Teams

Because of our partnership with many churches in the United States, we get to host teams here in Guatemala. In many ways our teams help us to go farther and faster with our work.

If you are interested in being a part of our work here and want to come down as a team, a family or an individual. There are a few things you should know. Take a look at the Team Guide and then get in contact with us so that we can get you on the calendar.

Mission Team Guide

Once you have spent some time down here with us, we’d like your feedback, so please click on the feedback form and give us your two cents. We want to continue to improve our team experiences and your comments will help. Thanks!

Mission Team Feedback Form

The Danger of Being Safe – Consider this as you wrestle with the idea of being a  short term or long term missionary.   David Platt during the 2013 Verge conference said this:

… “I think about two families that we just sent out last month, one moving to the heart of the Middle East, the other moving to the heart of Central Asia, both among extremely difficult, dangerous to reach people groups. And one of these husbands tells our church, ‘Some of you think we’re being reckless.’ And he’s sitting there with his wife, his two young kids going to the heart of the Muslim Middle East…He looked at our church and he said, ‘I think we’re in far greater danger of being safe than we are reckless in contemporary Christianity…’ Followers of Christ, we do not bow at the alter of safety in this world! We die to self. We die to sin. We risk our lives in obedience to Him! This is what it means to follow Him. To follow Jesus is to hold loosely to the things of this world: Comfort, careers, possessions, positions, family, friends, safety, ourselves. To cling tightly to the person of Christ and the mission of His Kingdom! Now that may sound extreme to some, but don’t forget who the ‘me’ is here. To leave behind, to lay down, abandon everything in your life doesn’t make sense until you realize who Jesus is. But when you realize who He is, when you realize who Christ the King is, leaving behind, laying down, abandoning everything in our lives is the only thing that makes sense…Brothers and sisters, we have found in this King someone who is worth loosing everything for.”

 The Seven Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission

1. GOD-CENTEREDNESS
An excellent short-term mission seeks first God’s glory and his kingdom, and is expressed through our:
Purpose — Centering on God’s glory and his ends throughout our entire STM process
Lives — Sound biblical doctrine, persistent prayer, and godliness in all our thoughts, words, and deeds
Methods — Wise, biblical, and culturally-appropriate methods which bear spiritual fruit

2. EMPOWERING PARTNERSHIPS
An excellent short-term mission establishes healthy, interdependent, on-going relationships between
sending and receiving partners, and is expressed by:
Primary focus on intended receptors
Plans which benefit all participants
Mutual trust and accountability

3. MUTUAL DESIGN
An excellent short-term mission collaboratively plans each specific outreach for the benefit of all
participants, and is expressed by:
On-field methods and activities aligned to long-term strategies of the partnership
Goer-guests’ ability to implement their part of the plan
Host receivers’ ability to implement their part of the plan

4. COMPREHENSIVE ADMINISTRATION
An excellent short-term mission exhibits integrity through reliable set-up and thorough administration for all
participants, and is expressed by:
Truthfulness in promotion, finances, and reporting results
Appropriate risk management
Quality program delivery and support logistics

5. QUALIFIED LEADERSHIP
An excellent short-term mission screens, trains, and develops capable leadership for all participants, and is
expressed by:
Character — Spiritually mature servant leadership
Skills — Prepared, competent, organized, and accountable leadership
Values — Empowering and equipping leadership

6. APPROPRIATE TRAINING
An excellent short-term mission prepares and equips all participants for the mutually designed outreach,
and is expressed by:
Biblical, appropriate, and timely training
On-going training and equipping (pre-field, on-field, post-field)
Qualified trainers

7. THOROUGH FOLLOW-UP
An excellent short-term mission assures debriefing and appropriate follow-up for all participants, and is
expressed by:
Comprehensive debriefing (pre-field, on-field, post-field)
On-field re-entry preparation
Post-field follow-up and evaluation