The Application

The Application Packet provides a lot for both the Team Leaders and the applicant.

The Team Leader

• Initiating this process provides an opportunity to know the team a little and an opportunity for screening.
• The Team Application: Helps the leader to find individuals whose character, talents, giftings and heart reflect the team’s over all objective.
• Pastors Letter of Recommendation: This is usually weighted very heavily in determining your team.
  • We recommend that the pastors letter be sealed in a confidential envelope when mailed with the application.
  • This will help minimize bias.
  • Also in this recommendation have a section for the pastor to sign and agree that they will handle all the tax deductible forms for all parties donating to this individual.
• Medical Assessment Form: This helps the leader determine if the applicant is physically and mentally able to attend the trip.
• Applicant Letter: This letter includes the following details:
  • Application deadline and deposit.
  • Total trip cost, including what this cost covers and deadlines for payments.
  • Trip dates
  • Team training session dates. Experience shows that if these does are not stated up-front, then many team members are unable to attend. We strongly recommend that you clearly communicate the commitment needed, which includes mandatory attendance at all team meetings.

The Applicant

The Application Packet helps the individual sort through whether he/she should go or not.

• Providing dates: Helps the individual know if they can get the time off of work.
• Providing cost: Helps them to determine if they can earn or raise enough money.
• Providing a phone number for more information: Gives them a contact for any questions which and help in their determining process.

Team Member Discernment

Include some thoughts and checlists that help guide each applicant to understand if his/her trip participation is God's will.

Help potential team members understand the true sense of "call":

• The Dramatic Call, such as with Jonah or Paul, are rare and not the typical Christian experience.
• The Commissioned Call, such when Paul and Barnabas were selected, through prayer, to go to Antioch (Acts 13). The leadership of the local body of believers, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, recognized that these two individuals were the appropriate people to make the trip.
• Consider the “Sound Mind Principle” as described by Bill Bright. God has given us a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7), transformed and renewed (Rom. 12:1-2). With our mind, we can make sound, biblical, godly decisions. In terms of this trip, does it make sense to be a participant?
• See the article "The Call to Missions", by Paul Borthwick, for more insights on the subject.

Consider the following checklist of ministry priorities (with thanks to "Discover the Best Short-Term Mission for You" by Steven C. Hawthorne)

• Target. Are you "drawn" to the same city or country the team will visit? Does the group of people the team will focus on (such as kids; those completely unreached; those in tribal villages; etc.) fit with the passions and interests God has put in you?
• Task and Talent. What kind of goals and activities will the team accomplish? How do those activities fit with your own talents, skills, experiences and interests? Will there an opportunity to try something you have never attempted before? Don't be limited only by what you've done before!

Some questions you can ask yourself:

• What is your primary motivation for going on a mission trip?
• What type of experience are you hoping for? While we have faith that God will do great and miraculous things through each team, at the same time, we must also be realistic and understand that often a team of people working cross-culturally without foreign language skills do not personally see many people accept Christ.
• What degree of cultural difference are you seeking? Going to a Native American Reservation in the mid-western US, where the people speak English and where American style clothing, generates far less culture-shock and risk than a visiting a country in the Middle-East that is hostile to the gospel, and whose language and lifestyle are vastly different.

Consider the following table, from ShortTermMissions.com. Participants cannot make their first-time cross-cultural missionary experience on a level 4 trip.

Level	Project components	Stress	Experience
1	Same country, Same language, Possible different ethnic group, Large group	Low	First-timers, jr. high & high school age
2	Different country, Same language, Different ethnic group, Housed together in familiar setting	Low to medium	Mature first-timers or those with little experience overseas
3	Different country, Different language, Different ethnic group, Small group housed together in community	Medium	Previous STM experience recommended
4	Different country, Different language, Different ethnic group, Individual or small group housed separately with national families	High	Previous STM experience recommended