Team Info
Most groups come and do backyard Bible Clubs with us during Spring Break and the Summer. This year we worked at 62 different apartment complexes. We have thirty-eight established missions. Most of these have inside facilities, five of them have complete kitchen facilities.
We are very flexible as far as when you want to come. We have plenty of work! BUT, you will have a better experience if you plan your trip when we have the fewest people in town. You’ll get a lot more of Tim and Ashley if there are only 20 people in town as compared to 200!
The largest group we hosted in 2008 was around 950 high school/middle school students. Each group is broken down into teams of 10.
A good missionary team size will have 6-8 youngsters and 2 adults.
Each team will cover one location. Most teams lead one mission from 3:30-5:00 pm.
So if your group is 30 people you will have three teams and cover six locations. My preference is to have a ratio of 1 missionary (you guys!) to 3 residents of the complexes. We don’t like too many more missionaries than that because then people in your group start to feel like they are not needed.
Most of the apartments have an average of about 25-30 children who participate. They range from 1st through 7th grade. Three or four moms with their pre-schoolers is also common. There will be some high schoolers as well.
All of the children will be internationals. They come from three major religious groups: Muslim, Buddhist and Catholic. We are there to share Jesus in a loving way.
Arguing about how we are right and Mohammed is wrong will never work. People are converted through and by love, not logic. I am very evangelistic, but I have found that an antagonist approach never works.
So let your groups know that we always have to be friendly first. It is my preference that your group has an overview on what these three faiths believe before they come. Here are a few links to help get you started:
www.religionfacts.com www.religioustolerance.org www.everystudent.com
There is some shopping too, but that’s mainly food items that they can share to get a taste of the culture.
The mornings are used for team briefings, tours, planning sessions, service projects and Prayer Walks.
Bible Story Example