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 and shape the best team to serve on each trip. You can expect to wait 7-10 days after the deadline to hear about your application.

Once placed on a team, you have 48 hours to confirm your place and submit a non-refundable $50 deposit.

If you’re not placed on the team you applied for, we’ll help you learn about 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 November 16 to get introduced to the process.

After the Kickoff, each team meets 10 times before the end of the school year. All meetings are designed to be meaningful, fun, and practical. They equip your team for the trip and help you reflect together after the experience.

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. Learn more about fundraising and costs.

Support Your Team

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

• Pray regularly for the team.
• Attend the Kickoff (November 16), Prep Retreat (February 15-16, 2013), and UnPack It (April 7, 2013).
• Attend at least 80% of team meetings prior to the trip.
• Fully participate in fundraising—sending out 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 who are 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 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 they leave, while they’re gone, and after they 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 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. However, if a student is being sent by Bethel, that trip has been approved in light of our mission of Christ-centered education that strives to join in God’s reconciling work and to minister the love of Christ to a world in need.