ACSI Missions and School Safety

Transcription

1 Security and Short-Term Missions ************************************************************************ Joanne Simpson has worked in the field of Christian education since She was a teacher and principal of Matanuska Christian School, which she founded, in Alaska. She earned her master s degree in administration of Christian schools from Columbia International University in Columbia, South Carolina. Mrs. Simpson and her husband have served as missionaries with ACSI Latin America in Guatemala for five years. She is the coordinator of school development. *********************************************************************** Although almost all of the 180,000 foreigners who travel to Guatemala each year do so without incident, the twin legacies of widespread poverty and violence combine to produce a high level of crime which is a concern for residents and tourists alike (U.S. Embassy Consular 2003). Such a statement can trigger alarm in those who seek to make wise decisions about short-term foreign missions trips for their students. Board members, school principals, and parents across the nations are grappling with an antinomy: the grave responsibility of providing curricular activities that help fully train up a child, including missions opportunities (Smitherman 2000), and the equally grave responsibility of not placing a student in the midst of significant danger. Conscientious leadership requires thoroughly examining all relevant issues, and thus, each school should enter into the following process:

2 1. Seek the wisdom of the Lord through prayer. Rest in the assurance that the Holy Spirit will lead you to send a team or not, as well as where and when if led to send a team Gather information from the U.S. State Department, for example, at on current security reports. 3. Enter U.S. Embassy into the search field of the Internet to find a website about your chosen country, and then review and analyze posted information regarding crimes. 4. Communicate with the ACSI personnel who support mission teams in the states and on the field Consider the fact that ACSI provides proven and experienced on-site leadership for teams. ACSI has developed policies, systems, strategies, and guidelines to provide maximum security throughout each trip. 6. After you have considered all relevant issues, make an informed decision on the basis of the Spirit s leading. We can explore Guatemala as a case sample. During the 2003 calendar year, 20 shortterm mission teams will have ministered to ACSI member schools in Guatemala. It is not debatable that Guatemala is a struggling country. Corruption abounds, poverty statistics are worsening, and crime is rampant. Yet as quoted above, almost all of the 180,000 foreigners who travel to Guatemala each year do so without incident. Hearing only the statement about Guatemala s struggles could easily result in a quick negative response concerning a school missions trip to Guatemala. Hearing the second statement along with

3 the first could at least grant the decision-making entity the opportunity to consider the event. How do we go about gathering pertinent information to give the issue due consideration? Working with the numbers from the crimes listed against foreigners on the embassy website shows that there exists less than one-tenth of one percent chance of being a victim of a crime while visiting Guatemala. Communication with the on-site teamleadership personnel would reveal that many of the listed crimes occur in areas that mission teams do not visit, reducing the risk. And numerous precautions taken by the ACSI personnel move the rate of risk lower still and give assurance to all concerned that teams are cared for in a most prudent manner. These precautions include the following: The leadership of all teams by ACSI executive-level staff Full personal and team security orientation upon arrival Only daytime travel between cities Polarized vehicles Unmarked vehicles, which means that they do not have tourist signs on them Caravans when traveling Walkie-talkies in first and last vehicles of the caravans Two cell phones accompanying each ACSI team leader Luggage that is kept out of sight Written transportation policy manual to minimize risks on the highway Local currency available to team members upon arrival to eliminate risky banking

4 The yielding of ACSI team leaders to the locals on-site concerning security issues Lodging choices based largely on security No visitors at lodging sites Photographs of children only at ministry sites Precautions, however, will not produce the desired results if a team has not had the leading of the Holy Spirit for the trip. It behooves all involved, including students, to consider two principles from the Word in the process of deciding whether to go. First, out of a love for David, three of his closest leaders risked their lives by breaking through the enemy s camp to bring David some water (1 Chronicles 11:15 19). Are there times when we need to step into the rough places even in the midst of danger? Are teens excluded from these times? Where should we draw the line? Is getting living water to thirsting souls worth it? Second, the Word also clearly teaches that the devil attempts to destroy us by leading us into danger and temptation. We must not ignore this fact. His use of Scripture to twist truth can be devastating, even deadly. Jesus Himself did not presume divine protection for hypothetical situations in which He would be stepping out of God s will (Luke 4:9 12). Seek safety from Satan s deception in the counsel of the godly (Proverbs 11:14). Humbly declare that the Lord s will concerning your school s involvement in short-term missions will be known and accomplished.

5 Having spent much time, effort, and prayer on the issue of team security, the ACSI Latin America Regional Office has determined that teams continue to be welcome in Guatemala, the country of the region s main office. As of January 2004, teams will also be able to minister in Paraguay, Peru, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic, which all have ACSI extension offices. Using the guidelines outlined above, ACSI has deemed that although an extension office exists in Colombia, the gravity of the overall negative climate concerning security indicates that it would not be wise to invite teams to minister there. In the spring of 1998, news of a major incident in Guatemala against North Americans came out just four days before the departure date of a short-term missions team, resulting in a six-hour school board meeting that night. The next day, the school leadership delved into a fact-finding process to determine the wisdom of continuing as planned, and the parents received the findings that evening. After much prayer and deliberation, one normally very protective and careful mother said it best: We have prayed diligently and had determined that it was the will of God for our daughter to go to Guatemala. Nothing has changed that. We continue to trust God for the protection of our daughter in whatever form He chooses to provide it. May we all seek and find the same peace in our endeavors to serve our students well. Endnotes 1. Consider the leading of the Spirit for Phillip to go and for Paul not to go (Acts

6 8:29, 16:6 7). 2. You can communicate with the ACSI stateside contact, BettyAnn Schreiner, at and with the ACSI Latin America contact, Joanne Simpson, at References U.S. Embassy Consular Section Travel Information (9 July): Guatemala. Phone recording. Smitherman, Ken More than a missions trip. Christian School Comment 31, no 9.