PFC Short Terms Missions Trip
January 14, 2004
Meeting Started: 7:07pm
Meeting Ended: 9:06pm
Opened meeting with prayer.
GVT and Leslie leading the meeting, with many testimonies. Various handouts provided. "We go because we're called not because we can."
Attendees: GVT, Doug Dixon, Leslie Spading, Kelly Dunn, Larry Ressler, Sharon Ressler, Joey Costello, Bob Jordan, Rebecca Jordan, Andrea Jordan, Tim Coleman, Donna Van Amrum, Scott Van Amrum, Pastor Steve Schertzinger, Marsha Whiteman
Missions Dates for 2004... (some dates may change slightly)
Kenya COMPLETE
March 18-April 2 (team already in place for 2004)
Russia
March 25-April 2 (Kursk - small team of 3-5, desiring experienced people; not a prison visitation trip but more training and supporting local regional teams. May consider new people on an individual basis.)
June 19-July 3 (Penza - Steve leading this team, 5 Americans can go into an institution. 5 institutions in all. May take up to 12 volunteers. Want to stay in homes of locals rather than hotels - more cultural opportunities. Some Moscow tours possible. Dates flexible. Steves@nhccm.org)
Sept 17-Oct 2 (Penza and hopefully also Kursk- follow-up on previous work. 12 max. volunteers.)
South Africa CANCELLED
June 19-July 3 (Strong relationships made through the Dunklin facility in Florida. They minister in South Africa and have invited PFC to do prison work. Team of 10-12, experience full culture of the mission trip. GVT going.)
Thailand
Dec 27-Jan 8, 2005 (Partnership with Overlake Christian Church. Still many unknowns. OCC and PFC partnering to work with an OCC missionary. 60,000 Juveniles incarcerated in Thailand. Reaching out to broken people, even those not in prison (homeless, prostitution, blind, lepers). Joey has been to Thailand. Leslie spoke the most about this mission trip. Still sketchy on many details.)
Eastern Washington
April 30-May 2
November 5-7
(850 miles, Friday morning through Sunday evening. Juvenile and Adult ministry, usually up to 10 venues each. JV team goes 4x per year going back three years. Much evangelism. These two dates are for a combined Adult and JV trip. Cost for this trip is $100-115 for food and lodging.)
Testimonies
Leslie and GVT each shared testimonies of their first experiences with foreign missions including how we got to where we are. Very inspirational!
Larry shared about being in Russia and going into the prison there - they need Jesus too! Horrible living conditions there in the prison. Russian people open to the Gospel in a major way.
Sharon shared about Russian women interpreters. Many relationships established and looking forward to going back! Great blessing!! In their great poverty they give gifts to us.
Scott shared about the prayer meetings with Pastor Yuri in Russia. Incredible to see daily needs met in response to prayers offered that very day. Poverty is overwhelming, but they do so much with so little. It makes me reflect on my own possessions.
Steve has been to Siberian prisons in the dead of winter. Been to Russia four times (first time 10 years ago). 27 degrees below zero! Vivid remembrance in Siberia of the prison warden's reception. They had soft drinks for us and the warden said two years before we came there was only one Christian inmate in the prison. A year prior there was four prisoners. They asked for and got their own wing for Christians. There were 12 now (screened by the prisoners). In the last 12 months they had one prison uprising - they usually have seven. The warden credited the Christian inmates caring for others as the difference.
Five Objectives of Any PFC Missions Trip
Train and equip the national saints who are already doing prison ministry. Multiply PFC's blessings with our national counterparts.
Teach the church how to recruit additional volunteers to assist them in presenting the concept to other believers.
Bless the saints with encouragement and resources.
Introduce the PFC umbrella and possibly raise up a PFC national leader.
All or part of the group conducting 1-2 church services in a national prison.
How Do I Prepare?
Pre Trip
Passports - Must not be within six months of expiring else Russia and may countries won't let you in. Get extra passport photos taken for your visa so they look close to the same.
Support Raising - Some raise all of it, some can afford the full freight. Encourage you to gather at least 50% of your support so that they have ownership too and they will pray for you. Steve can help with this fundraising.
Shots - Varies according to the country. See the web for the dept. of state. Russia does not require shots, but they recommend it. One prison has persons with tuberculosis as well as AIDS. Find out what's recommended early as sometimes there's a series of shots. Only drink filtered water.
Trip
Daily Agenda - Very Fluid!! (Meaning it's unpredictable...) Russians do not live by a calendar and some days we do nothing. We fit into their culture and we have to be patient.
Post Trip
You may experience culture shock! We do debrief together but be prepared.
What Are Your Responsibilities?
Raise your own support ($2500-$3000). Each trip will have its own budget. Two biggest excuses to not go are 1-no money and 2-no time. Get coaching on fundraising. Veteran missions trainers said that no one who commits to missions trips have ever backed out due to lack of money - God provides (after you commit…)!
Attend meetings 90 days before departure for twice a month for two months and possibly one a week for the prior three weeks of leaving.
Find 10 people for your own personal prayer support. This is very important!
Shared leadership. Each team has a leader and likely co-leaders, but we still spread out the responsibilities.
When It Is All Said and Done What Will We Have Accomplished?
The Five Objectives (above).
Develop a prototype step-by-step action plan for the next trip.
Q & A
Minimum age for the trip? Case by case basis will be considered if under 21. Responsible parent and responsible child required. No less than 12 years old is a good standard.
What kinds of things would there be for youth to do? Russia has churches with growing youth groups. Russia youths love the American youth!
Can you take packaged food with you? Yes.
Recommended:
Mission Trip Team Leader Training
Friday Jan 30, 7-9:30pm
Saturday, Jan 31, 9am - 4pm
$25 per person. PFC will pay for five persons.
Venue: Overlake Christian Church
What you will learn...
Learn the nuts and bolts of putting a trip together
Discover your role as a leader
Get materials for training your team
Develop your leadership skills and knowledge
Walk through the process of recruiting, training, finances and logistics
Email to reach@occ.org
Angela Raske
Overlake Christian Church
REACH Ministry
9900 Willows Road NE
Redmond, WA 98052
425-895-5902