Raising support can be awkward, especially if you’ve never done it before. The main thing understand and remember is: Support raising gives others the opportunity to also be a part of missions, and your trip in particular. Support raising gives God the opportunity to bless and confirm your calling through the gifts and prayers of others. There are many ways to raise support (car washes, bake sales, etc.), but the most common is the PERSONAL SUPPORT LETTER. You can also distribute support letters through email, use an online crowd-funding service, print and mail out hard copies, or even hand-deliver them. Regardless of which method(s) you use, let’s walk through the three basic steps for getting it done: Step 1 – The List Compile a list of names of friends, family, co-workers, fellow church members, etc. Collect emails and/or mailing addresses for each name. Most people can come up with 30 – 50 names. If not, grab a cup of coffee, go back, think ...

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For most people, raising support for their first mission is something they agonize over because they’ve never done it before. For the rest of us, its something we agonize over because we have done it before. It takes discipline to buckle-down and write the text of your support letter, but the next steps you take are pretty important in determining what kind of response you will get. Here are 6 proven tips to help increase donor repossess from your support raising letter. Keep your support letter limited to one piece of paper, preferably the front side only, and use at least 11-point font and 1.25 line spacing. It is more inviting and easier to read un-crowded text. Make sure your letter includes pictures. At a minimum, one of you, and one related to where you are going. Include captions with the pictures that clearly say that you are going on a mission trip. Probably less than half of your recipients ...

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Leading an international short-term mission trip requires lots of prayer, preparation and attention to detail. Visas and passports comprise just a few of the many details you need to tend to, but they are among the most important details. The country your team visits may or may not require a visa, but it will certainly require a valid US passport. In recent years, more and more countries have adopted the mysterious “six month passport rule,” a rule that continues to catch unsuspecting travelers by surprise. The “six month passport rule” is a policy adopted and enforced on a per-country basis. If you are traveling with a U.S. passport to Europe, Asia, South America or a host of other areas, the country you are visiting will likely require that your U.S. Passport be valid for 6 months following your expected date of departure (not date of entry). Often perceived as just a nuisance or ...

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Insurance coverage for team members going on short-term mission trips is a smart and affordable part of preparation to travel abroad. Your regular family or employer health insurance policy typically will not cover illness or injury sustained overseas. You can call and check on your existing policy, but sometimes even such a call will raise unnecessary eyebrows. In addition to coverage for unexpected medical expenses, many short-term travel policies will include coverage for lost or stolen luggage, emergency medical evacuation, and canceled flights. Cost is basically a factor of three components: (1) destination location, (2) trip duration, and (3) age of team member. For example, a 20 year-old going on a two week trip to Mexico will pay around $20 for $500,000 policy, whereas a 60 year-old traveling to the Middle East for one week would pay around $80 for the same amount of coverage. Given the potential for the unexpected, both are quite ...

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Questions. Questions. Questions… You’re going to be asked lots of them! Be proactive and get answers out there before all the questions start. A little up-front work now will save you hours down the road and also help prevent those awkward, or even dangerous, moments on the field. Let’s develop your list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) now and get it in your team’s hands before that first meeting. If you’ve run the same trip before, you can probably type up a list of FAQs in 30 minutes or less. And it doesn’t have to be final; post it on your website and update it periodically, distribute them out via email, or make copies available during your team meetings. Also, you can you team management tool like MissionMinder to host your FAQs and other key documents online for easy and secure team member access. Need some help getting started? Click here to download a starter list of Mission Trip FAQs: Mission ...

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