When it comes to International Mission:
• If you don’t have a heart for the poor, you are not going to last in mission work.
• Be prepared for your passion NOT to be popular with most other people you talk with – do it anyway.
• Discover the needs from the people you wish to serve and collaborate for effective strategies to meet those needs (What has been done in the past? By what group? Was it effective?).
• Likewise, what do THEY identify as their community’s/country’s needs? strengths and weaknesses?
• Be genuine and use YOUR gifts of the spirit; don’t try to be someone else.
• Be a collaborator with those you serve, with your team, with other groups who serve in common cause so you aren’t all doing the same thing within the same community.
• Find a team/partner whom you can trust and who will value your input.
• Be willing to make concessions; not all your ideas will fly.
• Constantly adapt and upgrade – what worked 20 years ago might no longer be effective.
• Commit to long-term relationships with those you serve; hopscotching countries is ineffective
• A trusting relationship may need to develop over a period of time before any meaningful work can begin.
• Learn the cultural/political/historical issues of the area.
• Stay connected with what is happening within the country via international news sources or blogs of those with close contacts who are trusted and reputable sources.
• Respect constraints over which you have no control.
• Remain in communication with those you are serving.
• Determine funding sources for projects you can live with ie. fund-raising, grants, donors, endowment.
• Be sensitive to differences in perspectives and priorities being different between your culture and a foreign culture (ie. time may be viewed in a much more relaxed way as opposed to punctual, hospitality may be an expectation rather than a courtesy).
• After a few relationships are formed, your reputation within a community is more solid with its other members.
• Use active listening to hear all sides of an issue to avoid being prejudicial.
• Show respect to the folks you meet by asking their permission to take photos, share their stories, etc.
• Meet folks from all walks of life to gain a perspective of the community as a whole.
• Be available to being a resource to other groups who may want to become involved in mission.
• Trust your gut.
• Serve as a facilitator and connector among persons/groups/services that arise.
• Recognize there is never enough money in the budget to cover all the needs that arise; all the needs are legitimate, so be prepared to pull out of your own pocket and give selflessly and anonymously.
• Establish goals/priorities where you can make a difference rather than try to do it all.
• Build a reliable support team on the homefront to help with your mission work – it can’t be done alone.
• When visiting the country you are supporting, try to make a point of taking part in their special events such as holidays and church festivities to live like a local.
• If you are traveling and have special medical conditions, line up in-country doctors who are well-versed and respected in those areas before you go.
• Make your first trip with an established reputable group encounter that offers a landscape of the country and offers a wide range of experiences.
• Once you feel confident in navigating the country with established/trusted sources, invite others to join subsequent immersion trips with preparation before (including a book list/movies) and follow-up afterwards.
• If you do a blog/website, decide in advance how to handle the lure of ads to fund it.
• Decide if you want to do educational programming in church/community re: your mission.
• Be prepared for bumps and disappointments along the way, but do it anyway.
