Guidelines for effective ministry
SPEND TIME ALONE WITH GOD - Maintaining a vibrant and intimate spiritual walk with God is critical to our effectiveness in the ministry. Travelers, because traveling is a disruption to routine, you must find creative ways to make all of life an opportunity to practice the presence of God in your day. Schedulers, make it your goal to spend time with the Lord before arriving at the office each morning but if you need to take extra time in the office for reading and prayer, please know that this is acceptable.
ENGAGE IN TEAM PRAYER - Attempt to schedule team prayer times at least once a week. Always gather for prayer time prior to each meeting.
PRACTICE OPEN COMMUNICATION - We encourage team members to lovingly communicate needs, issues, and praise with one another. You should be sensitive of this so as not to publicly disrespect other team members or your leaders. It is always best to have grace with others and overlook as much as possible – assuming they are also extending grace to you in areas.
NO GOSSIP - Beware of the tendency to gossip. It divides teams quickly! Gossip or “Triangulating” is a shortcut to intimacy so be careful that you don’t create false bonds with a teammate by being critical.
WATCH PHYSICAL EXPRESSION - While hugs and other forms of physical contact between members of the opposite sex may be perfectly legitimate and innocent for many people, we want to be sensitive to the consciences of those who have stricter standards.
DYNAMICS – We expect you to do all that you can to live at peace with your team, serve joyfully, and show grace to others when needed. You can expect TTT leaders to be open to feedback and evaluation each semester.
CHARACTER – As team members, it is vital that we commit to each other a standard of character that includes sacrifice, endurance, flexibility, patience, kindness, initiative, humility, thankfulness, submission to the leadership and seeks to avoid sarcasm, grumbling, or coarse joking.
GRACE – You can expect to receive grace. Every day presents a new challenge, a new decision, and a new scenario that has probably never been faced before by others. In light of that, you will never be reprimanded for making a decision that was in the intended best interest of the student, the campus ministry, the partnering agencies, other staff, host families, The Traveling Team as a ministry, or the Lord.
OTHER ITEMS
· We don’t give out campus ministry contact information.
· We only recruit to the agencies that sponsor us.
