Our summer ministry sites are carefully selected to provide our teams the opportunity to make a spiritual impact cross-culturally. The trips are not vacations, nor are they simply an exposure to missions. We send people where their gifts and energies can be used by the Lord to bring people to faith in Christ and to strengthen the local church.
Most summer missionaries return stating they received more than they gave and found themselves changed forever by the experience. Some who go out will later explore a longer term missions involvement. Some will not. All will have a greater sensitivity to what God is doing around the world.
Description of Summer Trips for 2010
JORDAN
Dates: June 18 – 28, 2010
Team Leader: Scott Gillis and Sargon Davoodi
Ministry Focus: Compassion ministry to Iraqi refugees and the urban and rural poor; medical outreach
Estimated Cost per person: $3800.00
Ministry Description: The team from Grace will be involved in a multi-faceted compassion ministry to the poor – some of them refugees from Iraq who have fled the war in their homeland. Ministry could include: food parcel distribution during visitations in homes, visiting hospitals and rehabilitation centers, goat distribution to needy families, outreach in rural Arab villages and major cities in Jordan. The medical aspect would include working at a Jordanian hospital and medical outreach in remote areas of Jordan. If there too many applicants, we may send a second team from July 9 – 20, 2010 – all applicants should plan to serve on the dates above, but will be asked to indicate whether they might be free to serve on the second week if needed.
INDIA-Delhi
Dates: June 24 – July 6, 2010
Team Leader: Dave McKean
Ministry Partner: GBC missionaries Peter and Heather Malakar
Ministry Focus: Compassion ministry, children’s ministry, University student program, medical work with slum families, worship outreach, English camp
Estimated Cost per person: $3100.00
Ministry Description: This year we will again give support to Grace missionaries Peter and Heather Malakar in Delhi, India. Their community outreach program, Passion Movement International, serves the slum children and families of Delhi as well as provides a variety of outreach programs to University students. Their church plant, Capitol Bible Church, evangelizes and disciples new believers. This team will run a Vacation Bible School-style outreach to slum children, a medical camp for slum families, Musical outreach, ministry to University students or English camps. This ministry is English-speaking.
THAILAND
Dates: July 3 – 17, 2010
Team Leader: Ed Stimson
Ministry Partners: GBC missionaries Mark and Christa Crawford, Mission to Unreached Peoples (www.mup.org) Garden of Hope (
www.gardenofhopeasia.org),
Ministry Focus: Outreach to women and children; Culinary and Hospitality training
Estimated Cost per person: $2200.00
Ministry Description: Grace’s team will once again work alongside Grace missionaries Mark and Christa Crawford, founders of the Garden of Hope, which reaches out to women and children who are trapped in human trafficking and prostitution with little hope of escaping the lifestyle. Applicants must be mature and able to handle sexual exploitation issues, and be willing to enter bars and massage parlors in order to meet the women “on their turf”. This team will also be working at the Children’s Drop in Center daily giving assistance to Garden of Hope staff members. One component of the team will teach culinary and hospitality skills to vulnerable women in order to provide alternative employment to change their lifestyles. The focus of the outreach requires that this team consist mainly of women, but men and youth could work at the Drop-in-Center or teach English or computer skills to the women.
NORTH DAKOTA
Dates: July 9 – 18, 2010
Team Leader: TBA
Ministry Partner: Tipi Wakan Ministries, Boots and Jackie Marsh
Ministry Focus: Basketball Camp, Care Ministry, Service projects at Tipi Wakan
Estimated Cost per person: $1800.00
Ministry Description: Grace has built a partnership with Boots and Jackie Marsh, missionaries on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. This ministry will take a multi-pronged approach to outreach at Tipi Wakan. An evangelistic Basketball Camp will reach the youth of the community, and a Care ministry will be offered to families and individuals focusing on grief counseling and support for freedom from addictions. We will also focus on service projects at Tipi Wakan. Applicants would need to have skills and gifts that would be useful in one of these outreach areas. This is an English-speaking ministry.
ECUADOR
Dates: July 10 – 20, 2010
Team Leader: TBA
Ministry Focus: VBS, evangelism, service projects, construction
Estimated Cost per person: $2200.00
Ministry Description: We are excited about a new ministry opportunity with Grace missionary Ashley Ruffner who is serving in Quito, Ecuador. This team will most likely spend part of its time in outreach in an urban setting in Quito, and the rest of the time in a tribal setting in the Amazon jungle. Each setting would include a variety of service opportunities, but both the jungle setting and the urban setting would be working alongside churches providing support to them in outreach activities and service projects.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Dates: July 11 – 28, 2010
Team Leader: Landen Llamas
Ministry Focus: Friendship evangelism among teenagers, English camp
Estimated Cost per person: $2700.00
Ministry Description: We will continue our partnership with Josiah Venture in the Czech Republic, whose evangelistic English camps have proven to be an effective tool to help local churches reach young people. This team will partner with a Czech youth group to provide a camp experience for believing and unbelieving Czech teens, with the team members serving as English conversation partners. The ministry focuses on relationships and friendship evangelism. This team will be comprised of college students and young adults. This is an English-speaking ministry.
UGANDA
Dates: July 14-28, 2010
Team Leader: Dave Stimson
Ministry Focus: Compassion Ministries, Food Distribution, Worship outreach
Estimated Cost per person: $3800.00
Ministry Description: Nothing reflects the love of Christ more than reaching out to the poor and needy, and Africa is a needy continent. This summer we have the opportunity to take our Open Food Pantry ministry to Uganda, serving with Grace missionaries Russ and Sue Carr, who head up the Sports Outreach Institute. Along with the Food Pantry, other compassion ministries will be available for this team.
INDIA-Bangalore
Dates: September 9 – 26, 2010
Team Leader: Jody Evans
Ministry Partner: GBC missionaries Timothy and Julie Palamootil, Maranatha Baptist Bible College and Seminary
Ministry Focus: College/Seminary level class instruction
Estimated Cost per person: $2400.00
Ministry Description: We are privileged to once again serve at Maranatha Baptist Bible College and Seminary in Bangalore, India, future home of the Palamootils. This team will teach courses to Bible college and seminary students. There will also be specialized classes such as, English classes and for women classes on Nutrition, Home Economics and Spiritual Development. Male team members could be asked to preach during chapel and on Sundays. This ministry is English-speaking.
INDIA-Wheels for the World
Dates: September 29 – October 11, 2010
Ministry Focus: Wheelchair Distribution, compassion evangelism
Estimated Cost per person: $3500.00
Ministry Description: We will once again partner with Joni and Friends for a wheelchair distribution and evangelism ministry in India. This team could also have opportunities to teach disability awareness workshops and possibly provide training for Indian physical therapists. This team will be comprised of physical therapists, occupational therapists and those with mechanical abilities.
THE WORLD
Dates: April – August, 2010
Team leader: Scott Gillis Ministry Partner: Global Media Outreach (www.globalmediaoutreach.com)
Ministry Focus: Internet Evangelism and follow-up of new believers
Estimated Cost per person: $150.00
Ministry Description: Through a variety of evangelistic web sites, Global Media Outreach receives thousands of e-mails per day from people all over world indicating an interest in Christ or a recent decision to become a Christ-follower. Volunteers will be trained to respond to these queries, and will decide how many e-mails per day they wish to receive. From the comfort of their home computer, they will touch people for Christ all over the world. The cost of participation will defray the cost of the advertisements that make these web sites known. This team will train separately from the other teams, in light of the uniqueness of the ministry. Those who wish to continue this ministry at the end of the summer will be encouraged to do so.