, especially one with mixed abilities, can be challenging. Fellowship Travel International, a travel agency with years of experience helping Christians book faith-based travel, shares the following advice.

Airlines will not allow online group bookings

Many people think individual and group bookings are the same. In fact, Web sites not only limit you to nine seats per transaction, but the airline can, and often will, cancel your seats if they see you are trying to book a group.

If you attempt to get a group through the system, you typically need to make an instant purchase and provide final names at the time of the booking, even if months in advance of the travel.

If you go through a travel agent you can usually book a group up to 11 months in advance of your return date. This also makes it more likely to secure low-cost airfare. Since the number of seats can be adjusted up until about three months prior to travel, groups can take advantage of the lower prices with minimal risk.

Pre-trip planning

Ask yourself these questions while planning your trip: Are your dates flexible? Will you need ground transportation? Will your group need international cell phones while abroad?

The more flexible you can be with dates and airport choices, the greater chance you will have to get the best possible fare. Once the group is confirmed, you should advise your agent if there are children flying, as well as any travelers with wheelchairs or other special seating requests.

Ensure that all the names you have entered online (or provided your agent) match the travelers’ passports. If they do not match exactly, travelers could be denied boarding and additional costs may be incurred.

Other reminders

An often overlooked detail to include in your travel budget is insurance. For a nominal amount you can make sure you will be able to properly care for someone if they are hurt during the trip and need to be transported to a hospital. It will protect both you and your organization.

Arrive early on the day of travel. This will help ease your delays at airport baggage and security lines, especially if your group includes persons of varied abilities.

Lastly, know your rights. U.S. passengers’ rights (including rights of passengers with reduced mobility) can be found at airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/publications/flyrights.htm.

— Fellowship Travel International [www.fellowship.com]