WHAT IS A SERVANT CREW VOLUNTEER AND WHAT DO THEY DO?
The Servant Crew team is an essential part of the experience a group has with World Servants. The team can literally make or break a trip--as far as logistical and organizational aspects go-- the big picture is, of course, up to God.
- You are coming to serve the participants. Many people come with the expectation of directly serving the people of the community. Isn't it easy…easy to serve those whom we feel are less fortunate than we are? It is, however, quite a different challenge to serve those whom we perceive to be our "equals." You may, in fact, learn more about being a servant than all the participants combined! Your focus is on making this mission experience "work" for the participants. In the course of your work, however, you will most likely work alongside many people in the community and your gift of service will, ultimately, be a blessing to them.
- People often come to this experience with a preconceived notion of what they are to do, who they are to serve and how they are to perform their responsibilities. Nothing is wrong with that, unless of course, you are not willing to adapt to the actual requirements of the position (should they differ from your expectations).
- The position is essentially, a volunteer position. As a Servant Crew team member, people will consider you a representative of World Servants. Not only will the participants hold you to a higher level of accountability--so will we.
Though we want you to be friendly and interactive with the groups, we do not expect you to be a part of any group by showing partiality or spending time with them. This "rule" applies to team members both who come with a group and those who don't. For those of you who might come with a group, it is particularly important to realize that you will not participate in your church's evening group time or construction project, for example. You are a World Servants "staff" member for the week(s) that you serve, not a member of a short-term mission team. This is a point that you may want to have clarified with your church group and their leader before you decide to come and definitely before you arrive on site.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Once you arrive on site you will have an orientation (you will be given specific instructions about when to arrive for your particular trip). You will receive a schedule indicating your responsibilities and when you are to perform them. You will also have meeting times with the staff throughout the week to go over the schedule. Although the requirements are not "set in stone" the opportunity to make adjustments (switch task responsibilities, for instance) is during your meeting times with staff--not on the field. Please remember that the World Servants staff have reasons for doing things the way they do them and they may not initially make sense to you. They do welcome your suggestions or questions but once all questions have been answered and a decision is made, we ask that you follow the requirements as they are laid out. Should you not perform a task or should you decide you are going to do the task differently, you may jeopardize that portion of the mission experience.
General Description of Duties and Schedule
Listed below are daily duties you may be responsible for:
- Preparing for, serving and cleaning up after meals
- Packing coolers with ice
- Delivering water to the participants
- Packing and delivering lunches and supplies to work sites
- Assisting in Outreach activities
- Assisting groups in getting to the job site
- Checking on work sites and materials
- Making sure everyone is drinking enough water/watching for ill participants
- Assisting with or leading the evening program
- Attending all required staff meetings
Sample Mission Schedule:
Day 1: | This will be the time to finish up any last minute details and to go through the registration process with the group. |
Day 2: | You will perform your designated duties. |
Day 3: | You will perform your designated duties. |
Day 4: | This will be the "day off" or "half day off." Duties will include things such as:
Depending on the tasks to be completed, you may get a chance to participate in the day off activities-- or at least some of them. |
Day 5: | You will perform your designated duties. |
Day 6-7: | You will perform your designated duties. The day before the teams leave you will be responsible to insure that the sites are cleaned up, tools returned, coolers end up with their owners, etc. |
Day 8: | After breakfast the groups will check out. You, along with the other staff, will be actively involved in checking out the dorm rooms. Once groups are checked out we will do final clean up. You will be able to depart after the finals details are taken care of. |
Please note:
This is a general description based on a one-week trip. Some mission trips will be shorter and others longer. Also remember that each Community Specialist and each community are different so nothing is "written in stone." A true virtue for a cross-cultural servant is flexibility.
It is also very important for you to arrive at the mission site well rested. The days will be long and the pace is sometimes a challenge; as a matter of fact, some people are surprised at the pace and aren't prepared for it. Also, during the week, it is imperative that you get as full a night's sleep as possible.
Interested?
To inquire about being a part of World Servants' Servant Crew, please click here to contact Stephanie Boyd.