Selecting
Your Mission Team
As you begin preparing for your project, your first task will be to select your team. The composition of your team will in large part determine its success. Team selection is a great time to begin setting the tone for your training and project. If you communicate high standards in this area, your group will take their participation in the project more seriously. Even if you plan to accept all that apply, it's important that they realize the commitment they're making. Screening your team may not be a comfortable function for you as the leader, but it will do much to ensure the quality of your project. Neglect this aspect of your project and you'll find that the whole team pays a price later on. Remember, it is OK not to accept everyone!
Also, screen your adult leaders. Realize that your leaders will participate in the same ministries and activities as the youth. Choose leaders who not only have a heart for missions and working with youth, but also those that are flexible, spiritually mature, and have the stamina for the various activities. Choose leaders who can be with youth throughout the whole day and into the night, can tolerate community living with youth, and will be OK in cross-cultural environments with customs and people different from what that are accustomed to experiencing. We ask that you bring one leader for every 5 - 7 youth.
Criteria
You must determine and clearly communicate the criteria by which applicants are to be selected.
Application and Selection
Apply the criteria by putting applicants through a good selection process. This process will screen out those who, for one reason or another, just shouldn't be on the project. It is very important that you screen adult team leaders as well as teens. We have found that students often have better servant attitudes than some adult leaders do.
Form a selection committee composed of leaders in your church who will not be on the project such as missions committee members, other church staff, or interested parents. Make their job as easy as possible by clearly explaining to applicants how they will be evaluated. Your selection process ought to be similar to that of a mission agency so team members understand the process that missionaries must undergo. It is not enough merely to have participated in last year's project.
Base Your Selection On The Following:
| 1. |
Written testimonies - Every member of the team must have a personal relationship with Jesus and some ability communicate that to others. Where do they stand with Jesus? How have they done in past ministry situations? |
| 2. |
Participant and Reference Forms - These should confirm what you already suspect about your prospective team members. Please have everyone (including leaders) fill one out and send them along to us. |
| 3. |
Interviews - Ask: "What is your motivation for going on this project?" Many may be interested because their friends are going. Don't be afraid to "just say no" if they aren't serious about
servanthood. |
| 4. |
Other Criteria - For Level 3 projects, intensive interviewing is a must!!! These projects are not designed to help your students learn skills like sharing their testimonies. They are projects that require students to use ministry skills they have already acquired. |
Team Covenant
Early in your training, after your team is selected, you should devote some time to creating a team covenant. This covenant should define the sacrifice and commitment your team will require of its members. Give the task of writing the covenant to your youth. The more ownership they have in setting the standards of their project, the higher their expectations will be of themselves. Everyone on your team, including leaders, should sign the covenant. In addition to your own guidelines, the covenant should include AIM's. Those who break the covenant during your training period should be required to resubmit their application to the team.
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