Preparing for Your Mission Trip

You've applied for a mission trip at Bethel. Now what? We've outlined a few key steps to help you prepare for your trip.

Wait to hear and make your deposit

After the application deadline, leaders will review applications, conduct interviews, and shape the strongest team for each trip. Within 24 hours, you can expect to hear from the team leaders, who will schedule an interview with you. Teams will be decided on November 17, and applicants will be informed via email.

Once placed on a team, you will have 48 hours to confirm your place.

If you're not placed on the team you applied for, we'll help you explore alternative options. We want all Bethel students to participate, so we urge students to consider that they might be called to use their gifts in an unexpected place.

Attend team meetings

All teams meet for the kickoff on Saturday, November 23, from 10 a.m.-noon to get introduced to the process of preparing for Spring Break Missions. It’s not just a one-week experience—training starts early! Team meetings will be held weekly, starting on Sunday, November 24. Please make plans now to be available for team meetings. Most of these will be held on Sunday evenings. You'll be expected to attend at least 75% of team meetings and participate in 100% of team fundraisers. No matter the date, Spring Break starts today!

Learn about costs and fundraising

To make the trip affordable for students, Bethel has established a fundraising process to help cover a portion of trip costs. More information will be provided.

Support your team

As part of a team, each student must commit to the following:

Pray regularly for the team.
Attend the following events:
- Kickoff: November 23, 2024, from 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
- Prep Retreat: February 21–22, 2025
- UnPack It: March 30, 2025, from 3-5:30 p.m.
Attend at least 75% of team meetings before the trip.
Fully participate in the fundraising process—sending as many support letters (to friends, family, neighbors, and church family) as possible.
Be financially responsible (see below).

Finish the paperwork

To serve on a trip:

Students who are 18 years of age or older must sign the Waiver and Release of Claims.
Students under 18 must have a parent or guardian sign the Waiver and Release of Claims.

As part of this process, you must also give Bethel permission to use photos or videos of your trip in articles, publications, and promotions.

Get credit for your trip

Spring break trips are approved as Z-tags. Students who want to use this experience as their Z-tag should register in the spring semester for:

GES101 (Pre-Intercultural Preparation)
GES102Z (Post-Intercultural Engagement Processing)

Be sure you choose the section that lists the instructor as Matthew C. Runion.

Tell your family and friends

Our family and friends provide incredible support as we process these powerful trips. Here are some simple and profound ways that families and friends can support you during your trip.

Ask your family and friends for their prayers and ask them how you can pray for them specifically—before you leave, while you’re gone, and after you return.

Ask them to help you process before you leave and when you return home.

Questions they can ask before the trip

What do you expect to encounter?
What apprehensions do you have? What excites you?
Have you encountered poverty before? What do you expect on this trip?
What do you think your role on the team will be?

Questions they can ask after the trip

What was the best/worst part of the trip?
What did you see God do on the trip?
What was your strongest contribution?
What did you discover about others? About yourself?
Do you think you’ve changed as a result?
What was hard about returning?

Know that we support your safety

We take student safety seriously. The ministry partners we select to host and lead our teams have demonstrated awareness of and mitigation of the risks associated with their ministries.

Because there are always risks with both international and domestic travel, we are never able to guarantee the complete safety of any team. We take risks seriously and make responsible plans ahead of time, as well as providing substantial support to our teams. If a student is being sent by Bethel, that trip has been approved in light of our mission of Christ-centered education, which seeks to join in God’s reconciling work and minister the love of Christ to a world in need.

Important dates

Applications for spring break trips will be available on November 1, 2024. The deadline to apply is November 11, 2024.