nicaraguamission.ca

These are some things I learned (often the hard way) about doing mission trips in Nicaragua. They are offered not as the last word, but only as a starting point for discussion about how these things can best be carried out. Please post your reactions- or better yet, send your own list of tips to me at gwkuenzel [at] yahoo.ca. and I will be happy to add them to the list.

In Christ’s service together,

Pastor Gary Kuenzel

 

1. Make sure your mission activities are compatible with the objectives of the Nicaragua Lutheran Synod and Mission. Better, have your planned activities come directly from those objectives.  

2. Once you have a plan, recruit team members from your congregation with the right skills to carry out that plan. If you can’t, get a new plan you can reasonably expect to implement successfully and clear it with the mission in Nicaragua. 

3. Recruit only the number of participants you need to carry out the projects planned. Your team leader will be responsible for and need to take care of all team members, whether they are productive or not. 

4. Recruit specific people for your team based on abilities, but also on physical health and spiritual maturity. Don’t just invite “whoever wants to participate” unless your purpose is to simply get a large number from your congregation to experience Nicaragua and meet Lutheran Christians there.

5. Don’t start a project unless you are committed to finishing it. Churches that only get half finished and feeding programs that run out of money and have to be stopped are not a good reflection on the Gospel. Nicaragua is a poor country and the Nicaragua Lutheran Church has few resources. If you don’t finish what you start, it’s unlikely anyone else will. 

6. Plan, communicate and co-ordinate with the Nicaragua Mission and the local Nicaraguan pastor or missionary as much as possible before you leave Canada, but know for certain that it will never come off just the way you planned it-you will have to be flexible. If you can’t adjust gracefully to changing situations, this type of service is not for you. 

7. You will also need to be patient. Nicaragua time is not the same as North American time. The culture will not adjust to you, you will need to adjust to it. Build this understanding into your schedule. Take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the friendly people while you wait. The people are what it’s all about anyway. 

8. One trip I was a part of had 10 team members divided up into 3 sub-teams and a team leader. Each group of three had their own leader and a specific set of goals and activities, mostly unrelated to the other 2. The team leader coordinated activities with the Nicaraguan church and between subgroups, drove the rented van and handled money and other practical matters. That system worked well for that trip. 

9. Every mission group should have a functioning spiritual leader, ideally the congregation’s pastor. The daily spiritual life of the team is very important and should ideally include devotional, sharing, meditation and journalling time. 

10. Mission trips are group efforts. Participants should not expect to be going off alone to “do their own thing” except in rare circumstances. Togetherness is a good thing on mission trips, but only to a point. After 10 days or so, even the most charitable of Christians can get tired of each other’s company. Plan your trip length accordingly.

 

 

Jane Ford’s Report 

Hi everyone!

I attended a Short Term Mission Trips seminar last night in Waterloo . It was sponsored by Canadian Christian Council of Charities (4Cs or CCCC). The attachment is my thank you to Rev John Pellowes who gave the presentation if you are interested to read it. He had asked us to send him our thoughts on the evening. These noteworthy points were revealed (to me at least. No matter how long you work for charities, you can always learn something new!) This is a bit lengthier than I intended but just wanted to share it with you. 

1. A sending organization/congregation should have a short term mission policy that outlines standards of excellence, expectations of organizers and mission trippers, and includes a safety and security/risk management policy. If any of you are aware of one that is currently in use by some congregation, could you let me know?

2. Thorough preparation of the team for the trip is essential. There are some good books about expectations, cultural and languages issues, etc. that can be given to the team members as gifts. The cost of these may be used as an expense against the revenue.

3. Teens age 16-18 cause some unique challenges. Parents and the teen should sign all releases. A “child” up to age 18 accompanied by one parent must have a notarized declaration from the absent parent indicating knowledge of the trip and granting permission. This will ensure no problems with immigration.

4. Having mission trippers sign a “release” is considered more appropriate (legally-binding) than just a “waiver”. A waiver is really nothing more than a statement of what will happen if something else happens and is not signed. A well-worded release completely releases organizers from all responsibilities and places all risk entirely on the tripper. It should include a specific statement regarding a release from “negligence”. A release should be a stand-alone document laying out potential risks without being too specific or too general. It should be preferably one page in length; needs to be distributed early in the preparation process; needs to be reviewed in an unrushed, private manner so all questions can be answered; and then signed and witnessed by several organizers. Again if any of you are using one, could you tell me about it or email a copy?

5. Medical insurance should be arranged by one person through one carrier. Provincial health coverage is only minimal. CCCC has a short term mission insurance available for this purpose but I did not ask whether only member organizations could use it.

6. All trippers should have a physical and should take the suggested immunization for the country they visit. If someone cannot or will not take the required immunization, they should probably not be considered for the trip because they may endanger the team or loved ones at home when they return. These costs should be an expense to the trip.

7. Trips paid for by the trippers themselves or by their family members is completely and rightfully tax creditable. A receipt may be issued as these donors are eligible to contribute to the overall mission of their church. If trippers pay for immunization themselves, they may submit it for a tax receipt.

8. Once the trip has been paid in full, no donated portion of excess money may be distributed back to the trippers in any manner. As part of the short term missions policy, include a policy regarding how excess money will be used.

9. If a tripper is unable to go on the trip, this money cannot be refunded even if they have not yet received a receipt.

10. A separate designated fund should be set up to receive and disperse money. This is especially helpful during an audit.

11. CRA expects the following: formal approval of the trip (a minuted/recorded motion), a budget, a coordinator’s log to record non-receiptable dispursements during the trip, all receipts to be turned in.  

12. When fund-raising, the mission trip not the individual trippers should be promoted. Trippers could be liable for taxes if the money is seen as personal money.

13. The trip should be promoted as “not a vacation” to avoid CRA viewing it in some portion as a personal benefit and thereby not tax creditable. Free time of course is fine because no one works every hour of every week at their job in Canada . Extra side trips should be paid for separately by individuals to keep it clean. To lengthen a trip by staying for a personal vacation is also ok, but again the extras must be paid for the individual.

14. If a sending organization invests in “bricks and mortar” it has an obligation to assure that the structure built remains for use as intended until it is amortized off the organization’s accounting records or for up to 5 years. With the new T3010, this becomes more important. A record (a scrapbook with pictures is fine) of follow-ups is a good way to assure that your organization has done its best to assure that Canadian-donated funds continue to be used responsibly especially when capital projects are in another country. Who owns the structure is very important to CRA.  Fourteen points is enough. Visit their website if you want to sign up for the course.

 Peace,

Jane Ford

Support Services, Lutheran Bible Translators of Canada   jane(at)lbtc.ca