We’ve eaten Big Macs in Moscow, Sydney, London, Dallas, and even in North Pole (Alaska). They tasted great in each location. The architecture of the stores was all different. The menus had some variations and the employees may have spoken different languages, but there was a certain consistency among the restaurants.
As we have discovered in our last two blogs, consistency is important not only for fast food chains but also for organizations conducting international trips. Friday we looked at three areas needing consistency. Today we explore four more.
Materials
If your teams use evangelism tracts or tools, for example, do all your teams use the same ones (except for language differences)? Consistency with your materials makes training easier—everyone is taught to use the same thing. It also ensures that only materials meeting your organization’s standards are used.
Also, do you give team members a shirt, travel bag, or other supplies? Make sure that all your teams get these. They don’t have to all be the same style, but you don’t want some teams getting them and others not. Yes, they do find out if others got them and they didn’t; yes, it does become an issue!
Finances
Do you have the same initial deposit requirement for all your trips? Do you require every trip participant to have half of their funds in x number of months before the trip? What do you do if someone raises more than they need? Do you have a consistent policy for handling this?
Do you have consistent expectations for how team leaders will handle money and report its use?
Logistics
Who makes the airline arrangements—the participant, team leader or other coordinator? (We suggest it not be left to individuals but that there is one point person who handles it for the team). Is this the same for each trip?
Is travel insurance required for every team member? Who is responsible for ordering it? Does every team prepare and disburse a list of emergency contact numbers? Does every team register with the U.S. Embassy in the country where they are headed? Does every team make prayer calendars?
Mobilization
Does every team follow a plan to mobilize prayer and other participation? See our March 29 blog for details.
There are reasons why McDonald’s has become the global icon that it has, and one of them is consistency. Let’s learn a lesson from the golden arches and strive for consistency in mission trips.
After all, what you are offering is far better than a Big Mac!