We have gathered a list of common questions that people has asked over the years, browse around to see if you find what you are looking for. If not please don't hesitate to contact us.
Before packing, please make sure you adhere to the airline requirements: Each bag may only be a maximum of 50 lbs and 62
linear inches (total length + width + height)
No hablo espanol? No problemo? We will work with locals in country to hire individuals who are fluent in English in order to effectively communicate. It is helpful if you know some common words such as hello, goodbye, thank you , etc.
First of all, we highly encourage all your missionaries to write to friends, relatives, church members and business associates and let them know that you will be going on a mission trip
For many of your friends, the idea of going on a mission trip is way out of their comfort zone, but they will gladly support someone like you financially. For those of you can afford the trip on your own, remember that other s are able to be a part of the trip by donating. Don't take the blessing away from them by being shy or timid about writing a letter. We have provided a sample letter to help you get started.
When you write your letters, you first want to ask for their PRAYERS. Prayer is the key to a successful trip and even if the person will not donate to your trip, they will still pray for you.
Finally, if you still fall short of the total cost of the trip, you need to let your team captain know and he will contact the mission office. Money has never been an obstacle to prevent someone to go, there may be others who received more than enough to cover their cost and can help defray your cost. In short - "Do not worry about the money!"God has an awesome way of providing for his children.
Someone once stated, “You can’t be any safer than where God wants you to be.” I firmly believe that. Let’s face it. We take our lives into our own hands driving down the interstate. People will stay in groups if they go into the local village and common sense dictates that you don’t wander off alone. We will have security when we are in the local villages if needed, but remember, the people of the village appreciate our presence.
This depends upon where the mission field is and access to facilities. All of our lodging facilities will include modern bathroom and shower facilities. Air conditioning at night is only available in the Bahamas. Honduras and Nicaragua will have fans and open windows – mosquito nets are highly recommended for these countries. While in the villages during the day, the bathrooms will be generally acceptable, but not what you are accustomed to back home. We will eat well. Three meals a day are available during the day and all the food we eat is safe and bottled water is provided
You must be at least 15 years old AND accompanied by your parent, unless prior approval is obtained from the mission office. Or, you need to be over 18. As far as physical requirements you know your body better than we ever will. If you know you have some physical handicaps or medical history that would make most people think twice, then I ask you to prayerfully consider being a “sender” instead of a missionary.
If you’re in relatively good health then we welcome you! If you have any questions, please contact your team captain who can help you with this decision.
Medical personnel can expect to see upwards of 2,000 patients during the four days we are providing services. Most of these patients do not have immediate access to health care so they use a medical team, such as this, to obtain the services they need. Many of the patients will have general concerns with their stomach, skin irritation/rash, eye or hearing problems. There will be many women who are either pregnant or of child bearing age that will need a general check up along with their children. For all pregnant women, we provide vitamins to last through full term (iron, folic acid, calcium, etc) Sexually transmitted diseases are present. There have been cases in the past of more advanced situations, such as cancer, birth defects, tumors, cyst and broken/dislocated limbs In some cases we are able to help immediately by removing the cyst or help with the dislocated arm, but in many cases we will work with the locals to assist them in getting advanced care when possible. There is a general formulary that we take with us on the mission field that includes some of the following medicines:
|
Ibuprofen 200 mg tabs |
Albendazole tabs
(mebenoazole) |
Gentymycin Eye Drops |
|
Tylenol Drops 80 mg oral
drops |
Piperazine liquid |
|
|
|
Chlorpheniramine tabs 4mg |
Artificial Tears 1 oz. |
|
Adult Tylenol Tabs 325 mg |
Benadryl Liquid |
|
|
Children's Tylenol Chew 80
mg |
Diphenhydramine
(Diphedryl) 25mg |
|
|
Metronidazole Suspension 4
oz. |
|
Calcium Carbonate 500 mg
chew tabs |
|
Sulfamethoxazole 400mg
(Bactrim) |
Meclizine 25 mg tab |
Donnatal liquid |
|
Cephalexin 250mg |
Tolnaftate Cream |
Ranitidine 150 mg |
|
Cephalexin 500mg |
Hydro-cortisone Cream |
Loperamide 2 mg |
|
Cephalexin Liquid 250mg |
Clotrimazole 1% Antifungul
Cream |
|
|
Amoxicillin Tabs 250mg |
Triple Antibiotic Cream |
|
|
Amoxicillin Tabs 500mg |
Antifungal/Antibacterial/Steroid
Cream |
Kwell Lotion |
|
Amoxicillin Liquid 250mg |
HCTZ 25 mg |
Kwell Shampoo |
|
Ciprofloxacin 500 mg |
|
Adult Vitamins |
|
Doxycycline tabs 100 mg |
Fluconazole 200 mg
(Diflucan) |
Children's Chew Vitamins |
|
Erythromycin caps 250 mg |
Atenolol 50mg |
Liquid Vitamins |
|
Metronidazole 250 mg (Flagyl) |
|
Ferrous Sulfate (Adults
only) |
|
|
|
Folic Acid .8mg |
|
Cough Syrup (histamine) |
|
Glipizide 5mg (Glyburide) |
|
|
|
Prednisone 5mg tabs |
In addition to medicine, we take the following medical supplies:
|
TRIPLE-FOLD MEDICAL PACK |
LA RESCUE BAG |
|
ABD pads 9"x5" |
Adult ambu bag |
|
Ace wrap 3" |
Burn spray |
|
Ace wrap 8" |
Emergen-C packages |
|
Alcohol swabs |
ET tubes assorted sizes |
|
Bandaids assorted box |
Eye meds assortment bag |
|
Blood stopper assortment |
Fluorescein strips bottle |
|
Bulb syringe |
Gauze pads package 2x2's |
|
Calamine lotion bottle |
Gauze pads package 4x4's |
|
Chux - small (dental) |
Gloves - sterile - size
71/2 pair |
|
EMT scissors |
Glucometer |
|
Enema bag (complete) |
Glucometer test strips pkg. |
|
Exam gloves large box |
Ice pack |
|
Exam gloves medium box |
IV hydration kit (NS) |
|
Exam gloves small box |
Laryngoscope & blades |
|
Field dressings 7"x8" |
Penlight |
|
Field surgical kit |
Phenergan 25mg ampules |
|
Foley tray w/catheter |
Ring Cutter |
|
Gloves - sterile - medium
- pair |
Silver Nitrate sticks
bottle |
|
Glucometer lancets |
Stylette |
|
Instruments (assorted) |
Sutures - 3-0 silk |
|
Irrigation tray |
0 ethibond |
|
IV solution sets |
6-0 Prolene |
|
IV start kits |
MEDS |
|
Jelco 1"x20g |
Albuterol mdi |
|
Jelco 1"x22g |
Atropine inj 1mg |
|
Jelco 3/4"x24g |
Ciprofloxacin 500 mg tabs |
|
Kerlix rolls 6" |
Diphenhydramine inj 50mg/ml |
|
Medfix 4" roll |
Epinephrine 1:10,000 1mg |
|
Medicine bottles - small |
Epipen autoinjectors |
|
Multi-trauma drsg. 12"x30" |
Furosemide inj 10mg/ml |
|
Nebulizer kits tubing
complete |
Hydrocortisone cream 1%
tube |
|
Prisma wound treatment |
NaHCO3 inj 50ml |
|
Q-tips |
Ntg 0.4mg SL tabs |
|
Rolled gauze 3" |
Tetracaine ophthalmic 5ml |
|
SAM splint 36" |
Viscous Lidocaine 2% |
|
Secondary IV med set |
0.9% NaCl flush 10ml |
|
Self-adherent wrap 1" |
Ceftriaxone 1gm |
|
Self-adherent wrap 4" |
Cerumenex 12ml bottle |
|
Sterile 4x4's |
Dexamethasone 4mg/ml |
|
Sterile water 100cc bottle |
Insulin |
|
Sterile water 250cc bottle |
Insulin R Humulin U100 |
|
Syringes 1/2cc insulin |
Kenalog 40mg/ml |
|
Syringes 10cc |
Lidocaine 1 or 2% inj |
|
Syringes 1cc allergy |
|
|
Syringes 3cc 1" 23g box |
BLACK SUITCASE |
|
Syringes 3cc 1.5" 21g box |
|
|
Syringes 3cc 1.5" 22g box |
Automatic BP cuffs |
|
Tape - surgical 4" roll |
Camp chair |
|
Tongue depressors |
Scale |
|
Triangle bandages
40"x40"x56" |
Nebulizer |
|
Vaseline large jar |
Otoscope |
|
|
Stethoscopes |
|
Additional Items |
Surgical lamp |
|
Ammonia inhalers |
Suture tray disposable |
|
Antiseptic hand cleaner |
Syringes - 5cc |
|
Bandaids Large |
Syringes -10cc |
|
Betadine 16oz |
TAB packets |
|
Bleach gallons |
Tape rolls (adhesive,
paper, etc) |
|
Chux (absorbent barrier
pads) lg |
Tootsie rolls |
|
Emesis Basins |
Toradol 60mg/2ml vials |
|
Hydrogen Peroxide 32oz |
TV trays |
|
Imitrex 4 or 6mg/0.5ml |
Urine test strips |
|
Instant thermometer |
|
|
Isopropyl Alcohol 32oz |
|
|
Jelcos 14g |
|
|
Masks simple paper |
|
|
Mineral oil |
|
|
Packing tape |
|
|
PDR |
|
|
Plastic bags for meds,
drsngs |
|
|
Plastic Wash Basins |
|
|
Pregnancy tests |
|
|
Red biohazard bags |
|
|
Saline for diluent 30ml |
|
|
Scalpels #10 or #11 blade |
|
|
Sharps container large |
|
|
Silvadene cream jar |
|
|
Small baggies |
|
|
Spanish dictionary |
|
|
Spray bottles |
|
|
Steri-strips various sizes |
|
You will need a valid US Passport, which must have an expiration date that will last six months AFTER your return from your trip. If you hold
a non-US passport, then please contact your team captain to determine if a VISA is required for the country that you will be visiting.
There are different vaccinations needed based on the country that you will be visiting. Below is the link to the MDTravelHealth website for each country that outlines the different requirements.
Early days and late nights are the best way to describe a day on the mission field. Each morning will begin with breakfast, prayer time and then travel to the village or location. Travel time to ministry location varies by country, but typically no more than an hour travel time.
For medical/dental ministries, you will spend 9-10 hours working to provide services to the local community. In years past we can see up to 600 people in a given day. People are registered in groups of 150 where the adults are taken to the church service and the children to children’s church. After the services, the people proceed to the triage, medical, pharmacy or to the dental area based on their need. Once they have received their services, they will exit the school. This process will be repeated many times during the day based on the volume of people requesting assistance.
For sports camp and Vacation Bible School ministries, the mission pre-arranges with local schools to come in for the day and minister to the children. The team will alternate between soccer camps in the morning and VBS in the afternoon. In both of these ministries, there are countless opportunities to connect with the children and share the Gospel message. It is at the schools that you will witness many coming to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. You will go back to the team home with great satisfaction and certainty that God used you and worked through you.
For the construction ministry, a local building project is identified and pre-arranged. The projects vary based on the need and in the past we have been involved with fence building, expansion of a residence and even agricultural activities.
As each mission trip is developed, you will be provided with a more detailed understanding of each ministry available.