Full-Time Volunteers
A full-time volunteer is a person
working with international students and their families on a campus as an
assistant to the professional campus worker.
A full-time volunteer is understood to be a person who works
full-time for a term of six months or longer at a given location.
The procedure of applying for and obtaining a volunteer described
here are those of the Volunteer
Missionary Service.
“The
Volunteer Missionary Service (VMS) is a program of the LCMS World Missions
in close cooperation with [districts,] partner churches and mission
fields. It matches Christians
with service assignments throughout the world.
VMS offers adults of all ages a chance to use their talents and
skills to help other people and to serve their Lord.
It's an invitation to embark on one of the most challenging
spiritual experiences of your life.” —from
the VMS informational brochure
Requesting a Volunteer
The requests for a volunteer are
submitted on a "Volunteer Request Form" which can be obtained
from LCMS World Mission, 1333 South Kirkwood Road, St. Louis, Missouri
63122. The request form
enables you to identify the position for which you want a volunteer, the
skills that would be necessary and the assistance that you could provide
for the person's living, working and medical expenses.
Your request is then shared with volunteers as they are recruited
and/or interviewed to match their strengths and interests with your
request.
Volunteers who are placed by the
Volunteer Missionary Service must meet the following five qualifications.
(You may add other qualifications as determined by the position
which they are to serve).
1.
An active member of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod with a
commitment to the Lutheran faith as taught in Luther's Catechism and a
strong desire to share that faith.
2.
A warm, positive personality that reaches out in love to students,
internationals, fellow missionaries and other individuals on the field.
3.
A willing and flexible attitude that is ready to adapt to living
among people of other cultures.
4.
Good physical, emotional, and spiritual health that enables work to
be sustained among people of other cultures.
5.
Willingness to have or arrange for the financial resources
necessary to travel to the field and support necessary living expenses
while serving.
Training
Volunteer Missionary Service provides
initial training at its expense for all volunteers whom they have helped
to process. The training is
an intensive pre-field orientation of 10 days to two weeks in company with
volunteers and career missionaries serving in all parts of the world.
The pre-field training is usually in June.
On occasion it might take place in December.
Agreement
An agreement stipulating the
responsibilities and obligations of each party is signed by the volunteer,
the campus ministry supervisor, the district mission executive and the
synodical area secretary. Notice
that the campus ministry, the district and the area secretary are all
giving their support to the volunteer's position and work.
Accountability
The volunteer is accountable
ultimately to the appropriate world area secretary in the LCMS World
Missions. For stateside
campus ministry this would be to the North America Area Secretary.
In the day-to-day performance the volunteer would be responsible to
the designated person that would supervise the volunteer's work.
Additional Comments
Do have a job description of what you
anticipate the volunteer will be doing.
This will help him/her in making a decision.
Do have clearly in mind to what
extent, if at all, he or she may be taking university classes.
Do try to shoulder some of the
financial burden for the volunteer. The
prospect of obtaining a volunteer increases with the amount of
responsibility for living and working expenses you can assume.
Persons who have already had
cross-cultural experiences either in the U.S. or in other nations are the
ones most attracted to volunteer for international ministry.
However, it might be that a novice in cross-cultural experience but
one with a real heart for internationals and a desire to know them and
work with them might also volunteer.
It is possible that the volunteer
might get in touch with you personally before the assignment takes place
so that both of you might know whether this is a good fit.
It is possible that you might find a
volunteer on your own. In
that case you might want to suggest to the volunteer that they be
processed through the Volunteer Missionary Service in order that they
might receive the benefit of the training and the networking with others
who are in volunteer missionary positions.
Part-Time
Volunteers
Part-time volunteers can be
invaluable assets to your ministry with internationals.
Part-time volunteers may give as few as one hour and as many as 20
hours per week. Part-time
volunteers are usually people from the immediate community who respond to
the opportunity to be a friend to internationals and who have specific tasks
which they commit to do.
Where Do I Find Part-time Volunteers?
The best source of part-time
volunteers is among the membership of your own church (if it is town-gown)
or among the membership of other LCMS congregations in your community or
area. Let your requests be made
known in the form of a bulletin or newsletter paragraph; through a program
which you might give to a ladies', men's or senior citizen's groups; through
sermons; or through personal contact. Retired
people are some of the best volunteers.
They find the contact stimulating and the internationals enjoy the
contact with age and wisdom.
What Are Some Tasks That Volunteers Can Do?
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. . . be a conversation partner
-
. . . teach how to cook or bake
American-style
-
. . . learn from the international
how to cook or bake his/her style
-
. . . teach children of
internationals Bible stories
-
. . . study the Bible with an
international student(s)
-
. . . invite an international
student(s) to your home for a meal
-
. . . find opportunities for
internationals to tell about their country at schools in the area.
-
. . . invite the international to go
to church, plays, sports or cultural events with you
-
. . . arrange tours to museums,
farms, orchards, etc., for internationals
What Kind of Training Is There for Volunteers
Professional church workers who are
actively engaged in international student ministry may be contacted to do a
training session for your volunteers. Please check this web site for a list
of possible workers to contact.