Parent Information

Insights and Instructions for Parents

Welcome to the mk2mk Summer Mission

We are excited that your son or daughter is planning to take part in a summer mission trip. We firmly believe that this is one of the best things an MK can do with his or her summer. These students are given a rare opportunity to develop skills, leadership abilities and character traits that will become part of the foundation of who they will be for a lifetime.

We desire that you be informed about our summer mission trips and what they involve. We support you, both as a parent and in your role as a guide and guardian of your child. We encourage you to explore the information on this site and contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.

This project will involve high school and college staff children of Cru, missionary kids from other Christian missions, mk2mk staff and full-time Cru staff. All project participants will receive written and verbal training in preparation for their international experience. Your son/daughter will be supervised by qualified staff members. They will stay in modest, but clean hotels or dormitory rooms.

mk2mk is dedicated to the care of missionary kids and their families. Cru has over 24,000 staff and 500,000 trained volunteers ministering in 186 countries. Our emphases are evangelism (communicating our faith in Christ with others) and discipleship (building Christians in their faith).

We are committed to providing students on our summer projects with opportunities to grow in their relationship with the Lord in the context of community and life-changing personal ministry. We also seek to provide a positive international experience that helps expand an ongoing movement in the host country. Some other benefits to project participants are international travel in a supervised Christian context, greater confidence in communication skills, serving in humanitarian aid ministry, a greater appreciation for our world, deeper understanding of themselves as Third Culture Kids, and the development of leadership skills.

Your Role as a Parent: What We Hope You Will Do & Won’t Do

One of the benefits of the mk2mk mission trip is that the students learn to trust God for their support, their ministry preparation, and a myriad of details – including some demanding deadlines. They will develop greater responsibility as they do these things. However, if you, as the kind parent you are, step in to “rescue” them from the consequences of failing, they won’t grow and learn responsibility. Please be careful in what you WILL help them with and what you WILL NOT help them in. Here are a few guidelines for you to consider.

“I will...”

• Pray for them to trust God, grow in their faith, and develop responsibility

• Help with ensuring your son or daughter has a passport that is valid for at least 6 months following the end of this summer project

• Help them get a visa from your embassy or consulate for the host country, if needed (not needed for US citizens)

• Help them gather contacts from your family or friends for their support development letters and calls, and for a prayer team

• Sign and assure they send in their forms (Medical Consent; Liability Release)

• Help them plan ahead so they take into account major school assignments, mid-term and final exams, extracurricular events, family or church events, etc. in meeting the project deadlines

• Respond to communication from mk2mk to parents in a timely manner.

“I will not…”

• Prepare and send out their support letters for them

• Make support calls for them

• Send out their Thank You notes for them

• “Nag” them about their deadlines (a few gentle reminders are OK)

How We Can Resource You

• We provide a Coach for your son or daughter

• You can contact the Project Director with questions

Frequently Asked Questions

In this section, you will find information about:

• Safety

• Project Leadership

• Finances for Summer Missions

• Communicating with your child while on project

Safety

While no one can guarantee the complete safety of anyone, anywhere, we do take common sense precautions. Upon their arrival to project students will have several days of orientation to life in their location including street smart travel and what to do in case of an emergency. The mk2mk summer mission has project policies that help to provide for your son or daughter’s safety.

How do I know these trips are safe?
During every phase of a summer mission, safety is given the highest priority. Before a location is even selected as a destination, it is evaluated for political stability, recent and previous history, as well as any national issues that may have the potential to escalate. Locations are monitored continually to ensure stability. A risk assessment process is done before every trip.

The project leaders are trained in basic areas of crisis management and contingency plans are developed for each trip. Our mk2mk Team constantly monitors all travel advisories issued by the U.S. State Department and SOS International (an international emergency evacuation service). This team is in frequent communication with local contacts in the areas that the trips operate. During their visit they will work with local contacts to ensure the safety and viability of all food, housing, transportation and ministry locations. If at any time during the preparation process a country becomes unsafe, it will be immediately cancelled and all affected students will be assigned to another country.

What happens in the case of a natural disaster or other unforeseen emergency?
During the trip, every policy upholding the safety of the students will be followed at all times. If conditions were ever to become unsafe during the trip itself, the appropriate emergency protocol for that destination would be followed. Our team in the U.S. will be notified of the emergency and information will be available for the families including important phone numbers.

Each participant of an international mission trip will be signed up as a member of SOS International, our emergency evacuation service if they are not already a member. With this service comes medical referrals and advice about medical facilities around the world. Their service is available to the summer missions 24/7.

Leadership

Who will be leading my son/daughter?
On a typical mk2mk mission trip, one male and one female Project Director, along with the team, will oversee all administrative operations and are responsible for scheduling, logistics, teaching, training, and disciplining the entire group. Each Project Director has been hand-selected by the mk2mk staff and interns for their experience and proven leadership. They strive to provide a quality experience for each student.

Finances

What does the cost of the trip pay for?
The base cost of each trip includes the student’s training, briefing, debriefing, in-country transportation, housing, and food. Trip prices offset costs such as mission trip materials and literature, administrative, and summer mission setup costs. Every effort is made to keep the budget modest.

In addition to the base cost that is listed for the mission trip, students raise additional support to cover their transportation to and from project or briefing (domestic and international flights) as part of their project budget.

They can also use some support for supplies they bought to raise support for the summer (Note: this must be covered through cash gifts or checks made out to the student).

Each student on a summer trip has the opportunity to grow their faith by trusting God to provide the financial resources needed to attend the summer mission. We will provide great resources to help your student learn how to invite others to partner with them this summer by giving financially and praying for them. Every one of our staff members in the world is responsible for building a team of ministry partners and God has provided for each of these as well as for the 50,000 plus students who have gone on projects the past 43 summers.

Why do you need a deposit?

A deposit of $200 is requested by March 23rd. This money secures the student's position in the mission trip and is needed for upfront expenses such as housing deposits and these preparation resources for the student. The $200 amount is ALREADY a part of the total summer mission costs and counts toward the final goal.

Because the deposit is needed before the student may have begun support raising parents have often paid the deposit by check or account transfer and made it part of their student’s support to encourage their student.

Are all donations tax deductible?
Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) is a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and is registered with the IRS as a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization, making all donations to the ministry tax-deductible. In order to receive a tax deduction, the IRS requires donors to release to Campus Crusade for Christ the control of how their donations are spent. This means all contributions raised for mission trips must be payable to Campus Crusade for Christ in order to receive a tax deduction. Please Note: The application fee is not considered a donation.

How will my son/daughter get the money for their trip?
Each year mk2mk helps many students and leaders raise the money for their ministry, and we will help you too! Raising the money is probably easier than you think. Once your student has been accepted to a mk2mk Summer Mission Trip, they will receive coaching in writing support letters, making phone calls and following up with potential sponsors. We have found that there are two major resources that will help students raise their money. As we go through them, remember – GOD is always our source!

1) Family and friends: It is very important for your son or daughter to share the story of what God has done in their heart with family and close friends. We will coach your student in writing a support letter to share where they are going, why they are going, and how the family member or friend can be a part of what God wants to do through them. It is important for your student to let them know how much the trip is going to cost so that they know how much help will be needed. This will give them the opportunity to be a part of your son or daughter’s summer. Support letters not only give people the opportunity to help financially, but also prayerfully. It is a great way to allow people to see what God is doing, especially to those who may not know you very well. Family and friends, regardless of their religious beliefs, will often be very willing to help - all you have to do is ask. Remember, the money that they give is for God, not for you, so don’t hesitate to ask. It is also tax deductible which is a big plus!

2) Pastor and youth pastor: Churches desire and are often able to be a part of sending your son or daughter on a mission trip like this. Your son or daughter could set up a meeting with the pastor and/or youth pastor to share what God has placed on their heart. See if they would be willing to help by allowing your student to address the church, take up an offering, or talk with the mission’s board.

These are the resources we are providing for your student’s support raising:

• Personal Coach

• Step-by-Step Guides to:

  • Name storming

  • Writing a letter

  • Phoning Contacts

  • Follow-up

  • Writing Thank You’s

  • Tracking donations

Communication

Once your son or daughter has been accepted to a mission trip, they will receive a welcome packet from their mission trip leadership team with all kinds of information they will need and you most likely you will want to know. Please read through this material! The project leadership team has the most current and specific information regarding the summer mission. If you and your student have questions not answered in this packet, we encourage you to contact the assigned coach by email or phone. Their contact info will be in the welcome packet.

How do I communicate with my son or daughter while they are on the summer mission?
We know that simply knowing your student has safely arrived eases your mind. Once the team has all arrived at our destination we will send an email to all parents letting them know this. When local internet affords it, students will be given the chance to communicate every 7-10 days via email. Students will not be using cell phones on project but may use them during travel to and from project.

It is the family’s responsibility to discuss expectations about communication. As long as technology cooperates, students will have time weekly to email, we encourage them to write their parents (and we check back that they did), but we will not monitor who they email. From time to time we have internet issues in the locations where we serve but you can be assured we will do our best to ensure regular communication and if that is not possible we will let you know. There will also be regular updates to parents from the team leader.

Can my son or daughter leave the summer mission during the summer?
We ask that all students who have been accepted to be a part of the mission trip make themselves available for the entire trip. We do not allow students to leave the trip for overnight trips due to safety concerns, and in light of trip activities. They also may not leave the mission trip early except in cases of emergency.

Calendar and Deadlines

On the deadlines page, you can find the student’s one-page month-by-month checklist. Please keep this handy so you can give those gentle reminders! This is an opportunity to grow their faith by trusting God to provide the financial resources.

A NOTE ABOUT DEADLINES:

The financial “Deadlines” are more or less goals to keep us on track and to develop discipline in your student. If they are not met the coach will be talking with your student to see how it is going.

We fully and personally understand that God’s timing and life are not so predictable. If the student is doing the work then grace will be practiced along the way. But they must be fully funded to participate on the mission trip. If a deadline for a certain amount will not be met then the student informs their coach and sends in whatever amount there is.