Preparing for Your Mission Trip
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You've applied for a mission trip at Bethel. Now what? We've outlined a few key steps to help you prepare for your trip.
Wait to Hear and Make Your Deposit
After the application deadline, leaders will review applications and shape the strongest team for each trip. Within 24 hours, you can expect to hear from the Team Leaders, who will seek to schedule an interview with you.
Once placed on a team, you have 48 hours to confirm your place.
If you're not placed on the team you applied for, we'll help you learn about alternative options. We want all Bethel students to participate, so we urge students to consider that they might be called to use their gifts in an unexpected place.
Attend Team Meetings
All teams meet for the kickoff on Friday-Saturday, November 16-17 to get introduced to the process of preparing for Spring Break Missions. (It’s not just a one week experience-training starts early!) Team meetings will be held weekly starting on Sunday, November 18, 2018. Please make plans now to make yourself available for team meetings. Most of these will be held on Sunday evenings. You'll be expected to attend at least 75% of team meetings and to participate in 100% of team fundraisers. No matter the date, Spring Break starts today!
Learn about Costs and Fundraising
To make the trip affordable for students, Bethel has established a fundraising process to help cover a portion of trip costs. Learn more about fundraising and costs.
Support Your Team
As part of a team, each student must commit to the following:
- Pray regularly for the team.
- Attend the Kickoff (November 16-17, 2020), Prep Retreat (February 22–23, 2019), and UnPack It (in April 2017).
- Attend at least 75% of team meetings prior to the trip.
- Fully participate in fundraising—sending out as many support letters (to friends, family, neighbors, and church family) as possible.
- Be financially responsible (see below).
Finish the Paperwork
To serve on a trip:
- Students who are 18 years of age or older must sign the Waiver and Release of Claims.
- Students who are under 18 must have a parent or guardian sign the Waiver and Release of Claims.
As part of this process, you must also give Bethel permission to use photos or videos of your trip in articles, publications, and promotions.
Get Credit for Your Trip
Spring break trips are approved as Z-tags. Students who want to use this experience as their Z-tag should register for:
- GES101 (Pre-Intercultural Preparation)
- GES102Z (Post-Intercultural Engagement Processing)
Be sure you choose the section that lists the instructor as Matthew C. Runion.
Tell Your Family and Friends
Our family and friends provide incredible support as we process these powerful trips. Here are some simple and profound ways that families and friends can support you during your trip.
Ask your family and friends for their prayers and ask them how you can pray for them specifically—before they leave, while they're gone, and after they return.
Ask them to help you process before you leave and when you return home.
Questions they can ask before the trip:
- What do you expect to encounter?
- What apprehensions do you have? What excites you?
- Have you encountered poverty before? What do you expect on this trip?
- What do you think your role on the team will be?
Questions they can ask after the trip:
- What was the best/worst part of the trip?
- What did you see God do on the trip?
- What was your strongest contribution?
- What did you discover about others? About yourself?
- Do you think you've changed as a result?
- What was hard about returning?
Know That We Support Your Safety
We take student safety seriously. The ministry partners we select to host and lead our teams have demonstrated awareness and mitigation of the risks associated with their ministries.
Because there are always risks with both international and domestic travel, we are never able to guarantee the complete safety of any team. However, if a student is being sent by Bethel, that trip has been approved in light of our mission of Christ-centered education that strives to join in God's reconciling work and to minister the love of Christ to a world in need.
Important Dates
Applications for spring break trips will be available in the fall. Deadline to apply is November 1, 2018.