Who Is a Volunteer?

A volunteer is a person who through a personal faith in Jesus Christ has become an active member of a Southern Baptist church and is available for a short overseas ministry. This period may be as short as a few weeks or as long as two years. The volunteer has skills, talents, abilities, knowledge or spiritual gifts which can be used overseas as a witness to his or her personal commitment to the Great Commission.

Local Christians who know the needs of their areas—especially those who use radio broadcasting as one of several methods to evangelize and plant new congregations-- initiate requests for volunteers with the help of Missionary Broadcasting, Inc.

The volunteer project must not inhibit local initiative--and should respect the local culture within the Christian context.

Volunteers should adequately inform themselves about the culture, religion, geography, climate, available lodging and food services--and about healthcare facilities in the area where they will serve.

A very important part of orientation is a short course in basic survival Spanish and phonetics. Each volunteer is supplied with a Quick Help English-Spanish dictionary specializing in construction, electrical and electronics terminology.

Volunteers go to serve at their own expense. It's best when projects are planned well in advance so volunteers can save toward their travel expenses little by little each month. To supplement their own resources, volunteers can mail out fundraising letters to their friends and relatives. (Ask us for a sample.)

Volunteers respond to requests made by national Christians and play an important role in an overall team strategy to evangelize a given people group with the aim of starting a new congregation. The volunteer is going in response to a real need and becomes part of the people of God on mission.

North American volunteers come from all walks of life and from a variety of ethnic and economic backgrounds. Most have never seen themselves as having the ability or skill to fill needs around the world. Nearly all are surprised at the profound sense of satisfaction and fulfillment this kind of involvement brings.

The Volunteer Process

The volunteer team seeks out qualified persons who can orient the team about cross-cultural communication, basic dialogue in Spanish and other orientation about the target country and people group. Visit www.imb.org for orientation materials to print and share with your team. Download the Preparation Guide and share copies with each team member. Surf the Internet for information on your target nation and people group.

A logistical package helps orient volunteers about travel plans, how to obtain a US passport, whether a visa is needed, how much is the airport departure tax, housing and transportation on the field of service, a list of emergency phone numbers and Email addresses—and who the missionary or national supervisor might be.

The volunteer is responsible for saving month by month for the expenses he or she will incur on the trip. Some volunteers seek out commercial sponsors.

Most—if not all--construction projects obligate the team to donate funds for the purchase of materials. These funds should be sent to the local supervisor in the target country early enough for him to have the materials on hand when the volunteers arrive on the job site. This part of a missions trip can be the responsibility of the sponsoring church in the USA.

All volunteers are required to take out accidental death and dismemberment insurance through Adams & Associates at his or her personal expense.

The volunteer travels to the field where added orientation is given, and in most cases, supervision is provided by a missionary or national leader.

The volunteer tackles the assignment and returns home to report to the home church. The volunteer--as well as your church's missions committee chairperson—evaluate the project with an aim of doing better next time.