How to: Hosting Missions Team Meetings

It’s important that all participating team members, and perhaps parents (if it’s a youth team) attend each meeting, so they are given time to connect as a team, get comfortable with each other, and hear the important information. Preparation often requires training and planning for the trip - make it clear to your team that these meetings are incredibly important. 

What meetings are great for:

• Covering trip details, guidelines, overviews, necessary forms and other logistics
• Spending time learning about the location and community you will be serving in
• Training: cultural sensitivity, how to share the Gospel, how to share your testimony
• Discussing and planning for ministry: preparing skits, materials or curriculum if applicable
• Creating and preparing for fundraisers
• Collecting scheduled payments from team members, updating team members on their financial progress

Creating a Team Covenant:

• What kind of expectations do you have for this trip?
• What are you hoping to learn from this trip?
• How do you want to support each other?
• What kind of attitudes and mindset do you want going into the trip?
• If you make a team covenant, hold each other to it!

Team building activities:

• Spending time doing devotions and praying together for what God has in store!

After your initial informational meeting, you’ll want to schedule meetings that all team members can make it to (with of course, appropriate exceptions).You want your meetings to be frequent enough so people are able to come together to prepare, but not so often that it seems like “just another time commitment”. Plan on meeting roughly once per month, and more often closer to the trip date if necessary.

When is best for a meeting?

• Before or after a Sunday church service
• Before or after youth group (for youth teams)
• Over a meal is always appreciated!

(Don’t forget to have a meeting following your return! Use this time to share stories, pictures, memories, and debrief. As well, to discuss the potential return to your partner community!)

Where is best? 

• Have your first few meetings at your church, campus or school. Once the team is solidified, you can continue to meet at those locations, or, feel free to invite people to your home, to a team member's home, or in another fun setting!

Why have meetings? 

• Team meetings allow for necessary physical, emotional and spiritual trip preparation, in addition to team bonding, training and handling logistics. We want these to be beneficial for you as the leader and for the team as well. Enjoy these times together!

And remember, if you are parting with Praying Pelican for your missoin trip and need additional help thinking through team meetings, speak with your trip consultant! They’ll be more than happy to help you plan and prepare your team!