In our last post, we posed five questions to consider when deciding where to take your next international ministry or humanitarian team. We pick up that discussion today with five additional questions to ponder.
Can you recruit for this trip?
What is the likelihood that you will be able to put together a team to go there? Will the costs for that particular place be so expensive that people will be reluctant to go? Will the conditions require that the potential team member be in great physical shape—if say you have to hike a long distance to reach the site? Do you have a large enough pool to draw from with the skills needed to work at this site?
What are the logistics to go to a place like that?
What are the transportation needs? What accommodations are available? How available are the supplies that you will need?
What is the political/security environment?
Is there known civil unrest around the site that could be prohibitive to your ministry? What will it take to get visas? Are there special permits needed to travel to that part of the country? Are there particular security concerns that need to be weighed?
What are other organizations doing there?
Would your trip be redundant to what others will do? Could it hinder the work of others? Do you need to coordinate with another organization? Experience has taught us that some national leaders work with multiple international organizations, but they don’t always disclose that to those organizations. So you show up with a team the week after another team was there and the locals do not have the time or energy to adequately work with you.
Have you prayed about it?
Have you gathered a group of people to pray about it? How is God guiding your steps? Do you have a peace about this?
While this list is far from exhaustive, it is a good starting point. Also, just because a site may be hard to access or the work may be difficult it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go there. It just means that you need to count the cost before you do. Hopefully this list will help you do that. With limited resources, this list can also help you choose between what is good and what is best.