How We Plan Mission Trips
We are looking forward to safely serving internationally again later this year, as well as continuing to send missions team around the United States. Our 2021 calendar is here and we wanted to give you a behind-the-scenes look on how locations are selected, along with how we build relationships with our partners on the ground. Check out what Whitney, our Associate Director of Missions, had to say:
How do we begin establishing our partners for international and domestic mission trips?
Partners and hosts come to us in a variety of ways. Many times it’s through connections in the missions world or by word-of-mouth through trusted sources. Sometimes we may receive a contact request from a person asking if they could be a host for us.
What are the next steps in establishing a partner?
When we establish a new host we go through an extensive vetting process that includes several phone calls and meetings. We like to learn about their connections in their community that would allow us to host multiple shoe distributions when we take a team. When possible, we try to travel and spend some time in-person with a new host prior to bringing a full team. We will visit distribution locations, hotels or guest houses, transportation providers, restaurants, excursion sites, etc. We like to be able to see it all so that we can ensure the location is suitable to bring a team, most importantly, for safety and security reasons.
What tiny little details go into finalizing a partnership and making a location “team-ready?”
Once we determine that a host would be a good fit, we send them an extensive MOU asking a variety of questions ranging from lodging, transportation, food, currency, and immunizations required all the way to the type of electricity and if voltage adapters are needed. We want to take care of every detail so that our team members know as much as possible on what to expect on any given trip. This is why we rely so closely on our hosts to help gather all of this information.
How do you pick distribution sites for international and domestic trips?
We rely on guidance from our partners and hosts to help determine and identify distribution locations for our team to serve. Our partners are much more familiar with the needs in their country and their communities and we want to come alongside them and support them rather than try to assume that we can always do a better job. Our hosts are an invaluable part of every trip that we plan. Their knowledge and love for their communities is always evident and they go above and beyond to help make our team members feel welcome and loved. It’s an absolute honor to work closely with every single one of them.
Ready to serve with us?