How to Plan Your Mission Trip

 

1.  Promote, Promote, Promote - Start Spreading the Word As Soon As Possible

 

• Use the Above Resources - Above are some great resources for getting the word out and promoting your trip. Be sure to use them.

 

• Talk with Your Pastor -  Ask his blessing and help in promoting your mission trip. Ask him if he would promote and talk about the trip from the pulpit.

 

• Put Announcements in Your Church Bulletin - Announce it up front, promote it from the pulpit, call people, talk to people; ask for stories of people who have already gone on a short-term mission trip, do a skit, do whatever you can to get the word out.

 

• Use Our Promo Videos to Raise Interest and Enthusiasm - Click for Promo Videos

 

• Put a Sign-up Sheet In The Lobby of Your Church - Put out a nice, attractive, sign-up sheet in a well-known spot and encourage people to sign up if they’re interested in going. Your first step is to throw wide the net and gather all who have any interest.

 

• Put Together an Information Trip Packet - Along with the sign-up sheet, if you have the capability, put together a mission trip packet that answers as many questions as you can think of. This will provide information prior to your information meeting to better inform those interested.

 

• Set a Date for an Information Meeting - About one month after you have started promoting the trip, have an information meeting to inform those interested and to answer everyone’s questions. Some issues to cover would be; finances, food prep, VBS prep, trip schedule, meeting schedule for trip planning, etc.).

 

• Announce the Procedure for Group Registration - As part of your meeting, let those at the information meeting know how  to get on board. It works well to set a $25.00 or more non-refundable registration fee for group registration.  For some reason, money firms up decisions.

 

• Establish the Total Mission Trip Price -  Take into consideration travel, insurance, food, and other costs. Take into account the three following factors in planning your trip that needs to be decided that will affect your trip cost:

 

1. Food Cost - We provide an option (highly recommended) to groups of eating the Sunday evening meal and the noon meals at the church you will be serving at, prepared and served by the women of the church (Monday-Thursday). This is a wonderful way to save time, money, and get to know the people and culture of Mexico. It’s a popular hit among all groups. A charge of $4.00 per person per meal is the cost for this option. This amount also includes enough money so the Mexicans who are ministering with you can eat with you as well. More on Food

 

2. Work Projects - No need to worry about this, we will provide the building materials for you out of your group fees. We also have most tools you'll need too. However, If you want to do a major construction project, you will need to raise additional funds. Click for More

 

3. Ministry Costs - You will have some costs for Bibles, tracts and Vacation Bible School supplies that you will want to take into consideration.  Click for more

 

4. Mission Base Items Needed - In order to keep costs as low as possible, we allow mission teams to bring some of the items needed for their stay on the mission base. Click for more

 

5. Master Checklist - Make sure you’ve covered all your bases, and nothing is forgotten. Click for more

 

2. Establish Your Mission Team

 

• Set Up Your Meeting Schedule for Group Preparation & Training - You will normally need a minimum of about 6-8 meetings to allow adequate time for V.B.S and ministry prep. Don’t forget your spiritual prep (the most important of all. We provide some helpful info for this on the “Trip Prep Section” of the website and also provide some helpful links to Mission Trip Training Books.  Click for more

     

• Set Up Money Due Dates - Set up a schedule for team members that lets them know when their funds are due for your mission trip.

 

3. Establish Your Mission Trip Prep Meetings & Schedule

 

    Here are some items you might want to consider in your mission trip prep meetings:

 

• Fundraising Help and Ideas for Team Members - An important part of making your mission trip happen is fundraising. Here are two links on our website that provide help in this area: (1) Sample Fund Raising Letter (2) Fund Raising Ideas

 

• Vacation Bible School Prep – You will be doing a total of five V.B.S.’s during your week in Mexico. Your V.B.S. crafts will need to be packaged in groups of ten, and each put in one larger bag (snacks do not need to be packaged in groups of 10). This is a very important detail that if not followed can cause us big problems during the V.B.S. time as we will be dividing the children at the V.B.S. in groups of ten in order to maintain control. This is the best way we have found to maintain crown control. Also, if you can bring some sports items for the playtime during V.B.S., it would be helpful. More on Vacation Bible School

 

• Church/Community Outreaches Prep - Unless other plans have been made, you’ll be doing two Community Outreaches. More on Church/Community Outreaches

 

• Testimony Prep - Your team will be doing a total of around 16 testimonies. We have great help for how to share your testimonies on our website. More on Testimonies

 

• Meal Prep – An option to consider if you don’t have a cook, is to designate a kitchen and meal coordinator to oversee the meals and kitchen. Divide the group into food teams and allow them to plan the meals (with the oversight of the kitchen and meal coordinator). Some meals can be pre-cooked in the States and then prepared in Mexico. Make sure you have healthy meals as you will be exerting extra energy while on your trip. Take into consideration the option of eating the noon meal at the church you will be serving at. This will cut down on the amount of meals to prepare. Also, many groups like to eat out at least once during the week. More on Meal Prep

 

• Mission Base Prep for Your Stay in Mexico - We offer some great ways to get ready for your stay on the Mission Base. More on the Mission Base

 

• Spiritual Prep - Don’t neglect this important area. Without right hearts, we have nothing to offer. One of the great benefits of a mission trip like this is that you have a wonderful platform for discipleship training. You can go to the coordinator's page for helpful info in this area. The trip can serve a much larger purpose than the week while in Mexico; try to get as much mileage out of your discipleship training time as possible and think of ways to disciple and use the group or individuals upon returning home. More on Devotions

 

• Paperwork Prep - It’s good to start early if some don’t have Passports. It can take up to a couple months to get them so let your team know up front so they can get started. More on Passports

 

• Training Prep - Don’t forget you’re going to be ministering cross-culturally, and you need to prepare your team for this. We offer many tools for doing this. Also, we have some links on our web-site for using Study Books for this as well. Training Material - Training Books

 

• Alleviating Safety Concerns - It’s common for folks to be concerned with all the media attention on Mexico. From a purely factual and statistical point of view, it’s safer than it’s ever been. We have help for safety issues to hand out to parents or concerned folks. More on Safety

 

• Parent Section - We have a Parent Section on the Website for helping parents support and understand their student’s mission trip. Click for More

 

4.  One Month Prior to Trip Departure

 

• Pay One-half of Mission Trip Fees - Mission trip payment due one month prior to trip departure and needs to be sent to the address below. This payment can be made by credit card (via PayPal) or by PayPal, or by check sent to our stateside office. Click Here to Pay by Credit Card or PayPal

      

If paying by check, send your payment fee to the address below:

 

      Missions to Mexico (make check payable to this name please)

      196 Hambrick Ave.  (Stateside Office Address)

      Sutherlin, OR  97479

 

   

• Double check the Master Checklist - Make sure you’ve covered all your bases, and nothing is forgotten.

​​

• Order Bibles and Tracts - If not already done yet, make sure to order Bibles and Tracts for your ministries. More on Ordering Bibles and Tracts

 

5. Final Departure Plans

 

    Paperwork for Go Missions to Mexico - Bring the following paperwork and give it to us in Mexico:

 

• Please remember that we'll need you bring 1/2 of Mission Trip Fees in the form of U.S. Dollars (Cash) for purchasing your building materials and etc. for your work projects. More on Mission Trip Fees

• Paperwork for Your Own Purposes

• Passports for all. More on Passport Info

 

Important note:  We recommend that all paperwork be kept in a briefcase or etc. in the possession of the leader at all times. Teens can easily lose their paperwork.

 

• Driving Directions - It would be an excellent idea to print off the following driving directions for all your drivers:

  • For Go Missions to Mexico’s Mission Base 

  • For Returning Back to U.S. Via Tijuana  

  • For Returning Back to U.S. Via Tecate

​​

• Review the Master Checklist - To be sure you’ve remembered everything.