Don't go it alone

Date posted: Wednesday 7th November 2007

Last summer, 11 members of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland went to Peru for three weeks, to help renovate a nursery school in Independencia "“ a shanty town on the outskirts of the city of Arequipa. During their time in Peru, the team helped to plaster walls and improve the buildings and sanitation of the premises. They also took part in various church services, youth groups and school assemblies in Arequipa and participated in a two-day mission to communities in a town nearby.

Today, more and more churches are sending teams made up of members of their congregations on short-term mission trips like the one the St Andrews team went on. For any church considering this, the wisest course of action is to use the services of a mission agency, rather than try to do everything on their own. The St. Andrew's church trip was arranged by Latin Link as part of Step, Latin Link's Short-term experience programme for teams.

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'This team to Arequipa has proved to be a blessing to our church at St Andrew's since it has been a whole church effort,' says St Andrews' Minister David Maxwell. 'We would encourage congregations to seriously consider sending out Step Teams. It's worth it!' </b>

When Ebenezer Baptist church in Mold, Flintshire, wanted to send a team to Peru recently, they also enlisted Latin Link's services. A Step team made up of 10 church members were sent to the city of Andahuaylas to redecorate an old people's home.

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'Latin Link were extremely helpful in our preparations,' says Jonathan Wells, one of the Ebenezer Baptist team members. 'Before the trip, they helped in vetting potential team members for suitability. They also helped set our expectations and provided basic cultural training "“ both before leaving, and en-route in Lima. They gave us health advice for preparation and while we were out there, and provided us with a first aid kit. They helped us with finding and booking flights, arranging transportation and accommodation in Lima, and arranged for our living funds to meet us in Peru in local currency. This was a fantastic service.'</b>

'When you send a team from your church it makes sense to use the experience and expertise of a mission agency,' says Chris Stansfield, Latin Link's Head of People Resources. 'They can arrange all the practical details and will give the team a better preparation for the challenges ahead. Latin Link also has supervisors on the ground in the receiving country to look after you when you're there and integrate your work into longer term ministries.'...