Advocacy Foundation Missions - Domestic

The e-Advocate Quarterly Magazine Matthew 28: 19-20 | Mark 16: 15

Advocacy Foundation Missions Domestic

“Helping Individuals, Organizations & Communities Achieve Their Full Potential”

Vol. VII, Issue XXX – Q-4 October | November | December 2021

The Advocacy Foundation, Inc. Helping Individuals, Organizations & Communities Achieve Their Full Potential

Advocacy Foundation Missions Domestic Fighting for Changes in the Science of Juvenile Justice Reform

“Helping Individuals, Organizations & Communities Achieve Their Full Potential

1735 Market Street, Suite 3750 Philadelphia, PA 19102

| 100 Edgewood Avenue, Suite 1690 Atlanta, GA 30303

John C Johnson III, Esq. Founder & CEO ______

(855) ADVOC8.0 (855) 238-6280 § (215) 486-2120

www.TheAdvocacyFoundation.org

Page 2 of 65

Page 3 of 65

Table of Contents Advocacy Foundation Missions - Domestic

Biblical Authority I.

Introduction

II.

Modern Missions

III.

Short-Term Missions

IV.

Poverty in America

V.

Urban Decay

VI.

Native American-Indian Territories

VII. Gentrification VIII. Criticism

Attachments A. Mission Trip Planning Guide B. Learning Through Service C. Mission Trip Landmines

Copyright Š 2014 The Advocacy Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Page 4 of 65

Page 5 of 65

Biblical Authority ______

Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV) 19

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.� ______

Mark 16:15-18 (NIV) 15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. 17 "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover ."

Page 6 of 65

Page 7 of 65

Introduction A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin missionem (nom. missio), meaning "act of sending" or mittere, meaning "to send". The word was used in light of its biblical usage; in the Latin translation of the Bible, Christ uses the word when sending the disciples to preach in his name. The term is most commonly used for Christian missions, but can be used for any creed or ideology.

A Christian missionary can be defined as "one who is to witness across cultures". The Lausanne Congress of 1974, defined the term, related to Christian mission as, "to form a viable indigenous church-planting movement". Missionaries can be found in many countries around the world.

Jesus instructed the apostles to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19–20, Mark 16:15–18). This verse is referred to by Christian missionaries as the Great Commission and inspires missionary work.

Modern Missions With a dramatic increase in efforts since the 20th century, and a strong push since the Lausanne I: The International Congress on World Evangelization in Switzerland in 1974, modern evangelical groups have focused efforts on sending missionaries to every ethnic group in the world. While this effort has not been completed, increased attention has brought larger numbers of people distributing Bibles, Jesus videos, and establishing evangelical churches in more remote areas.

Internationally, the focus for many years in the later 20th century was on reaching every "people group" with Christianity by the year 2000. Bill Bright's leadership with Campus Crusade, the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, The Joshua Project, and others brought about the need to know who these "unreached people groups" are and how those wanting to tell about the Christian God and share a Christian Bible could reach them. The focus for these organizations transitioned from a "country focus" to a "people group focus". (From "What is a People Group?" by Dr. Orville Boyd Jenkins: A "people group" is an ethnolinguistic group with a common self-identity that is shared by the various members. There are two parts to that word: ethno and linguistic. Language is a Page 8 of 65

primary and dominant identifying factor of a people group. But there are other factors that determine or are associated with ethnicity.)

What can be viewed as a success by those inside and outside the church from this focus is a higher level of cooperation and friendliness among churches and denominations. It is very common for those working on international fields to not only cooperate in efforts to share their gospel message but view the work of their groups in a similar light. Also, with the increased study and awareness of different people groups, western mission efforts have become far more sensitive to the cultural nuances of those they are going to and those they are working with in the effort.

Over the years, as indigenous churches have matured, the church of the "Global South" (Africa, Asia, and Latin America) has become the driving force in missions. Korean and African missionaries can now be found all over the world. These missionaries represent a major shift in church history.

Brazil, Nigeria, and other countries have had large numbers of their Christian adherents go to other countries and start churches. These non-western missionaries often have unparalleled success because they need few western resources and comforts to sustain their livelihood while doing the work they have chosen among a new culture and people.

Main articles: London Missionary Society, Church Mission Society, China Inland Mission, Church's Ministry Among Jewish People and Baptist Missionary Society.

One of the first large-scale missionary endeavours of the British colonial age was the Baptist Missionary Society, founded in 1792 as the Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Amongst the Heathen.

The London Missionary Society was an evangelical organisation, bringing together from its inception both Anglicans and Nonconformists; it was founded in England in 1795 with missions in Africa and the islands of the South Pacific. The Colonial Missionary Society was created in 1836, and directed its efforts towards promoting Congregationalist forms of Christianity among "British or other European settlers" rather than indigenous peoples.

Both of these merged in 1966, and the resultant organisation is now known as the Council for World Mission.

The Church Mission Society, first known as the Society for Missions to Africa and the East, was founded in 1799 by evangelical Anglicans centred around the anti-slavery activist William Wilberforce. It bent its efforts to the Coptic Church, the Ethiopian Church, and India, especially Kerala; it continues to this day. Many of the network of churches they established became the Anglican Communion.

In 1809, the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews was founded, which pioneered mission amongst the Jewish people; it continues today as the Church's Page 9 of 65

Ministry Among Jewish People. In 1865 the China Inland Mission was founded, going well beyond British controlled areas; it continues as the OMF, working throughout East Asia.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has an active missionary program. Young men between the ages of 18 and 25 are encouraged to prepare themselves to serve a two-year, self-funded (often subsidized by the LDS Church), full-time proselytizing mission. Young women who desire to serve as missionaries can serve starting at the age of 19, for one and a half years. Retired couples also have the option of serving a mission. Missionaries typically spend two weeks in a Missionary Training Center (or two to three months for those learning a new language) where they study the scriptures, learn new languages when applicable, prepare themselves to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and learn more about the culture and the people among whom they will be living. As of January 2014, the LDS Church has over 80,000 missionaries worldwide and over 10,000 Welfare Services Missionaries.

Page 10 of 65

Page 11 of 65

Modern Missions The Lausanne Congress of 1974, birthed a movement that supports evangelical mission among non-Christians and nominal Christians. It regards "mission" as that which is designed "to form a viable indigenous church-planting and world changing movement." This definition is motivated by a theologically imperative theme of the Bible to make God known, as outlined in the Great Commission. The definition is claimed to summarize the acts of Jesus' ministry, which is taken as a model motivation for all ministries.

This Christian missionary movement seeks to implement churches after the pattern of the first century Apostles. The process of forming disciples is necessarily social. "Church" should be understood in the widest sense, as a body of believers of Christ rather than simply a building. In this view, even those who are already culturally Christian must be "evangelized".

Church planting by cross-cultural missionaries leads to the establishment of self-governing, self-supporting and self-propagating communities of believers. This is the famous "three-self" formula formulated by Henry Venn of the London Church Missionary Society in the 19th century.

Cross-cultural missionaries are persons who accept church-planting duties to evangelize

people outside their culture, as Christ commanded in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20, Mark 16:15–18).

The objective of these missionaries is to give an understandable presentation of their beliefs with the hope that people will choose to following the teaching of Jesus Christ and live their lives as His disciples. As a matter of strategy, many evangelical Christians around the world now focus on what they call the "10/40 window", a band of countries between 10 and 40 degrees north latitude and reaching from western Africa through Asia.

Christian missions strategist Luis Bush pinpointed the need for a major focus of evangelism in the "10/40 Window", a phrase he coined in his presentation at the missionary conference Lausanne 1989 in Manila.

Sometimes referred to as the "Resistant Belt", it is an area that includes 35% of the world's land mass, 90% of the world's poorest peoples and 95% of those who have yet to hear anything about Christianity.

Modern pioneering missionary doctrines now focus on inserting a culturally adapted seed of Christian doctrines into a self-selected, self-motivated group of indigenous believers, without removing them from their culture in any way.

Page 12 of 65

Modern mission techniques are sufficiently refined that within ten to fifteen years, most indigenous churches are locally pastored, managed, taught, self-supporting and evangelizing. The process can be substantially faster if a preexisting translation of the Bible and higher pastoral education are already available, perhaps left-over from earlier, less effective missions.

One strategy is to let indigenous cultural groups decide to adopt Christian doctrines and benefits, when (as in most cultures) such major decisions are normally made by groups. In this way, opinion leaders in the groups can persuade much or most of the groups to convert. When combined with training in discipleship, church planting and other modern missionary doctrine, the result is an accelerating, self-propelled conversion of large portions of the culture.

A typical modern mission is a cooperative effort by many different ministries, often including several coordinating ministries, such as the Faith2Share network, often with separate funding sources. One typical effort proceeded as follows: 1. A missionary radio group recruits, trains and broadcasts in the main dialect of the target culture's language. Broadcast content is carefully adapted to avoid syncretism yet help the Christian Gospel seem like a native, normal part of the target culture.

Broadcast content often includes news, music, entertainment and

education in the language, as well as purely Christian items.

2. Broadcasts might advertise programs, inexpensive radios (possibly spring-wound), and a literature ministry that sells a Christian mail-order correspondence course at nominal costs. The literature ministry is key, and is normally a separate organization from the radio ministry.

Modern literature missions are shifting to web-based content where it makes sense (as in Western Europe and Japan).

3. When a person or group completes a correspondence course, they are invited to contact a church-planting missionary group from (if possible) a related cultural group. The churchplanting ministry is usually a different ministry from either the literature or radio ministries. The church-planting ministry usually requires its missionaries to be fluent in the target language, and trained in modern churchplanting techniques.

4. The missionary then leads the group to start a church. Churches planted by these groups are usually a group that meets in a house. The object is the minimum organization that can perform the required character development and spiritual growth. Buildings, complex ministries and other expensive items are mentioned, but deprecated until the group naturally achieves the size and budget to afford them. The crucial training is how to become a Christian (by faith in Jesus Christ) Page 13 of 65

and then how to set up a church (meet to study the Bible, and perform communion and worship), usually in that order.

5. A new generation of churches is created, and the growth begins to accelerate geometrically.

Frequently, daughter churches are created only a few months after a church's creation. In the fastestgrowing Christian movements, the pastoral education is "pipelined", flowing in a just-intime fashion from the central churches to daughter churches.

That is, planting of churches does not wait for the complete training of pastors.

The most crucial part of church planting is selection and training of leadership.

Classically, leadership training required an expensive stay at a seminary, a Bible college.

Modern church planters deprecate this because it substantially slows the growth of the church without much immediate benefit. Modern mission doctrines replace the seminary with programmed curricula or (even less expensive) books of discussion questions, and access to real theological books. The materials are usually made available in a

major trading language in which most native leaders are likely to be fluent. In some cases, the materials can be adapted for oral use.

It turns out that new pastors' practical needs for theology are well addressed by a combination of practical procedures for church planting, discussion in small groups, and motivated Bible-based study from diverse theological texts. As a culture's church's wealth increases, it will naturally form classic seminaries on its own.

Another related mission is Bible translation.

The above-mentioned literature has to be translated.

Missionaries actively experiment with advanced linguistic techniques to speed translation and literacy. Bible translation not only speeds a church's growth by aiding self-training, but it also assures that Christian information becomes a permanent part of the native culture and literature. Some ministries also use modern recording techniques to reach groups with audio that could not be soon reached with literature.

Page 14 of 65

Page 15 of 65

Short-Term Missions

A short-term mission (STM) is the mobilization of a Christian missionary for a short period of time ranging from days to a year; many short-term missions are called mission trips. The short-term missionary is a fairly recent innovation in the global missions movement, but many short-term missions agencies are seeing an increased number of trips that consist of a week up to a year.

Generally, missionaries have been people sent to spread their religious faith, usually among the people of another country or region in which that faith is not widely practiced. In the past 50 years, churches have moved toward mobilizing young people for short-term trips.

Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and Operation Mobilisation (OM) were two of the first organizations to utilize short term missions. In the late 1950s, OM Founder George Verwer began mobilizing young people for summer missions.According to the Missionary Research Library, there were about 43,000 Protestant missionaries in the world in 1958. This is four times as many as when the century began. Of this number 27,733 are from the US. In the

summer 1963, over 2,000 people joined the first short-term mission teams with Operation Mobilization. They worked throughout Europe and found creative ways of getting behind the Iron Curtain.

Youth With a Misison (YWAM) began in the 1960s under the leadership of Loren Cunningham. He pioneered short term missions and introduced the idea that young people could be missionaries.

Generally, missionaries were expected to have extensive theological training before going into the foreign mission field, but YWAM provided short-term opportunities for young people who had a passion for Jesus Christ to share their faith in a way that was powerful and effective. Eventually, YWAM began offering courses to train missionaries as a substitution or supplement to formal theological training. With OM, the summer conferences continued each year but the participants dwindled. In late 1987, a renewed vision for reaching Europe was born. This led to the “Love Europe� outreaches that started in July 1989. OM planned for 5,000 young people from 50 nations to participate; in fact, about 7,000 from 76 nations came.

In 1970, there were very few youth groups doing short-term missions in the United States. However, during the 1980s and '90s missiologically progressive churches began to take a project approach to missions, capitalizing on directing present energy into short-term missions trips, vacations with a purpose, designated projects and offerings, and ministry teams.

Page 16 of 65

The project approach has matured in the modern Short-term Missions (STM) movement and become a standard annual feature for thousands of Christian youth groups, church groups, and individuals across the United States. In a national survey in 2006 it was determined that 2.1% of church members of all denominations (1.6 million people) had been on a short-term mission trip in the past year, and 3.6% claimed to have participated in an STM as teens.

There are independent Short-term Missions Organizations (STMs) as well as denominations and individual churches that facilitate these trips all over the world. Many STMs "sending agencies" are adopting of Standards of Excellence in Short-term Missions. Many individuals going on short-term mission trips raise partial or full support from family and friends to help pay for their trip. Costs

include not only travel, food and lodging, but often associated project expenses as well. In recent years, a number of services like have been established to help individuals raise support for their short-term mission trips using online email and social media tools.

Criticisms Recently, experts have argued that shortterm missions tend to actually cause more harm than good. Objections include the rise of unjustified paternalism, lack of knowledge of local culture, wrong motivations in team members, undercutting of local ministries and pastors, and massive spending. In their book When Helping Hurts, Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett expand upon these problems and suggest alternatives in poverty-alleviation.

Page 17 of 65

Page 18 of 65

Poverty In America The most common measure of poverty in the U.S. is the "poverty threshold" set by the U.S. Government. This measure recognizes poverty as a lack of those goods and services commonly taken for granted by members of mainstream society. The official threshold is adjusted for inflation using the consumer price index. The government's definition of poverty is based on total income received and do not include non-cash supplements such as food stamps or public housing.

For example, the poverty level for 2014 was set at $23,850 (total yearly income) for a family of four.

Most Americans will spend at least one year below the poverty line at some point between ages 25 and 75. Poverty rates are persistently higher in rural and inner city parts of the country as compared to suburban areas.

In November 2012 the U.S. Census Bureau said more than 16% of the population lived in poverty, including almost 20% of American children, up from 14.3% (approximately 43.6 million) in 2009 and to its highest level since 1993. In 2008, 13.2% (39.8 million) Americans lived in poverty. Starting in the 1980s, relative poverty rates have consistently exceeded those of other wealthy nations. California has a poverty rate of 23.5%, the highest of any state in the country.

In 2009 the number of people who were in poverty was approaching 1960s levels that led to the national War on Poverty.

In 2011 extreme poverty in the United States, meaning households living on less than $2 per day before government benefits, was double 1996 levels at 1.5 million households, including 2.8 million children. This would be roughly 1.2% of the US population in 2011, presuming a mean household size of 2.55 people. Census data for 2011 showed that half the population qualified as low income.

In 2011, child poverty reached record high levels, with 16.7 million children living in food insecure households, about 35% more than 2007 levels. A 2013 UNICEF report ranked the U.S. as having the second highest relative child poverty rates in the developed world.

There were about 643,000 sheltered and unsheltered homeless people nationwide in January 2009. Almost two-thirds stayed in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program and the other third were living on the street, in an abandoned building, or another place not meant for human habitation. About 1.56 million people, or about 0.5% of the U.S. population, used an emergency shelter or a transitional housing program between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009. Around 44% of homeless people are employed.

Page 19 of 65

Two Official Measures There are two basic versions of the federal poverty measure: the poverty thresholds (which are the primary version) and the poverty guidelines. The Census Bureau issues the poverty thresholds, which are generally used for statistical purposes—for example, to estimate the number of people in poverty nationwide each year and classify them by type of residence, race, and other social, economic, and demographic characteristics. The Department of Health and Human Services issues the poverty guidelines for administrative purposes—for instance, to determine whether a person or family is eligible for assistance through various federal programs.

Since the 1960s, the United States government has defined poverty in absolute terms. When the Johnson administration declared "war on poverty" in 1964, it chose an absolute measure.

The "absolute poverty line" is the threshold below which families or individuals are considered to be lacking the resources to meet the basic needs for healthy living; having insufficient income to provide the food, shelter and clothing needed to preserve health.

The "Orshansky Poverty Thresholds" form the basis for the current measure of poverty in the U.S. Mollie Orshansky was an economist working for the Social Security Administration (SSA). Her work appeared at an opportune moment.

Orshansky's article was published later in the same year that Johnson declared war on poverty. Since her measure was absolute (i.e., did not depend on other

events), it made it possible to objectively answer whether the U.S. government was "winning" this war. The newly formed United States Office of Economic Opportunity adopted the lower of the Orshansky poverty thresholds for statistical, planning, and budgetary purposes in May 1965.

The Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget) adopted Orshansky's definition for statistical use in all Executive departments. The measure gave a range of income cutoffs, or thresholds, adjusted for factors such as family size, sex of the family head, number of children under 18 years old, and farm or non-farm residence. The economy food plan (the least costly of four nutritionally adequate food plans designed by the Department of Agriculture) was at the core of this definition of poverty.

At the time of creating the poverty definition, the Department of Agriculture found that families of three or more persons spent about one third of their after-tax income on food. For these families, poverty thresholds were set at three times the cost of the economy food plan. Different procedures were used for calculating poverty thresholds for twoperson households and persons living alone. Annual updates of the SSA poverty thresholds were based on price changes in the economy food plan, but updates do not reflect other changes (food is no longer one-third of the after-tax income).

Two changes were made to the poverty definition in 1969. Thresholds for nonfarm families were tied to annual changes in the Consumer Price Index rather than changes in the cost of the Page 20 of 65

economy food plan. Farm thresholds were raised from 70 to 85% of the nonfarm levels.

In 1981, further changes were made to the poverty definition. Separate thresholds for "farm" and "female-householder" families were eliminated. The largest family size category became "nine persons or more."

Apart from these changes, the U.S. government's approach to measuring poverty has remained static for the past forty years.

Most Recent Guidelines

The poverty guideline figures are not the figures the Census Bureau uses to calculate the number of poor persons.

The figures that the Census Bureau uses are the poverty thresholds. The Census Bureau provides an explanation of the difference between poverty thresholds and guidelines. The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty. The 2010 figure for a family of 4 with no children under 18 years of age is $22,541, while the figure for a family of 4 with 2 children under 18 is $22,162. For comparison, the 2011 HHS poverty guideline for a family of 4 is $22,350.

United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) figures for poverty in 2014 Persons in 48 Contiguous States Alaska Hawaii Family Unit and D.C. 1 $11,670 $14,580 $13,420 2 $15,730 $19,660 $18,090 3 $19,790 $24,730 $22,760 4 $23,850 $29,820 $27,430 5 $27,910 $34,900 $32,100 6 $31,970 $39,980 $36,770 7 $36,030 $45,060 $41,440 8 $40,090 $50,140 $46,110 Each additional $4,060 $5,080 $4,670 person adds Families in Poverty According to the US Census, in 2007 5.8% of all people in married families lived in poverty, as did 26.6% of all persons in single parent households and 19.1% of all

persons living alone. More than 75% of all poor households are headed by women (2012).

Race, Ethnicity & Family Status Among married couple families: 5.8% lived in poverty. This number varied by Page 21 of 65

race and ethnicity as follows: 5.4% of all white persons (which includes white Hispanics), 9.7% of all black persons (which includes black Hispanics), and 14.9% of all Hispanic persons (of any race) living in poverty.

white children comprised 57% of all poor rural children.

In FY 2009, black families comprised 33.3% of TANF families, non-Hispanic white families comprised 31.2%, and 28.8% were Hispanic.

Age

Among single parent (male or female) families: 26.6% lived in poverty. This number varied by race and ethnicity as follows: 22.5% of all white persons (which includes white Hispanics), 44.0% of all black persons (which includes black Hispanics), and 33.4% of all Hispanic persons (of any race) living in poverty.

Among individuals living alone: 19.1% lived in poverty. This number varied by race and ethnicity as follows: 18% of white persons (which includes white Hispanics) 28.9% of black persons (which includes black Hispanics) and 27% of Hispanic persons (of any race) living in poverty.

The US Census declared that in 2010 15.1% of the general population lived in poverty: 9.9% of all white persons 12.1% of all Asian persons 26.6% of all Hispanic persons (of any race) 28.4% of all black persons.

About half of those living in poverty are non-Hispanic white (19.6 million in 2010), but poverty rates are much higher for blacks and Hispanics. Non-Hispanic

The US Census declared that in 2010 15.1% of the general population lived in poverty: 22% of all people under age 18 13.7% of all people 19–64, and 9% of all people ages 65 and older The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) uses a different measure for poverty and declared in 2008 that child poverty in the US is 20% and poverty among the elderly is 23%. The non-profit advocacy group Feeding America has released a study (May 2009) based on 2005–2007 data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Agriculture Department, which claims that 3.5 million children under the age of 5 are at risk of hunger in the United States. The study claims that in 11 states, Louisiana, which has the highest rate, followed by North Carolina, Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Idaho and Page 22 of 65

Arkansas, more than 20 percent of children under 5 are allegedly at risk of going hungry. (Receiving fewer than 1,800 calories per day) The study was paid by ConAgra Foods, a large food company.

meals daily through the National School lunch program during the 2012 federal fiscal year. Nearly 14 million children are estimated to be served by Feeding America with over 3 million being of the ages of 5 and under.

Children

A 2014 report by the National Center on Family Homelessness states the number of homeless children in the U.S. has reached record levels, calculating that 2.5 million children, or one child in every 30, experienced homelessness in 2013. High levels of poverty, lack of affordable housing and domestic violence were cited as the primary causes.

In 2012, 16.1 million children were living in poverty. Out of the 49 million Americans living in food insecure homes, 15.9 million of them were children. In 2013, child poverty reached record high levels in the U.S., with 16.7 million children living in food insecure households. Many of the neighborhoods these children reside in lack basic produce and nutritional food. 47 million Americans depend on food banks, more than 30% above 2007 levels. Households headed by single mothers are most likely to be affected. 30 percent of low income single mothers can't even afford diapers.

Not having the ability to afford this necessity can cause a chain reaction of events to occur, including mental, health, and behavioral affects. Some women are forced to make use of one or two diapers, using them more than once.

This causes rashes and sanitation problems as well as health problems for the child and the mother. Without diapers, children are unable to enter into daycare. The lack of childcare can be detrimental to single mothers by hindering their ability to obtain employment. Worst affected are the District of Columbia, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico and Florida, while North Dakota, New Hampshire, Virginia, Minnesota and Massachusetts are the least affected. 31 million low-income children received free or reduced-price

Education Poverty affects individual access to quality education. The U.S. education system is funded by local communities; therefore the quality of materials and teachers is reflective of the affluence of community. Low income communities are not able to afford the quality education that high income communities do. Another important aspect of education in low income communities is the apathy of both students and teachers.

To some the children of the poor or ignorant are seen as mere copies of their parents fated to live out the same poor or ignorant life. The effect of such a perception can be teachers that will not put forth the effort to teach and students that are opposed to learning; in both cases the idea is that the poor student is incapable. Females in poverty are also likely to become pregnant at a young Page 23 of 65

age, and with fewer resources to care for a child, young women often drop out of school. Due to these and other reasons

the quality of education between the classes is not equal. ______

Causes of Poverty in America

earned $77,605, and families headed by individuals with professional degrees earned $100,000.

There are numerous factors related to poverty in the United States. 



According to the American Enterprise Institute, research has shown that income and intelligence are related. In a 1998 study, Charles Murray compared the earnings of 733 full sibling pairs with differing intelligence quotients (IQ’s). He referred to the sample as utopian in that the sampled pairs were raised in families with virtually no illegitimacy, divorce or poverty.

The average earnings of sampled individuals with an IQ of under 75 was $11,000, compared to $16,000 for those with an IQ between 75 and 90, $23,000 for those with an IQ between 90 and 110, $27,000 for those with an IQ between 110 and 125, and $38,000 for those with an IQ above 125. Murray's work on IQ has been found faulty by Stephen Jay Gould, Loïc Wacquant and others.

Income has a high correlation with educational levels. In 2007, the median earnings of household headed by individuals with less than a 9th grade education was $20,805 while households headed by high school graduates earned $40,456, households headed holders of bachelor’s degree



In many cases poverty is caused by job loss. In 2007, the poverty rate was 21.5% for individuals who were unemployed, but only 2.5% for individuals who were employed full-time.



In 1991, 8.3% of children in twoparent families were likely to live in poverty; 19.6% of children lived with father in single parent family; and 47.1% in single parent family headed by mother.



Income levels vary with age. For example, the median 2009 income for households headed by individuals age 15–24 was only $30,750, but increased to $50,188 for household headed by individuals age 25–34 and $61,083 for household headed by individuals 35–44. Although the reasons are unclear, work experience and additional education may be factors.



Income levels vary along racial/ethnic lines: 21% of all children in the United States live in poverty, about 46% of black children and 40% of Latino children live in poverty. The poverty rate is 9.9% for black married couples and only 30% of Page 24 of 65

black children are born to married couples (see Marriage below). The poverty rate for native born and naturalized whites is identical (9.6%). On the other hand, the poverty rate for naturalized blacks is 11.8% compared to 25.1% for native born blacks suggesting race alone does not explain income disparity. Not all minorities have low incomes. Asian families have higher incomes than all other ethnic groups. For example, the 2005 median income of Asian families was $68,957 compared to the median income of white families of $59,124. Asians, however, report discrimination occurrences more frequently than blacks. Specifically, 31% of Asians reported employment discrimination compared to 26% of blacks in 2005. 

The relationship between tax rates and poverty is disputed. A study comparing high tax Scandinavian countries with the U. S. suggests high tax rates are inversely correlated with poverty rates. The poverty rate, however, is low in some low tax countries such as Switzerland. A comparison of poverty rates between states reveals that some low tax states have low poverty rates. For example, New Hampshire has the lowest poverty rate of any state in the U. S., and has very low taxes (46th among all states). It is true however that in those instances, both Switzerland and New Hampshire have a very high household income and other

measures to levy or offset the lack of taxation.

For example, Switzerland has Universal Healthcare and a free system of education for children as young as four years old. New Hampshire has no state income tax or sales tax, but does have the nation's highest property taxes. 

The Heritage Foundation speculates that illegal immigration increases job competition among low wage earners, both native and foreign born. Additionally many first generation immigrants, namely those without a high school diploma, are also living in poverty themselves.



Economist Jared Bernstein and Elise Gould of the Economic Policy Institute suggest that poverty could have been significantly reduced if inequality had not increased over the last few decades.

The Threshold

Many sociologists and government officials have argued that poverty in the United States is understated, meaning that there are more households living in actual poverty than there are households below the poverty threshold. A recent NPR report states that as much as 30% of Americans have trouble making ends meet and other advocates have made supporting claims that the rate of actual poverty in the US is far higher than that calculated by using the poverty threshold. A study taken in 2012 Page 25 of 65

estimated that roughly 38% of Americans live "paycheck to paycheck."

decades following the end of the Second World War.

According to William H. Chafe, if one used a relative standard for measuring poverty (a standard that took into account the rising standards of living rather than an absolute dollar figure) then 18% of families was living in poverty in 1968, not 13% as officially estimated at that time.

the poverty thresholds used by the US government were originally developed during the Johnson administration's War on Poverty initiative in 1963–1964. Mollie Orshansky, the government economist working at the Social Security Administration who developed the thresholds, based the threshold levels on the cost of purchasing what in the mid1950s had been determined by the US Department of Agriculture to be the minimal nutritionally-adequate amount of food necessary to feed a family.

Orshansky multiplied the cost of the food basket by a factor of three, under the assumption that the average family spent one third of its income on food.

As far back as 1969, the Bureau of Labor Statistics put forward suggested budgets for families to live adequately on. 60% of working-class Americans lived below one of these budgets, which suggested that a far higher proportion of Americans lived in poverty than the official poverty line suggested. These findings were also used by observers on the left when questioning the long-established view that most Americans had attained an affluent standard of living in the two

Page 26 of 65

Page 27 of 65

Urban Decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot and urban blight) is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. It may feature deindustrialization, depopulation or changing population, restructuring, abandoned buildings, high local unemployment, fragmented families, political disenfranchisement, crime, and a desolate, inhospitable city landscape.

Since the 1970s and 1980s, urban decay has been associated with Western cities, especially in North America and parts of Europe. Since then, major structural changes in global economies, transportation, and government policy created the economic and then the social conditions resulting in urban decay.

The effects counter the development of most of Europe and North America; in countries beyond, urban decay is manifested in the peripheral slums at the outskirts of a metropolis, while the city center and the inner city retain high real estate values and sustain a steadily increasing populace. In contrast, North American and British cities often experience population flights to the suburbs and exurb commuter towns; that is, white flight. Another characteristic of urban decay is blight—the visual,

psychological, and physical effects of living among empty lots, buildings and condemned houses. Such desolate properties are socially dangerous to the community because they attract criminals and street gangs, contributing to the volume of crime.

Urban decay has no single cause; it results from combinations of interrelated socio-economic conditions— including the city's urban planning decisions, tight rent control, the poverty of the local populace, the construction of freeway roads and rail road lines that bypass the area, depopulation by suburbanization of peripheral lands, real estate neighborhood redlining, and immigration restrictions.

During the Industrial Revolution, from the late eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century, rural people moved from the country to the cities for employment in manufacturing industry, thus causing the urban population boom.

However, subsequent economic change left many cities economically vulnerable.

Studies such as the Urban Task Force (DETR 1999), the Urban White Paper (DETR 2000), and a study of Scottish cities (2003) posit that areas suffering industrial decline—high unemployment, poverty, and a decaying physical environment (sometimes including contaminated land and obsolete infrastructure)—prove "highly resistant to improvement".

Changes in means of transport, from the public to the private—specifically, the Page 28 of 65

private motor car—eliminated some of the cities' public transport service advantages, e.g., fixed-route buses and trains. In particular, at the end of World War II, many political decisions favored suburban development and encouraged suburbanization, by drawing city taxes from the cities to build new infrastructure for remote, raciallyrestricted suburban towns.

The manufacturing sector has been a base for the prosperity of major cities.

When the industries have relocated outside of cities, some have experienced population loss with associated urban decay, and even riots. Cut backs on police and fire services may result, while lobbying for government funded housing may increase. Increased city taxes encourage residents to move out.

Rent Control Rent controls are often enacted due to public pressure and complaint regarding the cost of living. Such policies are argued for on the basis of a housing shortage, protection for the poor, controls combat inflation, they stabilize the economic characteristics of a city's population, provide benefits for minorities, prevent rent gouging, and improves the quality of housing. It has been documented that rent control distorts the supply and demand relationship in housing markets which contributes to the rapid deterioration of the community and to urban blight and does not provide the supposed benefits its proponents promise. Rent control

contributes to urban blight by reducing new construction and investment in housing and deincetivizing maintenance.

If a landlord's costs to perform maintenance consume too large a proportion of revenue from rent, the landlord will feel pressure to drastically reduce or eliminate maintenance entirely. This effect has been observed in New York City as 29% of rent-controlled buildings were categorized as either deteriorated or dilapidated in contrast with 8% of non-rent-controlled housing.

The Second Migration Historically in the United States, the white middle class gradually left the cities for suburban areas because of higher crime rates and perceived danger caused by African-American migration north toward cities after World War I (the Great Migration)—the so-called "white flight" phenomenon.

Some historians differentiate between the first Great Migration (1910–1930), numbering about 1.6 million Black migrants who left mostly Southern rural areas to migrate to northern and midwestern industrial cities, and, after a lull during the Great Depression, a Second Great Migration (1940 to 1970), in which 5 million or more AfricanAmericans moved, including many to California and various western cities.

Between 1910 and 1970, Blacks moved from 14 states of the South, especially Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to the other three cultural (and census-designated) regions of the United Page 29 of 65

States. More townspeople with urban skills moved during the second migration. By the end of the Second Great Migration, African Americans had become an urbanized population. More than 80 percent lived in cities. A majority of 53 percent remained in the South, while 40 percent lived in the North and 7 percent in the West.

From the 1930s until 1977, Black Americans seeking borrowing capital for housing and businesses were discriminated against via the federal government legislated discriminatory lending practices for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) via redlining. In 1977, the US Congress passed the Community Reinvestment Act, designed to encourage commercial banks and savings associations to help meet the needs of borrowers in all segments of their communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.

Later urban centers were drained further through the advent of mass car ownership, the marketing of suburbia as a location to move to, and the building of the Interstate Highway System. In North America this shift manifested itself in

strip malls, suburban retail and employment centers, and very lowdensity housing estates. Large areas of many northern cities in the United States experienced population decreases and a degradation of urban areas.

Inner-city property values declined and economically disadvantaged populations moved in. In the U.S., the new inner-city poor were often African-Americans that migrated from the South in the 1920s and 1930s. As they moved into traditional white neighborhoods, ethnic frictions served to accelerate flight to the suburbs.

Urban Renewal In the United States, early government policies included "urban renewal" and building of large scale housing projects for the poor. Urban renewal demolished entire neighborhoods in many inner cities; in many ways, it was a cause of urban decay rather than a remedy. These government efforts are now thought by many to have been misguided.

For multiple reasons, some cities have rebounded from these policy mistakes.

Meanwhile, some of the inner suburbs built in the 1950s and 60s are beginning the process of decay, as those who are living in the inner city are pushed out due to gentrification.

Page 30 of 65

Page 31 of 65

Native American Indians outside Haiti, according to The Wall Street Journal”

21st Century Poverty is also notoriously high on Native American reservations. 7 of the 11 poorest counties in per capita income, including the 2 poorest in the U.S., encompass Lakota Sioux reservations in South Dakota. This fact has been cited by some critics as a mechanism that enables the “kidnapping” of Lakota children by the state of South Dakota's Department of Social Services. The Lakota People’s Law Project, among other critics, allege that South Dakota “inappropriately equates economic poverty with neglect...South Dakota's rate of identifying 'neglect' is 18% higher than the national average...In 2010, the national average of state discernment of neglect, as a percent of total maltreatment of foster children prior to their being taken into custody by the state, was 78.3%. In South Dakota the rate was 95.8%.”

Poverty in the Pine Ridge Reservation in particular has had unprecedented effects on its resident's longevity. “Recent reports state the average life expectancy is 45 years old while others state that it is 48 years old for men and 52 years old for women. With either set of figures, that's the shortest life expectancy for any community in the Western Hemisphere

In 2013 jurisdiction over persons who were not tribal members under the Violence Against Women Act was extended to Indian Country. This closed a gap which prevented arrest or prosecution by tribal police or courts of abusive partners of tribal members who were not native or from another tribe.

Migration to urban areas continued to grow with 70% of Native Americans living in urban areas in 2012, up from 45% in 1970 and 8% in 1940. Urban areas with significant Native American populations included Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix, Tucson, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Houston, New York City, and Rapid City. Many lived in poverty.

Racism, unemployment, drugs and gangs were common problems which Indian social service organizations such as the Little Earth housing complex in Minneapolis attempted to address.

Population and Distribution The 2010 census permitted respondents to self-identify as being of one or more races. Self-identification dates from the census of 1960; prior to that the race of the respondent was determined by opinion of the census taker. The option to select more than one race was Page 32 of 65

introduced in 2000. If American Indian or Alaska Native was selected, the form requested the individual provide the name of the "enrolled or principal tribe".

The 2010 Census showed that the U.S. population on April 1, 2010, was 308.7 million.

Out of the total U.S. population, 2.9 million people, or 0.9 percent, reported American Indian or Alaska Native alone.

In addition, 2.3 million people, or another 0.7 percent, reported American Indian or Alaska Native in combination with one or more other races. Together, these two groups totaled 5.2 million people. Thus, 1.7 percent of all people in the United States identified as American Indian or Alaska Native, either alone or in combination with one or more other races.

According to Office of Management and Budget, "American Indian or Alaska Native" refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.

78% of Native Americans live outside a reservation. Full-blood individuals are more likely to live on a reservation than mixed-blood individuals. The Navajo, with 286,000 full-blood individuals, is the largest tribe if only full-blood individuals are counted; the Navajo are the tribe with the highest proportion of full-blood individuals, 86.3%. The Cherokee have a different history; it is the largest tribe with 819,000 individuals, and it has 284,000 full-blood individuals.

The definition of American Indian or Alaska Native used in the 2010 census: American Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut % of Population by U.S. State (1890–2010) State/Territor 200 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2010 y 0 United 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% States % % % % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.6 Alabama 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% % % % % % % % Alaska 34.0 21.5 14.3 9.9 10.0 11.0 8.8 6.4 5.6 5.6 5.0 4.6 Arizona 5.4% % % % % % % % % % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.8 Arkansas 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% % % % % % % % 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.9 0.8 California 1.4% 1.0% 0.7% 0.3% 0.3% 1.0% 1.0% % % % % % % 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 Colorado 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 1.0% 1.1% % % % % Connecticut 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0 0.0% 0.0% 0.0 0.0 0.1% 0.1% 0.2 0.3 0.3 Page 33 of 65

American Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut % of Population by U.S. State (1890–2010) State/Territor 200 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2010 y 0 United 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% States % % % % % % % % % % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.5 Delaware 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % % District of 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% Columbia % % % % % % 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 Florida 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.3 Georgia 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % % 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.3 Hawaii 0.1% 0.1% % % % % 0.7 0.6 0.8 0.9 Idaho 4.8% 2.6% 1.1% 0.8% 0.7% 1.1% 1.4% 1.4% 1.4% % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.3 Illinois 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.3 Indiana 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 Iowa 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % % 0.2 0.4 0.7 0.9 0.9 Kansas 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 1.0% % % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.2 Kentucky 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% % % % % % % % 0.0 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.7 Louisiana 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.6 Maine 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 Maryland 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% % % % % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.1% 0.1% Massachusetts 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% % 0.0% 0.0% % % % % % 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.6 Michigan 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % % Minnesota 0.8% 0.5% 0.4% 0.4 0.4% 0.4% 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.9 1.1% 1.1% 1.1% Page 34 of 65

American Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut % of Population by U.S. State (1890–2010) State/Territor 200 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2010 y 0 United 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% States % % % % % % % % % % % % 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Mississippi 0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 Missouri 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% % % % % % % % 2.0 6.0 6.2 Montana 7.8% 4.7% 0.8% 2.8% 3.0% 2.8% 3.1% 3.9% 4.7% 6.3% % % % 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.9 Nebraska 0.6% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 1.2% % % % % % % 10.9 12.3 Nevada 6.4% 6.3% 5.3% 4.3% 3.1% 2.3% 1.6% 1.7% 1.6% 1.3% 1.2% % % New 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% Hampshire % % % % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.3 New Jersey 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % % New 8.9 9.5 9.4 9.4% 6.7% 6.3% 5.4% 6.8% 6.5% 6.2% 5.9% 7.2% 8.1% Mexico % % % 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.6 New York 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % North 0.5 0.8 0.9 0.1% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5% 0.6% 0.1% 1.1% 1.2% 1.2% 1.3% Carolina % % % 4.9 North 4.3% 2.2% 1.1% 1.0% 1.2% 1.6% 1.7% 1.9% 2.3% 3.1% 4.1% 5.4% % Dakota 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.2 Ohio 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % % 24.9 5.6 8.0 7.9 8.6 Oklahoma 8.2% 4.5% 2.8% 3.9% 2.7% 2.4% 2.8% 3.8% % % % % % 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.6 Oregon 1.6% 1.2% 0.8% 0.5% 0.4% 1.0% 1.4% 1.3% 1.4% % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% Pennsylvania 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% % 0.0% 0.0% % % % % Rhode Island South

0.1% 0.0% 0.1%

0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% % % %

0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0 0.1% 0.1%

0.1% 0.2

0.4 %

0.5 0.6 % %

0.2

0.3

0.4

Page 35 of 65

American Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut % of Population by U.S. State (1890–2010) State/Territor 200 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2010 y 0 United 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% States % % % % % % % Carolina % % % % % South 4.9 6.5 8.8 5.7% 5.0% 3.3% 2.6% 3.2% 3.6% 3.6% 3.8% 7.3% 8.3% Dakota % % % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.3 Tennessee 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.7 Texas 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% % % % % % % % 0.6 0.6 0.8 Utah 1.6% 0.9% 0.8% 0.6% 0.7% 1.1% 1.3% 1.4% 1.3% 1.2% % % % 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.4 Vermont 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% % % % % % % % 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.4 Virginia 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% % % % % % % 0.7 0.6 0.7 3.1% 1.9% 1.0% 0.7% 0.7% 1.0% 1.5% 1.7% 1.6% 1.5% Washington % % % West 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% Virginia % % % % % % 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.9 Wisconsin 0.6% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 1.0% % % % % % % % 0.7 Wyoming 2.9% 1.8% 1.0% 0.8% 0.9% 1.1% 1.2% 1.5% 1.5% 2.1% 2.3% 2.4% % 0.4 0.5 Puerto Rico % % According to 2003 United States Census Bureau estimates, a little over one third of the 2,786,652 Native Americans in the United States live in three states: California at 413,382, Arizona at 294,137 and Oklahoma at 279,559.

In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that about 0.8% of the U.S. population was of American Indian or Alaska Native descent. This population is unevenly distributed across the country. Below, all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, are listed by the proportion of residents citing American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry, based on the 2010 U.S. Census.

Page 36 of 65

More than One tribal one tribal grouping grouping reported reported 2,423,531 52,425 57,060 7,917 27,104 4,358 281,069 18,793 11,191 1,365 20,887 3,014 105,907 2,730 87,349 9,552 7,833 193 10,120 1,568 2,488 724 40,223 5,495 9,117 574 8,304 602 6,798 79 45,212 2,318 8,559 1,130

American Indian American Indian and and Alaska Native Alaska Native in tribal grouping combination with one alone or in any or more races combination More than One tribal one tribal grouping grouping reported reported 1,585,396 57,949 4,119,301 24,947 6,909 96,833 41,389 12,899 85,750 390,902 38,769 729,533 4,655 993 18,204 12,025 2,425 38,351 38,635 2,397 149,669 50,123 11,750 158,774 1,308 59 9,393 6,120 1,568 19,376 3,577 945 7,734 21,652 3,940 71,310 2,812 891 13,394 6,866 569 16,341 1,794 42 8,713 29,763 3,529 80,822 2,119 434 12,242

104,354

1,850

73,042

1,694

180,940

55,913 7,883 269,202 7,658 6,432 9,705 8,519 15,817 59,533 11,034

642 258 6,789 1,354 623 1,163 999 592 3,527 226

4,934 1,551 19,491 5,491 3,174 2,315 1,741 8,602 9,943 3,212

379 148 2,715 1,394 448 349 234 584 1,082 159

57,868 9,840 298,197 15,897 10,677 13,532 11,493 25,595 74,085 14,631

American Indian and Alaska Native alone Tribal grouping

Total Apache Blackfeet Cherokee Cheyenne Chickasaw Chippewa Choctaw Colville Comanche Cree Creek Crow Delaware Houma Iroquois Kiowa Latin American Indian Lumbee Menominee Navajo Osage Ottawa Paiute Pima Potawatomi Pueblo Puget Sound

Page 37 of 65

Tribal grouping

Total Salish Seminole Shoshone Sioux Tohono O'odham Ute Yakama Yaqui Yuman Other specified American Indian tribes American Indian tribe, not specified Alaskan Athabaskans Aleut Eskimo Tlingit-Haida Other specified Alaska Native tribes Alaska Native tribe, not specified American Indian or

American Indian American Indian and and Alaska Native American Indian and Alaska Native in tribal grouping Alaska Native alone combination with one alone or in any or more races combination More than More than One tribal One tribal one tribal one tribal grouping grouping grouping grouping reported reported reported reported 2,423,531 52,425 1,585,396 57,949 4,119,301 12,431 7,739 108,272

2,982 714 4,794

9,505 3,039 35,179

2,513 534 5,115

27,431 12,026 153,360

17,466

714

1,748

159

20,087

7,309 8,481 15,224 7,295

715 561 1,245 526

1,944 1,619 5,184 1,051

417 190 759 104

10,385 10,851 22,412 8,976

240,521

9,468

100,346

7,323

357,658

109,644

57

86,173

28

195,902

14,520

815

3,218

285

18,838

11,941 45,919 14,825

832 1,418 1,059

3,850 6,919 6,047

355 505 434

16,978 54,761 22,365

2,552

435

841

145

3,973

6,161

370

2,053

118

8,702

511,960

(X)

544,497

(X)

1,056,457 Page 38 of 65

Tribal grouping

Total Alaska Native tribes, not specified

American Indian American Indian and and Alaska Native American Indian and Alaska Native in tribal grouping Alaska Native alone combination with one alone or in any or more races combination More than More than One tribal One tribal one tribal one tribal grouping grouping grouping grouping reported reported reported reported 2,423,531 52,425 1,585,396 57,949 4,119,301

Current Legal Status There are 562 federally recognized tribal governments in the United States.

These tribes possess the right to form their own governments, to enforce laws (both civil and criminal) within their lands, to tax, to establish requirements for membership, to license and regulate activities, to zone and to exclude persons from tribal territories. Limitations on tribal powers of self-government include the same limitations applicable to states; for example, neither tribes nor states have the power to make war, engage in foreign relations, or coin money (this includes paper currency).

Many Native Americans and advocates of Native American rights point out that the U.S. federal government's claim to

recognize the "sovereignty" of Native American peoples falls short, given that the United States wishes to govern Native American peoples and treat them as subject to U.S. law. Such advocates contend that full respect for Native American sovereignty would require the U.S. government to deal with Native American peoples in the same manner as any other sovereign nation, handling matters related to relations with Native Americans through the Secretary of State, rather than the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Bureau of Indian Affairs reports on its website that its "responsibility is the administration and management of 55,700,000 acres 2 (225,000 km ) of land held in trust by the United States for American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska Natives". Many Native Americans and advocates of Native American rights believe that it is condescending for such lands to be considered "held in trust" and regulated Page 39 of 65

in any fashion by other than their own tribes, whether the U.S. or Canadian governments, or any other non-Native American authority.

As of year 2000, the largest groups in the United States by population were Navajo, Cherokee, Choctaw, Sioux, Chippewa, Apache, Blackfeet, Iroquois, and Pueblo.

In 2000, eight of ten Americans with Native American ancestry were of mixed ancestry. It is estimated that by 2100 that figure will rise to nine out of ten.

In addition, there are number of tribes that are recognized by individual states, but not by the federal government.

The rights and benefits associated with state recognition vary from state to state.

a

Some tribal groups have been unable to document the cultural continuity required for federal recognition. The Muwekma Ohlone of the San Francisco bay area are pursuing litigation in the federal court system to establish recognition. Many of the smaller eastern tribes, long considered remnants of extinct peoples, have been trying to gain official recognition of their tribal status. Several in Virginia and North Carolina have gained state recognition.

Federal recognition confers some benefits, including the right to label arts and crafts as Native American and permission to apply for grants that are specifically reserved for Native Americans. But

gaining federal recognition as a tribe is extremely difficult; to be established as a tribal group, members have to submit extensive genealogical proof of tribal descent and continuity of the tribe as a culture.

Crime on Reservations Prosecution of serious crime, historically endemic on reservations, was required by the 1885 Major Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. §§1153, 3242, and court decisions to be investigated by the federal government, usually the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and prosecuted by United States Attorneys of the United States federal judicial district in which the reservation lies.

A December 13, 2009 New York Times article about growing gang violence on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation estimated that there were 39 gangs with 5,000 members on that reservation alone. Navajo country recently reported 225 gangs in its territory.

As of 2012, a high incidence of rape continued to impact Native American women and Alaskan native women.

According to the Department of Justice, 1 in 3 Native women have suffered rape or attempted rape, more than twice the national rate. About 46 percent of Native American women have been raped, beaten, or stalked by an intimate partner, according to a 2010 study by the Centers for Disease Control. According to Professor N. Bruce Duthu, "More than 80 Page 40 of 65

percent of Indian victims identify their attacker as non-Indian".

Today, other than tribes successfully running casinos, many tribes struggle, as they are often located on reservations isolated from the main economic centers of the country. The estimated 2.1 million Native Americans are the most impoverished of all ethnic groups.

According to the 2000 Census, an estimated 400,000 Native Americans reside on reservation land. While some tribes have had success with gaming, only 40% of the 562 federally recognized tribes operate casinos. According to a 2007 survey by the U.S. Small Business Administration, only 1% of Native Americans own and operate a business.

Native Americans rank at the bottom of nearly every social statistic: highest teen suicide rate of all minorities at 18.5 per 100,000, highest rate of teen pregnancy, highest high school drop-out rate at 54%, lowest per capita income, and unemployment rates between 50% and 90%. Many Native Americans have become urbanized to survive, moving to urban centers in the states where their reservations are, or out of state. Others have entered academic and political fields that take them away from the reservations.

The barriers to economic development on Native American reservations have been identified by Joseph Kalt and Stephen Cornell of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development at Harvard University, in their report: What Can Tribes Do? Strategies and Institutions in American

Indian Economic Development (2008), are summarized as follows:  

  







 



 

Lack of access to capital Lack of human capital (education, skills, technical expertise) and the means to develop it Reservations lack effective planning Reservations are poor in natural resources Reservations have natural resources, but lack sufficient control over them Reservations are disadvantaged by their distance from markets and the high costs of transportation Tribes cannot persuade investors to locate on reservations because of intense competition from nonNative American communities The Bureau of Indian Affairs is inept, corrupt, and/or uninterested in reservation development Tribal politicians and bureaucrats are inept or corrupt On-reservation factionalism destroys stability in tribal decisions The instability of tribal government keeps outsiders from investing. (Many tribes adopted constitutions by the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act model, with two-year terms for elected positions of chief and council members deemed too short by the authors for getting things done) Entrepreneurial skills and experience are scarce Tribal cultures get in the way

Page 41 of 65

A major barrier to development is the lack of entrepreneurial knowledge and experience within Indian reservations. "A general lack of education and experience about business is a significant challenge to prospective entrepreneurs", was the report on Native American entrepreneurship by the Northwest Area Foundation in 2004. "Native American communities that lack entrepreneurial traditions and recent experiences typically do not provide the support that

entrepreneurs need to thrive.

Consequently, experiential entrepreneurship education needs to be embedded into school curricula and after-school and other community activities. This would allow students to learn the essential elements of entrepreneurship from a young age and encourage them to apply these elements throughout life". Rez Biz magazine addresses these issues.

Page 42 of 65

Page 43 of 65

Gentrification In the United States, early government policies included "urban renewal" and building of large scale housing projects for the poor. Urban renewal demolished entire neighborhoods in many inner cities; in many ways, it was a cause of urban decay rather than a remedy. These government efforts are now thought by many to have been misguided.

For multiple reasons, some cities have rebounded from these policy mistakes.

Meanwhile, some of the inner suburbs built in the 1950s and 60s are beginning the process of decay, as those who are living in the inner city are pushed out due to gentrification.

From a market standpoint, there are two main requirements that are met by the U.S. cities that undergo substantial effects of gentrification. These are: an excess supply of deteriorated housing in central areas, as well as a considerable growth in the availability of professional jobs located in central business districts.

These conditions have been met in the U.S. largely as a result of suburbanization and other postindustrial phenomena.

Starting in the 1960s and 1970s, U.S. industry has created a surplus of housing units as construction of new homes has far surpassed the rate of national household growth. However, the market

forces that are dictated by an excess supply cannot fully explain the geographical specificity of gentrification in the U.S., for there are many large cities that meet this requirement and have not exhibited gentrification. The missing link is another factor that can be explained by particular, necessary demand forces. In U.S. cities in the time period from 1970 to 1978, growth of the central business district at around 20% did not dictate conditions for gentrification, while growth at or above 33% yielded appreciably larger gentrification activity. Succinctly, central business district growth will activate gentrification in the presence of a surplus in the inner city housing market.

In the U.S., these conditions were generated by the economic transition from manufacturing to post-industrial service economies. The post-World War II economy experienced a service revolution, which created white-collar jobs and larger opportunities for women in the work force, as well as an expansion in the importance of centralized administrative and cooperate activities.

This increased the demand for inner city residences, which were readily available cheaply after much of the movement towards central city abandonment of the 1950s. The coupling of these movements is what became the trigger for the Page 44 of 65

expansive gentrification of U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. Atlanta, GA Gentrification in Atlanta has been taking place in its inner-city neighborhoods since the 1970s. Many of Atlanta's neighborhoods experienced the urban flight that affected other major American cities in the 20th century, causing the decline of once upper and upper-middleclass east side neighborhoods. In the 1970s, after neighborhood opposition blocked two freeways from being built through the east side, its neighborhoods such as Inman Park and VirginiaHighland became the starting point for the city's gentrification wave, first becoming affordable neighborhoods attracting young people, and by 2000 having become relatively affluent areas attracting people from across Metro Atlanta to their upscale shops and restaurants. In the 1990s and 2000s, gentrification expanded into other parts of Atlanta, spreading throughout the historic streetcar suburbs east of Downtown and Midtown, mostly areas that had long had black majorities such as the Old Fourth Ward, Kirkwood, Reynoldstown and Edgewood. On the western side of the city, once-industrial West Midtown became into a vibrant neighborhood full of residential lofts and a nexus of the arts, restaurants, and home furnishings. Gentrification by young African Americans was also taking place in the 1990s in southwest Atlanta neighborhoods, . The BeltLine trail construction is expected to bring further gentrification in the neighborhoods alongside which it runs. Concerns about

displacement of existing working-class black residents by increasing numbers of more affluent whites moving in are expressed by author Nathan McCall in his novel Them, in The Atlanta Progressive News, and in the documentary The Atlanta Way.

Philadelphia: Darien Street Gentrification Amid Urban Decline: Strategies for America's Older Cities, by Michael Lang, reports the process and impact (social, economic, cultural) of gentrification. In particular, it focuses on the section of Darien Street (a northsouth street running intermittently from South to North Philadelphia) which is essentially an alley in the populous Bella Vista neighborhood. That part of Darien Street was a "back street", because it does not connect to any of the city's main arteries and was unpaved for most of its existence.

In its early days, this area of Darien Street housed only Italian families, however, after the Second World War (1939–1945), when the municipal government spoke of building a crosstown highway, the families moved out.

Most of the houses date from 1885 (built for the artisans and craftsmen who worked and lived in the area), but, when the Italian Americans moved out, the community's low-rent houses went to poor African American families.

Moreover, by the early 1970s, blighted Darien Street was at its lowest point as a community, because the houses held little property value, many were abandoned, having broken heaters and collapsed roofs, et cetera. Furthermore, Page 45 of 65

the houses were very small — approximately 15 feet (4.6 m) wide and 15 feet (4.6 m) deep, each had three oneroom stories (locally known, and still currently advertised as a "Trinity" style house) and the largest yard was 8 feet (2.4 m) deep. Despite the decay, Darien Street remained charmed with European echoes, each house was architecturally different, contributing to the street's community character; children were safe, there was no car traffic. The closeness of the houses generated a closely knit community located just to the south of Center City, an inexpensive residential neighborhood a short distance from the city-life amenities of Philadelphia; the city government did not hesitate to rehabilitate it.

The gentrification began in 1977; the first house rehabilitated was a corner property that a school teacher remodeled and occupied. The next years featured (mostly) white middle-class men moving into the abandoned houses; the first displacement of original Darien Street residents occurred in 1979. Two years later, five of seven families had been economically evicted with inflated housing prices; the two remaining families were renters, expecting eventual displacement. In five years, from 1977 to 1982, the gentrification of Darien Street

reduced the original population from seven black households and one white household, to two black households and eleven white households. The average rent increased 488 per cent — from $85 to $500 a month; by 1981, a house bought for $5,000 sold for $35,000. Of the five black households displaced, three found better houses within two blocks of their original residence, one family left Pennsylvania, and one family moved into a public housing apartment building five blocks from Darien Street. The benefits of the Darien Street gentrification included increased property tax revenues and better-quality housing. The principal detriment was residential displacement via higher priced housing.

Washington, DC Gentrification in Washington, D.C. is one of the most studied examples of the process, as well as one of the most extreme. The process in the U Street Corridor and other downtown areas has recently become a major issue, and the resulting changes have led to AfricanAmericans dropping from a majority to a minority of the population, as they move out and middle-class whites and Asians have moved in.

D.C. is one of the top three cities with the most pronounced capital flow into its “core” neighborhoods, a measurement that has been used to detect areas experiencing gentrification. Researcher Franklin James found that, of these core areas, Capitol Hill was significantly revitalized during the decade of 1960– 1970, and by the end of the decade this revitalization had extended outward in a Page 46 of 65

ring around this core area. Dennis Gale studied these ‘Revitalization Areas,’ which include Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan, and Capitol Hill neighborhoods, and as compared to the rest of the district found that these areas were experiencing a faster rate of depopulation in the 1970s than the surrounding areas. U.S. census data show that in the Revitalization Areas, the percent of population with four or more years of college education rose from 24% in 1970 to 47% in 1980, as opposed to an increase of 21% to 24% for the remaining areas of D.C. Additionally, Gale’s data show in 1970 that 73% of the residents living in the Revitalization Areas had been residents since 1965, as opposed to only 66% of the residents living there in 1975 had been residents of the area in 1970 as well.

The gentrification during this time period resulted in a significant problem of displacement for marginalized D.C. residents in the 1970s. A decrease in the stock of affordable housing for needy households as well as nonsubsidized housing for low-income workers has had a burdensome effect on individuals and families.

As a result of gentrification, however, Washington, D.C.'s safety has improved drastically. In the early 1990s, the city had an average of 500 homicides a year;

by 2012, the rate had dropped by more than 80% to about 100. Many of the city's poorer residents were pushed out to Charles County, Maryland and Prince George's County, Maryland. Prince George's County saw a huge spark of violent crimes in 2008 and 2009, but the rate has decreased since then.

Rural Flight Rural flight (or rural exodus) is the migratory pattern of peoples from rural areas into urban areas. It is urbanization seen from the rural perspective.

In modern times, it often occurs in a region following the industrialization of agriculture—when fewer people are needed to bring the same amount of agricultural output to market—and related agricultural services and industries are consolidated.

Rural flight is exacerbated when the population decline leads to the loss of rural services (such as business enterprises and schools), which leads to greater loss of population as people leave to seek those features.

This phenomenon was first articulated through Ernst Georg Ravenstein's Laws of migration in the 1880s, upon which modern theories are based.

Page 47 of 65

Post-World War II rural flight has been caused primarily by the spread of industrialized agriculture. Small, laborintensive family farms have grown into, or have been replaced by, heavily mechanized and specialized industrial farms. While a small family farm typically produced a wide range of crop, garden, and animal products—all requiring substantial labor—large industrial farms typically specialize in just a few crop or livestock varieties, using large machinery and high-density livestock containment systems that require a fraction of the labor per unit produced. For example, Iowa State University reports the number of hog farmers in Iowa dropped from 65,000 in 1980 to 10,000 in 2002, while the number of hogs per farm increased from 200 to 1,400.

The consolidation of the feed, seed, processed grain, and livestock industries has meant that there are fewer small businesses in rural areas. This decrease in turn exacerbated the decreased demand for labor. Rural areas that used to be able to provide employment for all young adults willing to work in challenging conditions, increasingly provide fewer opportunities for young adults. The situation is made worse by the decrease in services such as schools, business, and cultural opportunities that accompany the decline in population, and the increasing age of the remaining population further stresses the social service system of rural areas.

There are several determinants, push and pull, that contribute to rural flight: lower levels of (perceived) economic opportunity in rural communities versus

urban ones, lower levels of government investment in rural communities, greater education opportunities in cities, marriages, increased social acceptance in urban areas, and higher levels of rural fertility.

Economic Determinants Some migrants choose to leave rural communities out of the desire to pursue greater economic opportunity in urban areas. Greater economic opportunities can be real or perceived. According to the Harris-Todaro Model, migration to urban areas will continue as long as “expected urban real income at the margin exceeds real agricultural product” (127). Since the industrialization of agriculture, mechanization has reduced the number of jobs present in rural communities. Some scholars have also attributed rural flight to the effects of globalization as the demand for increased economic competitiveness leads people to choose capital over labor.

At the same time, rural fertility rates have historically been higher than urban fertility rates. The combination of declining rural jobs and a persistently high rural fertility rate has led to ruralurban migration streams. Rural flight also contains a positive feedback loop where previous migrants from rural communities assist new migrants in adjusting to city life. Also known as chain migration, migrant networks lower barriers to rural flight. For example, an overwhelming majority of rural migrants in China located jobs in urban areas through migrant networks.

Some families choose to send their children to cities as a form of investment Page 48 of 65

for the future. A study conducted by Bates and Bennett (1974) concluded that rural communities in Zambia that had other viable investment opportunities, like livestock for instance, had lower rates of rural-urban migration as compared to regions without viable investment opportunities. Sending their children into cities can serve as longterm investments with the hope that their children will be able to send remittances back home after getting a job in the city.

Social Determinants In other instances, rural flight may occur in response to social determinants. A study conducted in 2012 indicated that a significant proportion of rural flight in India occurred due to social factors such as migration with household, marriage, and education.

Migration with households and marriage affect women in particular as most often they are the ones required to move with households and move for marriage, especially in developing regions.

Rural youth may choose to leave their rural communities as a method of transitioning into adulthood, seeking avenues to greater prosperity. With the stagnation of the rural economy and encouragement from their parents, rural youth may choose to migrate to cities out of social norms – demonstrating leadership and self-respect. With this societal encouragement combined with depressed rural economies, rural youth form a large proportion of the migrants moving to urban areas. In Sub-Saharan Africa, a study conducted by Touray in

2006 indicated that about 15% (26 million) of urban migrants were youth.

Lastly, natural disasters can often be single-point events that lead to temporarily massive rural-urban migration flows. The 1930s Dust Bowl in the United States for example led to the flight of 2.5 million people from the Plains by 1940, many to the new cities in the West. It is estimated that as many as 1 out of every 4 residents in the Plains States left during the 1930s. More recently, drought in Syria from 2006-2011 has prompted a rural exodus to major urban centers. Massive influxes in urban areas, combined with difficult living conditions, have prompted some scholars to link the drought to the arrival of the Arab Spring in Syria.

Consequences of Rural Flight Rural migrants to cities face several challenges that may hinder their quality of life upon moving into urbanized areas.

Many migrants do not have the education or skills to acquire decent jobs in cities and are then forced into unstable, low paying jobs. The steady stream of new rural migrants worsens underemployment and unemployment, common among rural migrants.

Employers offer lower wages and poorer labor conditions to rural migrants, who must compete with each other for limited jobs, often unaware of their labor rights. Rural migrants often experience poor living conditions as well. Many cities have exploded in population; services and infrastructure, in these cities, are unable to keep up with population growth. Massive influxes in rural population can lead to severe Page 49 of 65

housing shortages, inadequate water and energy supply, and general slum-like conditions throughout cities.

Additionally, rural migrants often struggle adjusting to city life. In some instances, there are cultural differences between the rural and urban areas of a region. Lost in urban regions, it becomes difficult for them to continue holding onto their cultural traditions. Urban residents may also look down upon these newcomers to the city who are often unaware of city social norms. Both marginalized and separated from their home cultures, migrants face many social challenges when moving to cities.

Women, in particular, face a unique set of challenges. Some women undergo rural flight to escape domestic abuse or forced early marriages. Some parents choose to send women to cities to find jobs in order to send remittances back home. Once in the city, employers may attempt to take advantage of these women preying on their unfamiliarity with labor laws and social networks on which to rely. In the worst of cases, destitution may force women into prostitution, exposing them to social stigma and the risks of sexually transmitted diseases.

Page 50 of 65

Page 51 of 65

Criticism Certain issues have brought criticism to missionary activity. This has included concerns that missionaries have a perceived lack of respect for other cultures. Potential destruction of social structure among the converts has also been a concern. The Akha people of South East Asia are an example of those who believe that missionaries are only converting others for personal gain. The Akha people have complained the missionaries are more worried about building a church than building a clinic in a village that is very unhealthy.

Many traditional values of the Akha have been lost as a result of these conversions.

The Huaorani people of Amazonian Ecuador have had a well-documented mixed relation with Evangelical Christian missionaries and the contacts they brought to their communities, criticized by outsiders.

Christian missionaries have made many positive contributions around the world.

A recent study, published in American Political Science Review (Cambridge University Press), focusing on Protestant missionaries, found that they have often left a very positive societal impact in the areas where they worked. "In crossnational statistical analysis Protestant missions are significantly and robustly

associated with higher levels of printing, education, economic development, organizational civil society, protection of private property and rule of law and with lower levels of corruption".

Westernization Objections to missionary work among isolated, indigenous populations involve the claim that the goal of mission is to Westernize them.

Such claims have been raised by indigenous rights groups organizations, such as Friends of Peoples Close to Nature and Survival International.

Communicating Diseases Missionaries, along with other travelers, brought diseases into local populations.

Smallpox, measles, even the common cold, have been blamed on their arrivals.

David Igler of the University of California, Irvine, includes missionary activity as a cause of spreading germs.

However, he says that commercial traders were the main agents of disease. ... other diseases arrived on noncommercial voyages; missionary activities certainly spread germs, and Page 52 of 65

Spanish conquests had dispersed deadly germs in parts of the Americas and Pacific prior to the late eighteenth century. Yet, for the period between the 1770s and the 1840s, trading vessels were the main agents of disease, creating in the Pacific what Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie has called a "paroxysm" of the "microbian unification of the world." By 1850, the microbes of Europe, Asia, and Africa circulated in almost every Pacific population.

Statistical Patterns Political scientist Robert Woodberry uses statistics to argue that conversionary Protestants were a crucial catalyst in spreading religious liberty, education,

and democracy. He shows that statistically the prevalence of such missionaries account for half of the variance in democracy in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania. In a 2014 Christianity Today article he remarks that "Areas where Protestant missionaries had a significant presence in the past are on average more economically developed today, with comparatively better health, lower infant mortality, lower corruption, greater literacy, higher educational attainment (especially for women), and more robust membership in nongovernmental associations."

Controversy and Christian missionaries

“

"This proselytization will mean no peace in the world. Conversions are harmful to India. If I had the power and could legislate I should certainly stop all proselytizing ... It pains me to have to say that the Christian missionaries as a body, with honorable exceptions, have actively supported a system which has impoverished, enervated and demoralized a people considered to be among the gentlest and most civilized on earth".

In India, Hindu organisations such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh assert that most conversions undertaken by zealous evangelicals occur due to compulsion, inducement or fraud. In the Indian state of Tripura, the government has alleged financial and weapons-smuggling connections between Baptist missionaries and rebel groups such as the National Liberation Front of Tripura. The accused Tripura Baptist Christian Union is a member body of the Baptist World Alliance.

"In mid-May, the Vatican was also cosponsoring a meeting about how some

�

religious groups abuse liberties by proselytizing, or by evangelizing in aggressive or deceptive ways. Iraq ... has become an open field for foreigners looking for fresh converts. Some Catholic Church leaders and aid organizations have expressed concern about new Christian groups coming in and luring Iraqis to their churches with offers of cash, clothing, food or jobs.... Reports of aggressive proselytism and reportedly forced conversions in mostly Hindu India have fueled religious tensions and violence there and have prompted some regional governments to pass laws banning proselytism or religious conversion....

Page 53 of 65

Sadhvi Vrnda Chaitanya, a Hindu monk from southern India, told CNS that India's poor and uneducated are especially vulnerable to coercive or deceptive methods of evangelization.... Aid work must not hide any ulterior motives and avoid exploiting vulnerable people like children and the disabled, she said."

In an interview with Outlook Magazine, Sadhvi Vrnda Chaitanya said "If the Vatican could understand that every religious and spiritual tradition is as sacred as Christianity, and that they have a right to exist without being denigrated or extinguished, it will greatly serve the interests of dialogue, mutual respect, and peaceful coexistence."

Aid and Evangelism While there is a general agreement among most major aid organizations not to mix aid with proselyting, others see disasters as a useful opportunity to spread the word. One such an occurrence was the tidal wave (tsunami)

that devastated parts December 26, 2004.

of

Asia

on

"This (disaster) is one of the greatest opportunities God has given us to share his love with people," said K.P. Yohannan, president of the Texas-based Gospel for Asia.

In an interview, Yohannan said his 14,500 "native missionaries" in India, Sri Lanka and

the Andaman Islands are giving survivors Bibles and booklets about "how to find hope in this time through the word of God." In Krabi, Thailand, a Southern Baptist church had been "praying for a way to make inroads" with a particular ethnic group of fishermen, according to Southern Baptist relief coordinator Pat Julian. Then came the tsunami, "a phenomenal opportunity" to provide ministry and care, Julian told the Baptist Press news service.... Not all evangelicals agree with these tactics. "It's not appropriate in a crisis like this to take advantage of people who are hurting and suffering", said the Rev. Franklin Graham, head of Samaritan's Purse and son of evangelist Billy Graham."

Page 54 of 65

The Christian Science Monitor echoes these concerns... "'I think evangelists do this out of the best intentions, but there is a responsibility to try to understand other faith groups and their culture,' says Vince Isner, director of FaithfulAmerica.org, a program of the National Council of Churches USA." The Bush administration has made it easier for U.S. faith-based groups and missionary societies to tie aid and church together.

For decades, US policy has sought to avoid intermingling government programs and religious proselytizing. The aim is both to abide by the Constitution's prohibition against a state religion and to ensure that aid recipients don't forgo assistance because they don't share the religion of the provider.... But many of those restrictions were removed by Bush in a little-noticed series of executive orders -- a policy change that cleared the way for religious groups to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in additional government funding. It also helped change the message American aid workers bring to many corners of the world, from emphasizing religious neutrality to touting the healing powers of the Christian God.

Christian Counter-Claims Missionaries say that the government in India has passed anti-conversion laws in several states that are supposedly meant to prevent conversions from "force or

allurement," but are primarily used, they say, to persecute and criminalize voluntary conversion due to the government's broad definition of "force and allurement." Any gift received from a Christian in exchange for, or with the intention of, conversion is considered allurement. Voice of the Martyrs reports that aid-workers claim that they are being hindered from reaching people with much needed services as a result of this persecution. Alan de Lastic, Roman Catholic archbishop of New Delhi states that claims of forced conversion are false. "'There are attacks practically every week, maybe not resulting in death, but still, violent attacks,' Richard Howell, general secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India tells The Christian Science Monitor today. 'They [India's controlling BJP party] have created an atmosphere where minorities do feel insecure.'" According to Prakash Louis, director of the secular Indian Social Institute in New Delhi, "We are seeing a broad attempt to stifle religious minorities and their constitutional rights...Today, they say you have no right to convert, Tomorrow you have no right to worship in certain places." Existing congregations, often during times of worship, are being persecuted. Properties are sometimes destroyed and burnt to the ground, while native pastors are sometimes beaten and left for dead.

Page 55 of 65

Page 56 of 65

Page 57 of 65

References 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missionary 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_%28Christianity%29 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States 5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_decay 6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_flight 7. http://www.rockthechurch.com/uploads/mission-trip-training-guide.pdf 8. http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/common/pdfs/mission_guide.pdf 9. http://www.cadreministries.com/user/samples/mission_trip_land_mines.pdf

Page 58 of 65

Page 59 of 65

Attachment A Planning A Short-Term Mission

Page 60 of 65

Mission Trip Planning Guide

Overview

KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK

Drawing on lessons learned by Lions who have conducted medical and humanitarian missions for the past several decades, this guide was developed to not only help clubs plan a successful mission trip that will benefit a community in need, but also help Lions make the most of the project while developing new friendships and having an enjoyable experience.

Before conducting a mission trip, clubs should be able to answer the following questions: Why is this trip important?

How will the community in need benefit from this project?

How will your mission team benefit from this project?

Getting Started

Do the benefits to the community outweigh the benefits to your mission team?

When planning a mission trip, there are many things to take into consideration such as site preparation, team orientation, transportation and logistics, event promotion, and fundraising.

Are similar resources or services already available? How will your mission affect local healthcare providers?

The steps outlined in this guide will help you think through some of the preparations you will need to make in order to avoid unnecessary challenges/issues that could negatively impact your project.

What is the unique value added by your mission team?

What is the long‐term impact of this project?

How will the resources/services provided by your team be sustained in the future?

Specific steps include information on: 

Establishing a planning committee and developing an action plan;

What are some of the challenges your team may face before, during, or after the trip?



Obtaining necessary resources and approvals;

How will these challenges/issues be addressed?



Organizing and training the mission team;



Implementing your project; and

Do you have the necessary financial and human resources to successfully carry out the project?



Reflecting on lessons learned and planning your next steps.

Do you have the support you will need from the community and local authorities?

Lions Mission Trip Planning Guide

Page | 1

Step 1: Establish a planning committee and develop an action plan.

Before any services are offered, it is important to determine staffing and on‐site coordination needs, as well as standard operating procedures.

When providing services to a large number of people over a short period of time, for example, it is important to determine how incoming patients will be managed (and pre‐screened if needed). It may be necessary to designate a specific number of patients (by appointment) to each service provider and assign volunteers to direct incoming patients to where they need to go. When faced with a language barrier between patients and providers, additional staff may be needed to provide interpretation services. It is also important that both the providers and patients have access to water and food.

Once you have determined where your mission project will take place and what specific needs will be met, it is important to designate a planning committee that will help ensure the success of the project.

The planning committee should consist of Lions representing both the sponsor and host clubs, as well as individuals who can offer additional expertise related to the logistics, approvals and clearances, cultural orientation, language (translation/interpretation), fundraising, as well as communication and promotion strategies.

(See the appendix on page 5 for a suggested list of sponsor and host club responsibilities.)

NOTE: While specialized services may be provided by members of the mission team (typically outside of the community that is being served), there may be opportunities to build capacity through training of local providers who may be able to offer similar services in the future or on a more long‐term basis.

When developing an action plan, it may be helpful to keep the following preparations/arrangements in mind: Materials and Resources Determine what supplies, equipment, and resources are needed for your project and how these will be attained. Clubs should consider sourcing materials and resources locally to avoid unnecessary shipping costs and customs barriers, and be able to support the local economy.

Mission Team Travel Arrangements Because travel by members of the sponsor club may be costly (particularly when traveling internationally), it is important to give careful consideration to the number of people who will join the mission team and whether any services can be offered by the host club.

Site Preparation and Coordination Sponsor and host clubs should work together to obtain the necessary approvals for the use of facilities and carrying out work that may be regulated by the local government. When conducting medical missions for example, the local government (such as the ministry of health) may have specific guidelines related to medical practices within that particular country.

Lions Mission Trip Planning Guide

When traveling outside of your home country, it is important to review travel warnings (typically issued by the state department), obtain official travel documentation and entry visas, look into travel/emergency health insurance coverage, and consult with a travel clinic on any additional vaccinations and medications.

Page | 2

NOTE: Before purchasing airline tickets, it may be helpful to check with airline companies on any discounts or special programs for non‐profit humanitarian projects. It is also important to book your tickets early and understand what can and cannot be carried onboard an airplane or packed in your luggage.

Budget When planning a mission trip, it is important to take account of all the necessary expenses and how they will be funded. A detailed budget should cover all aspects of the mission, including mission team travel and lodging, supplies and materials, logistical support, facility/equipment rental, taxes and fees, and other expenses. Some of these costs can be leveraged by sourcing materials and resources locally, drawing on assistance by the host club, or by individual donations and/or grant funding.

Shipping, Customs, and Other Logistics When shipping supplies and materials (such as eyeglasses, hearing aids, or medical equipment), it important to determine the most cost‐ effective options and whether you can take advantage of any discounts or programs for non‐profit humanitarian projects.

Fundraising and Promotion In order to obtain funding and support for your project (that may come from individual donations or grants), it is important to be able to demonstrate the need for your project and how it will make a difference.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges related to the shipment of supplies and materials is getting them cleared through customs. It is therefore important to understand the restrictions and/or customs fees associated with the shipment of supplies and materials from one country to another. This is where the host club can be especially helpful in making special arrangements, particularly when working with local authorities.

When applying for grant funding, you will need to understand what can and cannot be covered by the grant, be able to meet all the grant criteria, and give yourself sufficient time to prepare the grant application and receive the award (grant reviews often take several months).

Lessons Learned: Shipping of Eyeglasses

After completing your project, special attention should be given to acknowledging your sponsors/contributors and demonstrating the success of your work. Hearing stories of how the project touched the lives of disadvantaged individuals can be especially rewarding for someone who has helped to fund your project (and may do so again in the future).

“On two missions, the glasses that were shipped to another country were detained at the border. We were forced to examine patients for three days without the glasses and told them to return on the fourth day to get their glasses. The local host Lions were able to ‘pry’ the glasses loose and we were able to dispense 2,000 – 2,500 glasses in one day.”

To learn about the various grant programs offered by the Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), visit the LCIF Web site at www.lcif.org.

‐ Dr. Gary Anderson, OD Grand Rapids Lions Club

Lions Mission Trip Planning Guide

Page | 3

Step 2: Obtain necessary clearances and approvals.

mission and have sufficient time to make changes and address unanticipated challenges.

In addition to guidelines and regulations related to international travel and shipment of supplies and materials, it is also important to understand what approvals may be needed for the use of facilities and/or provision of certain services.

Whether this means seeking an approval from a local authority or a specific office/individual, the sponsor and host clubs should be aware of what approvals are needed and make sure they are obtained before any services are provided to the community.

Step 5: Reflect on lessons learned and plan your next steps.

After completing the project, it is important to reflect on lessons learned (what worked, what did not work, where changes are needed) and arrange for special recognition of everyone who contributed to the project. A follow up visit with local authorities and key sponsors may also be helpful to express your appreciation and obtain support for future projects.

A Story from the Field

Step 3: Organize and train the mission team.

“On my first mission to Guatemala in 1990, one of the patients I saw was a young mother who made tortillas for a living. After examining her, I discovered that she was extremely nearsighted. We did not have glasses that would enable her to have good vision for distance. Since she does not drive and she used “ped‐power” as her mode of transportation, I decided that it would be best to correct her vision so that she would have clear vision ~ 4 – 5 feet in front of her. When the glasses were placed on her face, she looked around and around, since she was finally ‘seeing’ her surroundings for the very first time. She then started to cry and said that she would now be able to see her baby clearly.”

Decide on who will be part of the mission team and what specific role each member will serve on the project. It is also important to determine what specific responsibilities will be carried out by the sponsor and host clubs.

When serving a community outside of your home country, the traveling mission team should have a basic understanding of what to expect in terms of cultural norms, language, dress code, food, climate, lodging, and on‐site transportation. The host club can be especially helpful in providing insights and orient the team on what to expect when preparing for the trip.

It may also be helpful to provide the mission team with an on‐site contact list and a few key phrases and words in the local language.

‐Dr. Leila Chinn, OD, MBA Walnut Creek Ygnacio Valley Lions Club

Share your story Be sure your club secretary includes information about your mission project in the Lions monthly service activity report where they can provide a description of the project, upload photos, and share this with other clubs.

Step 4: Implement your project.

When the mission team arrives, the host club should be prepared to provide on‐site transportation, accommodations, and any other support as decided during the planning stages of the project. It is important to understand who is responsible for each aspect of the Lions Mission Trip Planning Guide

For More Information: Visit the LCI Web site at www.lionsclubs.org and keyword search “missions,” or contact us at missions@lionsclubs.org to be connected with other Lions who are active in missions.

Page | 4

Appendix: Suggested Sponsor and Host Club Responsibilities Sponsor Club

Host Club



Provide specialized services



Secure and prepare on‐site facilities



Take care of travel arrangements for the mission team



Promote the event to the local community



Recruit and manage volunteer and paid staff



Provide orientation (in consultation with the host) for all members of the mission team



Establish and maintain local partnerships



Work with local health professionals (at the host site) and provide training as needed



Obtain support/approvals from local authorities



Provide oversight for services/health professionals as needed



Recruit local healthcare providers



Source equipment/supplies and other resources



Handle logistics such as:



Provide equipment/supplies as needed



Provide supplemental funding as needed

o o o o o o o o o o

Patient appointments On‐site coordination/in‐take Volunteers/support staff Translation support Water/food for patients, staff, volunteers Shipments (receiving/customs/storage) Safety/security Troubleshooting Mission Team orientation Follow up

Sponsor and host clubs should work together to develop a detailed action plan that applies to the project/ local context and outlines the following: 1. Goals and objectives for the project with specific outcome indicators, such as: Number of patients to be served Number of staff to be trained Services to be provided

2. Action steps and specific roles and responsibilities for the sponsor and host clubs o o o

3. A list of materials and resources needed for the project 4. Detailed budget with information on how the necessary funding will be secured and shared by the sponsor and host club 5. Evaluation and communication/promotion strategy for the project

Lions Mission Trip Planning Guide

Page | 5

Attachment B Mission Trip Planners’ Guide

Page 61 of 65

Learning through Service:

A Guide to Immersion Trips and Extended Service Projects for Youth Mission Office Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry Office of Evangelization and Catechesis Archdiocese of Cincinnati

2005

TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................ 2 II. THE CATHOLIC CALL TO GLOBAL SOLIDARITY: FOUNDATION FOR EXTENDED SERVICE AND IMMERSION TRIPS FOR YOUTH ............................................................................................................... 3 III. PLANNING YOUTH IMMERSION TRIPS ............................................................................................... 5 IV. LEGAL & LIABILITY CONCERNS ......................................................................................................... 8 V. RESOURCE LIST FOR IMMERSION TRIPS/SERVICE PROJECTS................................................... 12 APPENDIX A .............................................................................................................................................. 14 SAMPLE STUDENT INTERVIEW FORM .......................................................................................................... 14 APPENDIX B .............................................................................................................................................. 15 SAMPLE IMMERSION TRIP CODE OF BEHAVIOR ........................................................................................... 15 APPENDIX C .............................................................................................................................................. 17 SUGGESTED QUESTIONS TO FACILITATE DIALOGUE BETWEEN VISITORS AND HOSTS ...................................... 17 APPENDIX D .............................................................................................................................................. 18 ARCHDIOCESAN POLICY: GUIDELINES FOR YOUTH ACTIVITIES ..................................................................... 18

I. Introduction This resource is a collaborative effort by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Offices of Mission, Evangelization and Catechesis, and Youth and Young Adult Ministry. It was developed for parish youth ministers, campus ministers or Catholic secondary school service coordinators within the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in order to provide: • Guiding principles for planning service and immersion experiences; •

Important legal and liability considerations;

•

A list of solid written resources for leaders interested in becoming more broadly knowledgeable about immersion trips; and

•

Practical suggestions for preparing and leading such experiences.

This resource is a response to the growing number of parishes and high schools organizing immersion trips, and was developed to help ensure both their quality and that they would reflect Catholic Social Teaching. With the exception of the Archdiocesan policy guidelines on youth activities (Appendix D) and the applicable state laws and Archdiocesan policies pertaining to schools, the contents of this resource do not have the weight of policy. Rather, this resource provides guidance for planners and leaders of mission trips and extended service experiences. We hope you will find this guide useful and we welcome any comments or questions. Please direct these to: mission@catholiccincinnati.org or call 513-421-3131, ext. 202.

At all times, the Decree on Child Protection of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati must be followed. For questions about the provisions of the Decree on Child Protection, please call the Chancellor’s Office at 513-421-3131, ext. 401.

2

II. The Catholic Call to Global Solidarity: Foundation for Extended Service and Immersion Trips for Youth “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 For too long, many Christians in wealthy and powerful nations have seen mission and service as a means of telling others how to believe and live like them. For too long, it has been about sharing our surplus, and giving has been seen as a one-way street. For too long, we have failed to see that so-called “poor” and oppressed persons might have gifts, talents and insights to share with us.

Thanks to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit during the work of the Second Vatican Council, today many Catholic and other Christian leaders better understand how Jesus humbly became one of us. He spent thirty years learning his culture and Jewish faith, and then spent most of his ministry in dialogue with despised, forgotten, and crushed people. Following His example, we no longer talk about sending missionaries “over there” to save the “heathens” from themselves. Today, instead, we see mission and service in terms of solidarity, partnership, accompaniment, interdependence, mutual sharing of needs and gifts, accountability and a global community.

Our way of serving and missioning has changed dramatically over the past forty years. We have made a greater effort to dialogue with and to listen to our sisters and brothers from around the world. Turning from our past, we seek to build a mutually beneficial relationship of love, respect, justice and solidarity.

What does the Catholic social justice principle of “solidarity” mean? The US Catholic Bishops explain: “Solidarity is action on behalf of the one human family, calling us to help overcome the divisions in our world. Solidarity binds the rich to the poor. It makes the free zealous for the cause of the oppressed. It drives the comfortable and secure to take risks for the victims of tyranny and war. It calls those who are strong to care for those who are weak and vulnerable across the spectrum of human life. It opens homes and hearts to those in flight from terror and to migrants whose daily toil supports affluent lifestyles.

Peacemaking, as Pope John Paul II has told us, is the work of solidarity.”

(Called to Global Solidarity: International Challenges for U.S. Parishes, USCCB, 1997)

Learning through Service With the principle of solidarity in mind, many Catholic colleges and high schools are now revamping the motivation, goals, policies and practices of their service learning programs. Some are now titled “Learning through Service” programs. While preparing for and providing service in a community, students are also expected to study, reflect, pray and dialogue with those they serve. The students are expected to learn about the political, social, and economic conditions and structures that create and continue poverty and oppression. As followers of Jesus and global citizens, students are challenged to gain knowledge of and to work for social justice. Learning through service promotes cultural sensitivity and a love for others, while creating a desire for social, religious, and civic service and responsibility that will continue throughout their lives. It touches the head, the heart and the soul.

Every “Learning through Service” program needs to have clearly written guiding principles that flow from the vision of solidarity. The following tenets are based on Xavier University’s (Cincinnati) Service Learning Programs:

3

1. Those being served control the service(s) provided. Students must enter with humility and realize that the needs expressed by the group dictate the service to be provided.

2. Those being served become better able to serve and be served by their own actions. Those being served should be stronger and more independent than before being served.

3. All active participants are learners. Students, faculty and those being served should not develop hierarchies but mutually respect one another as they develop goals and plans jointly.

Why do we want to do this? What is our motivation?

As we pray over, reflect and revise our own “Learning through Service” programs and immersion trips, we should consider the following: •

Do we serve mainly because we want to be liked and appreciated? Because we will look good in the news? Because we want to feel good about ourselves? Because it makes us feel superior or in control?

•

Do we serve because we are responding to God’s grace? Because we see a real need in the world and feel responsible to seek justice, peace and reconciliation?

•

How will we study and discuss the tenets of Catholic Social Teachings that pertain to our trip’s goals and to the background of the nation and community we plan to serve?

•

How do we plan to learn from, appreciate, and participate in another people’s way of life, spirituality, and history? How will we learn from their insights on other forms of political and economic life?

•

How will living and serving outside of our culture or country help us better understand our own nation’s foreign and domestic policies? Will this effort increase our solidarity with the poor and the immigrants in our own neighborhoods?

•

What social and political responsibilities might we have after our return home? How can I be an advocate for our new friends and speak up for their human rights in the short and long term?

•

How will this experience help transform our school/parish, our hearts, our lives and our relationships with God? How might our time with people of another culture or background help us all become more Christ-like?

•

How will our immersion experience promote longer term and mutually beneficial relationships institutionally or individually?

•

How will these experiences promote development of longer term lay missionaries? (See the website for the Catholic Network of Volunteer Services at www.cnvs.org for additional ideas on developing possible longer term lay mission commitments.)

"Our first task in approaching another people, another culture, another religion is to take off our shoes, as the place we are approaching is holy: else we may find ourselves treading on someone's dreams. More serious still, we may forget that God was there before our arrival."

Max Warren, Maryknoll, 1987.

4

III. Planning Youth Immersion Trips Leaders need to plan for three distinct phases: A. Preparation

Essential Resources:

1. Picking a site

To Prepare: 1) People, Places and Partnerships: A Workbook for Your Mission Trip Abroad by Sally Campbell; available from the Mission Office 513-421-3131, ext. 202

2. Selecting student and adult participants 3. Orientation 4. Public Commissioning B. Immersion Experience

2) The Essential Guide to the Short Term Mission Trip by D.C. Forward. Available from Moody Press, c/o MLM, Chicago, Illinois, 60610. Or, go online to www.moodypress.org

1. Prayer 2. Experience 3. Debriefing 4. Journals

To Debrief: 1) Remaining Faithful: How Do I Keep My Experience Alive? A Manual for Reflection, Integration and Prayer after a Short-term Experience in another culture. From Mission To Mission (www.missiontomission.org.)

5. Gift-giving C. Re-orientation upon Return 1. Public Welcome Ritual 2. Journaling 3. Sharing Stories 4. Break-out programs 5. Reunions and Solidarity Development

__________________________________________________________________________ A. Preparation: To successfully plan an event even as modest as a youth camping trip it’s essential to select a worthy site, prepare participants well, and have a solid adult planning team. When visiting people of another culture how much more important it is for us as Catholic “ambassadors” from our Archdiocese to carefully select a site, to be clear about the expectations we have of our participants, and to prepare our groups with the necessary skills and information they will need to have a positive and grace-filled trip – and to be a blessing to those we visit. The better all are prepared, the better experience all will have.

Moreover, it’s vital to have a solid planning team with individuals from the parish/school who are globally aware. Some suggested characteristics for individuals on a planning team are: can take initiative, be self starters, are team players, are very familiar with the U.S. Bishops' youth ministry document, "Renewing the Vision" that promotes community building, prayer, catechesis, social justice, etc.

1. Picking a site a. Consider the safety of participants when picking a site. b. Confirm that it is a bona fide Christian service location. c. Confirm that there is a person at the site to organize the experience.

5

d. Confirm that there are adequate facilities for housing the number of people in the group, preferably all in the same location. e. Pay special attention to the shopping/cooking/cleaning arrangements. Having participants take responsibility for this will enhance the learning experience. f.

Break large numbers into smaller groups that include an adult leader per 3-4 students.

On-site, groups rotate through all experiences.

g. See The Essential Guide, pages 18 to 27.

2. Selecting student and adult participants a. Send to potential youth participants an announcement and application with eligibility criteria. b. Send to potential adult participants/chaperones an announcement and application with eligibility criteria. Criteria for these adults would include: Being flexible since work sites and youth's needs constantly change; having good rapport with youth; creativity; ability to adjust to youth's work ethic that often needs the proper type of motivation; knowing how to organize, delegate, and assign work assignments to youth; having basic knowledge of the principles of Catholic Social Teaching; having fulfilled the requirements of the Archdiocesan Decree on Child Protection. c. Submit responses from applicants to planning team. Student applications should also include a character reference from a guidance counselor, teacher or campus/youth minister. d. Conduct short interviews for students and parents (See Appendix A). e. Consider that when selecting adult chaperones, all Archdiocesan and parish requirements for adult volunteers must be followed.

3. Orientation (This can be done either during a retreat or other pre-arranged evening sessions.) a. Conduct a retreat weekend for all youth and adult participants. Weekend includes: introduction to daily prayer, journaling exercises, time for sharing, group interaction. b. Provide site information and practical information (Archdiocese of Cincinnati Mission Office may be able to help with this). c. Provide a code of behavior for participants and parents to sign (See Appendix B). d. Parents must complete and sign permission/release/medical information forms. e. Instruct chaperones on their role. All chaperones must complete the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Decree on Child Protection Training and be fingerprinted in accord with the Decree on Child Protection. f.

Provide education on the social justice teachings of the Catholic Church

g. Arrange for cultural orientation/sensitivity training, provided (when possible) by a member of the community visited or someone familiar with the area/culture. This should include basic background information about the culture, and the political and economic situation of the nation or location to be visited.

6

h. Provide students with information on the legal consequences of their actions if visiting an overseas site. When in a foreign country, participants are subject to the laws of that country. i.

Arrange for work orientation, provided (when possible) by a member of the community to be visited or someone familiar with the area/culture.

j.

Discuss health/safety issues with (when possible) a member of the community to be visited or someone familiar with the area/culture.

k. Provide community building/mutual supportiveness exercises, especially dealing with fears and expectations.

l.

•

When people travel to places where their normal “safety net” is unavailable (e.g., immediate access to quality health care, immediate contact via phones, contact with family, access to bank accounts, etc.), they may exhibit anxiety and signs of stress. Spend some time discussing how individuals in the group deal with such feelings when they arise.

•

The experience of feeling out of control can lead some to act controlling, and others to withdraw. By discussing these in advance, people can become aware of one another's reactions and needs, and the leader can more readily address these as they arise.

Provide suggested approaches to interpersonal and group conflict management.

4. Public Commissioning Ceremony a. Provides an opportunity in ritual and prayer for the sending community to support the participants and further discover how God’s presence is already at work in the community to be visited.

B. Immersion Experience: To “mine all the gold” God is providing your group during the trip, many experienced group leaders highly recommend the following daily pattern of activities. Without reflection, the trip just becomes another rushed event participants will soon forget. Think of the immersion experience more as a retreat and pilgrimage where the Spirit is trying to break into participants’ lives.

1. Prayer: regular, daily, prayer experience involving the group as a whole as well as members of local community. (Contact the Mission Office for sample booklet.)

2. Experience: daily interaction with the target group, including reflection, discussion and interaction with members of local community (See Appendix C).

3. Debriefing: daily gathering to share the day’s events with entire group 4. Journals: participants should be encouraged to spend time daily writing about the experiences of the day/trip. (See page 37 of the People, Places and Partnerships workbook.)

5. Gift-giving – check with your local host for advice on giving gifts/money to find out if it is appropriate, desired, needed, etc. (See page 39 of People, Places and Partnerships.)

C. Re-Orientation upon Return: Re-entry into the home environment is often challenging and may even be traumatic. Re-orientation, which can be done on retreat or a pre-arranged evenings, is necessary to allow participants time to assess what they have experienced. Be sure to provide time for participants to reflect on how the trip may be transforming their current lifestyles, their views of other cultures and what

7

God might be calling them to do in the future. This step ensures that they will “mine all the gold� the Spirit has provided them during their trip!

1. Public welcoming home ritual: provides an opportunity for the participants to be welcomed back into the sending community.

2. Journaling: participants ask questions such as: a. What have I further discovered about myself, about people of another culture, about my relationship with God? b. What responsibilities do I and my parish/school have now and in the future? c. How will I live my life differently in light of what I have seen/learned? d. How are my career choices being further developed? e. What action will I take on behalf of those whom I visited? f.

See Remaining Faithful and pages 16, 33 & 34 in People, Places and Partnerships.

3. Sharing stories: a. Write about the experience b. One-on-one debriefing with a counselor or campus/youth minister as needed c. A public forum, whether in class, as part of a public assembly or to a faculty/parish gathering can be a very important key to helping the student re-integrate into the school/parish. d. Media: Perhaps arrange for newspaper, TV or radio interviews. Prepare for the interviews by choosing two or three key points and keeping it simple. Write down names and places with correct spellings and pronunciations. Brief, personal stories of encounters with individuals are typically well-received.

4. Break-out programs: Encourage students to take leadership in other service areas at the school/parish; or to create a new service group in an under-served area; or to improve current programs incorporating the values and principles of Catholic Social Teaching.

5. Reunions: Organize gatherings for the program participants at intervals after their return which can promote additional service, lay missionary vocations and political/economic advocacy.

IV. Legal & Liability Concerns When embarking upon a mission trip or immersion experience with youth there are a number of issues of which to be aware from the perspectives of legal and liability concerns, as follows: Permission, Release and Medical Power of Attorney: The Archdiocese of Cincinnati requires that each person attending under the age of 18 complete an approved permission/release/medical form. A sample form is available at www.catholiccincinnati.org/youthmin/releaseforms/releasepolicy.htm. In addition, you will want to require all adults to complete the medical release portion. (See Appendix D) Decree on Child Protection: It is the policy of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati that all adults who would be a part of a mission trip or immersion experience must attend the Decree on Child Protection Training and be fingerprinted in accordance with the norms of the Decree on Child Protection prior to participating. Fingerprinting locations and times can be found at

8

www.catholiccincinnati.org/admin/fingerprint_sites.htm. Every parish should have a person designated to provide the Decree on Child Protection training.

Safety of Location: Immersion experiences and mission trips frequently place our young people in environments that may be perceived as, or actually be, less safe and secure than those to which they are accustomed. It is important to plan for the safety and security of the participants both from a liability standpoint as well as to be able to ease the fears that many parents have regarding sending their child to these destinations. Things to consider are: Can I safely take the group outside at night? Is the facility secure? Do I need to hire security on site? What is the proximity to medical services? What medical services will be available?

International Trips: There are many programs that take groups outside of the country. In these instances there are other concerns that must be addressed. Questions that you need to ask are: Are there any U.S. State Department warnings or concerns in the country to which I will be going? Please see http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html. Is there a leader or missionary on site who knows the terrain and language in this country? Is there a missionary returned from this country who can provide information? What are the State Department recommendations regarding safety, diseases, inoculations (go to www.cdc.gov/travel)? (Please see the Health Issues section below.) Every parent should be provided with information from the CDC and State Department about international destinations.

Safety of Sites: It is not unusual that immersion experiences and mission trips involve some element of repair or construction. At all times it is important to be aware of your surroundings and be attentive to safety. Things to consider regarding your work site are these: Is the site clear of hazards? Are there people who are knowledgeable about the tools and methods available to provide direction?

Insurance: The Archdiocese of Cincinnati maintains a Self-Insurance Program that provides liability coverage for the Archbishop and his agents. This liability coverage applies to all activities of the Archbishop and his agents while they are engaged in activities that support the ministry of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. This liability coverage does not extend to anyone else. The members of a group participating in immersion experiences are not covered by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for any liability that accrues to them because of their behavior, accidental or deliberate. There is no insurance on the life and/or health of anyone on an immersion trip. For more information, contact the Archdiocesan Office of Financial Services at (513) 421-3131.

Negligence: The critical issue in determining liability in the legal system is the concept of negligence.

Negligence is the “failure to exercise the care toward others which a reasonable or prudent person would do in the circumstances or taking action which such a reasonable person would not” (Law.com Dictionary). In the simplest terms, one must ask oneself, “Have I used common sense and prudence in my actions?” Examples of potential negligence would be: allowing youth to get in harm’s way in certain kinds of construction (roofing, or using heavy duty power tools with no training, eye protection, etc.); not providing for proper hydration thus resulting in heat exhaustion; not insisting on getting proper rest and sleep, lack of proper supervision; not providing pre-trip guidance on gender specific customs appropriate in the location you will visit. Care and discretion should be used in deciding what is appropriate.

Drivers: The use of commercial carriers both within and outside the continental United States can save drivers from being exposed to extraordinary personal liability. However, if a group member provides transportation for other members of the group, that person must be 21 years of age, have a valid driver’s license and insurance coverage. Trip leaders must obtain a copy of the driver’s license and proof of insurance from each driver. Drivers must carry full coverage on their vehicles. If an accident occurs, the driver’s insurance, not the Archdiocese, covers the loss. It is recommended that drivers transporting youth

9

for the Church maintain liability coverage in the amount of one million dollars. This coverage could simply be added for the duration of the immersion experience or mission trip.

The Archdiocesan Self-Insurance program does not cover any accidental damage to a vehicle being used for an immersion trip. If during a trip an accident occurs that causes injury to the driver or other members of the group, the liability insurance on the owner/driver’s automobile is primary (pays the first dollar.)

Health Issues: Whether you’re visiting a low-income location in the U.S. or overseas, please check with your health care provider or local travel clinic prior to travel if you have specific questions or concerns.

For additional travel information specific to your destination, please check the web-site of the U.S. Public Health Service Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prior to your trip at www.cdc.gov. Also, it is advisable to check with health insurance carriers to determine if you and participants are covered when out of the USA. Following is a list of pertinent medical, health, legal and liability issues, questions and concerns: •

Medical: -

What is the proximity to medical services?

-

Are there participants with significant health issues that become more critical the farther they are from home or the more remote their location?

-

How can I provide for the special medical and dietary needs of participants?

-

Have your participants informed their personal physicians about this trip and asked for advice?

-

Is it possible to recruit a nurse, doctor or other medical personnel to go with you?

•

Accidents: Accidents are the biggest health risk when traveling internationally. Avoid known areas of risk and unsafe vehicles. Unsafe terrain or unfamiliar urban traffic patterns can lead to injury.

•

Sunburn: Sunburn is more likely at high altitudes! Use a minimum 30 SPF product for protection. Wear a hat when outside. Remember your sunglasses.

•

Infectious diseases: Prevention is key to avoiding infectious diseases and illness during travel or on return home. Carefully review and heed all health recommendations!

-

Contaminated food and drink (including water) are the most frequent cause of infectious illness when traveling. Select foods with care, avoiding raw foods that cannot be peeled and undercooked meat and fish. Boiled or bottled water is safest. Do not brush your teeth with tap water! Beverages such as coffee or tea made with boiled water are generally considered safe. Bottled or canned beverages are safe—be sure to clean the outside of the container if it is wet! Avoid beverages with ice cubes made of local water.

-

Insect-borne diseases are common in many countries. Wear protective clothing and use insect repellant. Mosquitoes carry many diseases! If you are going to malaria endemic areas (check on the CDC website), malaria prophylaxis is recommended, and may be required. For other insect-borne diseases of which to be aware, please see www.cdc.gov/travel/diseases

-

Get the necessary vaccines. Please check with your health care provider or the website below for the basic set of travel vaccines that all U.S. travelers should have when

10

traveling outside of the USA or Canada: www.cdc.gov/travel/vaccinat.htm In addition, for a country/region specific list, go to www.cdc.gov/travel/destinat.htm •

•

Recommended health kit for mission travelers: (fits in a small zip-top plastic bag) -

12 anti-diarrhea tablets – like Immodium. Some travel health professionals recommend taking several tablets of the prescription antibiotic Ciprofloxin for severe intestinal illnesses. Ask your doctor.

-

12 adhesive bandages; anti-bacterial cream or wipes for cuts, blisters, etc.

-

Small bottle of alcohol hand gel cleaner

-

12 tablets of your preferred pain and fever reducer: like Motrin, Tylenol, Advil, etc.

-

6 Benedryl or other antihistamine tablets

-

Pepto-Bismal tablets

-

Small vial of simple eye-drops like Visine

-

Other items you may want to have: ace bandage, cold tablets, cough drops, etc.

Bring all prescription medications you regularly take! These should be labeled and in the original pharmacy bottles. Do not forget other health items you regularly use, such as contact-lens solutions, allergy meds, etc.

11

V. Resource List for Immersion Trips/Service Projects Program Providers 1. Young Neighbors in Action (www.youngneighbors.org): This is a week-long Catholic service learning program for teams of older adolescents and adults, sponsored by the Center for Ministry Development.

2. T.A.C.K.L.E. (Teens Advocating Change through Knowledge, Leadership, and Experience): This is a summer inner-city immersion experience sponsored by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry (www.catholiccincinnati.org/youthmin) and Social Action Office.

3. Other: Contact your regional Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Social Action Office, or the Mission Office for other suggestions.

Books Bright, Thomas; Lansing, Sean; Povlin, Mike; and Weber, Joan. Ministry Resources for Justice and Service. St. Mary’s Press, 2004.

Cavanaugh, Ellen P. Living the Works of Mercy: Daring Teens to Change the World.

St. Mary’s Press, 2003.

Cimino, Carol; Haney, Regina; and O’Keefe, Joseph, eds. Integrating the Social Teaching of the Church into Catholic Schools (Conversations in Excellence). NCEA, 2001.

Danesco, Lenore. All You Need to Know about Planning a Youth Service Week. Twenty-Third Publications, 2001.

Fourre, Constance. Journey to Justice: Transforming Hearts and Schools with Catholic Social Teaching. NCEA, 2003.

Grant, Joseph. Justice and Service Ideas. St. Mary’s Press, 2000.

Krietemeyer, Ronald. Leaven for the Modern World: Catholic Social Teaching and Catholic Education. NCEA, 2000.

Moore, Joseph. Learning to Serve, Serving to Learn: A Christian Service Program for Students. Ave Maria Press, 1994. (no longer in print) National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry. Living Justice, Proclaiming Peace: 2004 Youth Ministry Resource Manual. National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, 2004.

O’Connell, Frances Hunt. Giving and Growing: A Student’s Guide for Service Projects.

St. Mary’s Press, 1990.

12

Pichler, Tony and Broslavick, Chris. Service Projects for Teens: Twenty Plans That Work.

Pflaum Publishing Group, 2001.

Reidy, Pamela J. To Build a Civilization of Love: Catholic Education and Service Learning.

2001.

NCEA,

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1998.

Welte, Gerald. Called by Name: An Invitation to Serve. Harcourt Religion Publishers, 2003.

Web Sites 1.

Catholic Relief Services-www.catholicrelief.org. (Sign up for their monthly e-newsletter “Going Global with Youth.”)

2.

Catholic Social Action Office-www.catholiccincinnati.org/admin/SAWP.

3.

The Center of Concern-www.coc.org. (Subscribe to their “Education for Justice” web site.)

4.

Claretian Publications-www.claretianpubs.org. (They sponsor “Salt of the Earth,” an on- line resource for social justice.)

5.

Institute for Peace and Justice-www.ijp-ppj.org.

6.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Department of Social Development and World Peace-www.usccb.org/sdwp.

13

Appendix A Sample Student Interview Form (Modify as needed.)

Name _____________________________________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ Phone

____________________________________________________________________

E-mail ____________________________________________________________________ Parent or Legal Guardian Name(s) _______________________________________________

Suggested Evaluation Questions: (feel free to add your own) 1. What is your purpose for going on this immersion trip? Whose needs are you meeting?

2. What are your hopes and expectations?

3. What fears and hopes do you and your parents have about participating in this immersion trip?

4. How do you deal with separation from friends and family?

5. What might it mean to offer a hand, not a handout to people?

6. What do you believe you can learn from those you will visit?

14

Appendix B Sample Immersion Trip Code of Behavior (Modify as needed.)

Your actions represent all Catholic young people. Respect for everyone you meet or come in contact with is expected by us, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, your family, your school and your parish. We expect that you will display the maturity, responsibility, leadership and character which led us to select you to be a part of this experience. After you have read this Code of Behavior, please sign the form which follows and return it to the leader of the trip.

1. Credentials (I.D.’s, passports, money, etc,) must be turned in for safekeeping in a secure place that will be arranged by the coordinators and chaperones at the immersion site. Anything of irreplaceable value should not be taken on the trip (jewelry, cameras, etc.). You will be held responsible for your own personal possessions.

2. You are required to wear shirts and shoes and appropriate clothing at all times. (No halter tops or revealing clothing.) Blue jeans and shorts of appropriate length are acceptable attire.

Dresses/skirts for women and dress pants for men may be required in certain situations.

3. Sleeping quarters will be assigned and cannot be changed. There will be random bed checks – in bedrooms by 11:00 p.m. and lights out at 12:00. After ‘lights out’ – no socializing. Noise levels must be kept to a minimum in the sleeping areas. NO visiting is allowed in the sleeping areas and bath/shower areas occupied by members of the opposite sex.

4. We will meet each morning and evening as a group for prayer. Night prayer will also be accompanied by time for reflection on the day’s activities.

5. No cigarettes, alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs will be tolerated at any point of the trip.

6. A schedule will be arranged for each day of the trip. Allowances will be made for changes in the schedule depending on conditions or situations that may arise. All participants are required to participate in the events scheduled for their assigned group.

7. Strict adherence to the time schedule is mandated due to the travel time and schedules maintained by our host missionaries.

8. You are required to respect and adhere to the decisions of the chaperones at all times. If you have any questions about decisions that are made, please direct them to the trip leaders for consideration, but be prepared to accept whatever final decision is rendered without further discussion.

9. Trip leaders will call the parish/school contact person after arrival at the immersion site. That person will call all the families to let the parents know of your safe arrival. No other phone calls will be allowed, except for emergency situations.

10. Exercise caution when in public, crossing streets and using public transportation. Use designated walking areas when possible and be mindful of fast-moving, heavy traffic. Travel in pairs or groups and NEVER go out of designated safe areas.

11. NEVER leave your assigned group and go off alone, even with someone who appears to be friendly or in need of help. Stay with your group. This is an important obligation.

15

12. Do not provide personal information to anyone outside the group.

13. For the safety and well-being of the whole group, anything that you may see that conflicts with this Code of Behavior should be brought to the attention of the trip leaders.

We respectfully ask for your cooperation and trust that you will have no trouble adhering to this Code of Behavior.

Important: The breach of any of the points in this Code of Behavior may result in the early return of the individual involved at the expense of his or her family.

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC I have read very carefully the Code of Behavior which must be followed on the Immersion Trip.

I agree to follow this Code.

My parents have read the Code of Behavior and are aware of the rule which states that if I violate any of the Code, they will be responsible for any expenses incurred if I am required to return home early.

Student Name: _____________________________________________________________ Student Signature: __________________________________________________________ Parent or Legal Guardian Name: _______________________________________________ Parent or Legal Guardian Signature: ____________________________________________ Date: __________________________ Please Return to:

16

Appendix C Suggested questions to facilitate dialogue between visitors and hosts It is very helpful to have intentional conversations with those you will meet during your service project or immersion experience, but sometimes it’s hard to know what to talk about. These are questions meant to help you know what to say so as to deepen your understanding of the lives of those you will meet. You will, of course, want to put them in your own words, and you won’t likely use them all. Choose those you feel comfortable with: •

What do you love most about your community?

•

How would you describe your community’s geographic area?

•

What is the happiest thing that has happened in your community in the last year?

•

What is the saddest thing that has happened in your community in the last year?

•

What is something that makes you feel proud of your community?

•

Would you rather live in the city or the country? What is your experience of each?

•

How do you feel when your ideas are not respected?

•

Please describe your faith. What do you believe in? How do you express your faith?

• What kinds of games or sports do you play in your community? Do you like to play sports?

•

Please tell me about a fiesta or community celebration that you remember.

•

Please tell me about a time when someone helped you. Do neighbors often help each other out in your community? In what circumstances?

•

What are some of your talents? What are the talents of your other family members?

• What is your favorite holiday? How do you celebrate it? Why do you like this one the most?

•

What are some of the illnesses that you have in your community? What kind of care and attention do you receive when you’re sick?

•

Please tell me about someone that you respect and why you respect him or her.

•

Please tell me about your family.

•

Please tell me about someone you love.

17

Appendix D Archdiocesan Policy: Guidelines for Youth Activities Following is a policy of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for the development and utilization of permission and release forms. A copy if this may be found at: www.catholiccincinnati.org/youthmin/releaseforms/releasepolicy.htm Archdiocesan Policy: Guidelines for Youth Activities Parental rights, good administration and youth protection dictate that the appropriate sharing of information and granting of permission be involved when youth participate in school/parish-based activities.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati has developed a sample form to satisfy these needs (available on request). While this particular form is not mandated for use in the schools and parishes of the Archdiocese, it is recommended.

Whether the particular recommended form is used or not, the following written documentation is required in some form, whether a child is registering for an ongoing program or for a single activity.

1. Name of student 2. Name of parish/school 3. Name of adult in charge 4. Date of activity or regular time for program 5. Location of activity 6. Telephone number where youth can be reached in an emergency 7. Starting time or date, ending time or date 8. General description of program or activities which are involved 9. Method of transportation (if any) 10. Cost (if any) In addition to providing this information to the parents, the form must provide a place for the parent to give permission for the child to participate in the program or activity and to receive emergency medical care (including pertinent medical information), if the activity will take the youth some distance from home. In addition there must be a release of the Archdiocese, parish and school from liability in the event of accident or injury to the youth. A parent or legal guardian must provide for the above by written signature and date and also supply a telephone number where the parent can be reached in case of an emergency involving the child. Participants are responsible for their own actions.

The permission forms are to be maintained throughout the duration of the activity. They are to be carried by a designated adult on trips off church/school premises.

(Policy established June, 1996) 18

Attachment C Mission Trip Landmines

Page 62 of 65

Ten Mission Trip Land Mines

by Bill Allison www.cadreministries.com

We had just put the finishing touches on what I thought was a great summer mission trip. For a number of people in our group, this was their first time on any sort of mission trip, and since I love watching God use first-hand mission experiences to transform lives, I was pumped up.

As our group was saying goodbye to our newly-made friends overseas, I watched a fifteen-year-old girl from our group walk over to a teenage male, a national and friend of the missionary who hosted us. I was sure she just wanted to say farewell to him. But she didn’t say a word. To my total astonishment, she simply walked up to him, put her hands on his shoulders, tilted her head, leaned into him, and gave him a l o n g, s l o w k i s s... a kiss that, from my perspective, seemed to last for an eternity. The young man looked stunned but delighted.

(Let’s just say that he didn’t run away crying to his mommy, nor did he file a sexual harassment complaint. He may, however, still be telling the story to his friends some twenty years later.) I, along with the rest of our group, the hosting missionaries, and the other national believers, didn’t enjoy the kiss nearly as much. I felt my heart jump out of my chest and flop hopelessly on the ground in a mixture of blood-boiling anger and deep discouragement.

Talk about missing the point of a mission trip! How could she even think that was in the realm of the appropriate? How could we ever undo the collateral damage of this little but profoundly inappropriate goodbye kiss?

This young girl had stepped on a mission trip land mine. Our group and God’s work in that area of the world paid the price in damage.

Make no mistake about it: On a mission trip, the collateral damage of one small misstep could have a profoundly negative effect on you, your group, and your ministry.

The fact is that there are a lot of mission trip land mines buried just beneath the surface... waiting patiently... for you or someone from your group to make one wrong step. Shouldn’t you know where these land mines are buried so you can avoid stepping on them?

It’s my desire to show you and those in your group where some of the most common mission trip land mines are hiding so that you can avoid stepping on (c) 2008 Bill Allison

Page 1

www.cadreministries.com

them and, thus, suffering the consequences. The list that follows is not exhaustive or prioritized in order of importance. I simply offer these ten mission trip land mines in the spirit of Proverbs 22:3: “A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.”

Mission Trip Land Mine #1 Romance Since many people who go on short term mission trips are young and single, a further word of caution needs to be said here. Under “normal” circumstances, romance between two single people of the opposite sex and appropriate age can be a wonderful thing. However, mission trips are hardly normal circumstances.

Romance between two unmarried people while on a mission trip tends to disrupt the unity of the team because those romantically involved only want to be around each other, rather than be a part of the team. The impact of the trip for those who become romantically involved is thwarted because they tend not to be concerned about the mission experience and what God is doing in and through them. They’re focused on their love life. This unmarried lovey-dovey couple can send all kinds of potentially inappropriate messages to the people of the country you are in. (In some countries I've been in, just taking a walk alone with a person of the opposite sex carried with it immoral connotations.)

We would do well to live above reproach and live life well on the safe side, especially while we are on a mission trip. Short term missionaries must be taught to be very careful in this area because one wrong move could set a missionary's work back for a long time.

Mission trips are not the time or place for romance.

Compounding the problem is the fact that people from other countries watch American movies and/or television. Consequently, they have ill-informed, preconceived ideas about what American men and women are like based on what they have seen. While we know that this would be like doing a study on rabbits based on Bugs Bunny cartoons, it doesn't change the way American men and women are perceived. You need to know this.

To avoid all possible hassles, I recommend that you have everyone sign off on a "no romance with anyone" rule while on the mission trip. The rule should include no-romancing with anyone on the team, anyone from another visiting team, or anyone living in the country in which you will be serving. It would be to your advantage to repeat the "no romancing with anyone" rule regularly at your orientation meetings and while you are on the mission trip whenever necessary.

If Lance Romance is unwilling to put his love life on hold for the short time it takes (c) 2008 Bill Allison

Page 2

www.cadreministries.com

to go on the mission trip, then I wouldn't bother taking him. The same goes for Lucy Lovesick. Those who get involved in romance while on a mission trip often end up missing the whole point of the trip and cause unnecessary problems for the rest of the team—and the hosting missionaries.

How will you ensure that you and those on your team will avoid stepping on the land mine of romance?

Mission Trip Land Mine #2 An Inflexible Attitude Often, mission trips take people to places that tend to be a little more politically, socially, and economically volatile. Consequently, any given situation on a mission trip can change quickly. How will your group handle this volatility?

Furthermore, what many of us consider to be necessities are not always assessable abroad. (Sorry ladies, that 110 curling iron will get fried when you plug it into a 220 outlet... and thus... no more primping.) How will your group make due with what is available? Flexibility is imperative while on a short term mission trip.

One of your rigid rules must be: "Be flexible!"

Once while we were in a very poverty-stricken part of the world, our team bought thirty bags of cement and headed out to build a church. Much to our dismay, we couldn't get any water! (Where we were, the water came in trucks and you had to buy barrels of it.) We waited for a couple of hours and still no water. We ended up donating the cement to the church for a different group to use at another time when water would be available, and then we went and did some landscaping and a roofing job at another location. Not exactly what we had set out to do that day, but it was a great lesson in flexibility.

Being flexible tends to drive certain personality types crazy because they desire to have everything planned out ahead of time. The hard truth is that ministry in another culture isn't that cut and dried. That means you MUST be flexible. It's a real drag for the hosting missionary or mission agency if you and your team are not flexible.

What will you do to make sure that you and those on your team avoid stepping on the land mine of an inflexible attitude?

Mission Trip Land Mine #3 An Undefined Work Project Not having a clearly defined work project is a fast track to trouble. Many times we create our own problems because of the lack of a simple plan of action. (c) 2008 Bill Allison

Page 3

www.cadreministries.com

Each day there should be at least a basic idea as to what the team will be doing. Even things such as mowing the grass, painting the church, and helping in the kitchen can be great daily work projects and help in keeping the team's focus on serving. Without a daily work project, the team's focus tends to move from the idea of serving others to being served, from being a short term missionary to a tourist. Keeping in mind what I just said about being flexible, it wouldn't hurt you to have a daily Plan A, Plan B, and a Plan C just in case. Do your best to have a clearly defined work project each day.

What do you need to do before you leave on this mission trip to avoid the land mine of an ambiguous work project?

Mission Trip Land Mine #4 Focusing Too Much on the Work Project Considering what I just said about not having a clearly defined work project on which to focus, it’s also critically important to point out that it is possible to focus too much on a work project. A daily work project is very important, but not more important than interacting with people, especially the nationals!

A mission trip, like all ministry, is about people, not projects.

Think about it. All work projects have their end in serving people. Many short term mission groups expend all their money and energy in a work project without ever really interacting with anyone outside of their group. Then they have the nerve to go back to their church and talk about their great mission trip.

What good does it do a group of Americans to go on a mission trip, do a work project and not interact with any of the nationals? (It’s possible to feed the homeless but never interact with them... or even smile at them.) That's not missions. That's American. Don’t just build a home. Build a friendship. (It’s amazing how much of a connection one can build even with a language barrier.) While on a mission trip, it’s vitally important to keep in mind that missions is people, not projects. Work projects are important, but not all important.

What do you need to do right now to make sure that you and those in your group don’t step on the land mine of focusing too much on a work project?

Mission Trip Land Mine #5 Withdrawal When someone is in a strange environment, surrounded by unfamiliar people speaking an unfamiliar language, immersed in a totally different culture, the natural tendency is to shy away from it all. However, withdrawing from these diverse cultural situations will greatly hinder the mission trip's effectiveness.

Experiencing a different culture is an important part of a mission trip. Therefore, (c) 2008 Bill Allison

Page 4

www.cadreministries.com

it's very important to have a "go for it" attitude! When you come to a cultural situation that is strange to you, don't shy away. Go for it!

The food? Go for it!

Eating the food of other cultures seems to be a problem for many Americans.

But think this through with me. Why would you want to travel all the way to Mexico and turn down the opportunity to eat authentic Mexican food? You may never pass this way again... and Taco Bell is NOT a legitimate substitute! But people often push back and say, “But Bill, if I eat this food, I’m going to get diarrhea.” I smile, look them in the eyes, and say, “Of course you will. But is it a real mission trip if you don’t get diarrhea? I think not.” I then put my arm around this person, double check to make sure we have our diarrhea medicine, and we go eat real tacos. (They are delicious!)

It’s important to note that, in some cultures, if food is refused even in a polite way, it is nearly equal to a rejection of the people and their culture. A person with a "go for it" attitude will eat whatever the nationals are eating and not complain! (A simple prayer that I have said a few times before a meal goes something like this, "Lord, if I can get this down, you keep it down!") A "go for it" attitude is a must for a positive missions experience—especially at dinner time.

Besides it is not everyday you get to eat a grub worm, a lizard tail, or an ostrich!

It is a shame to pass by experiences you are not likely to ever have again. Don't withdraw. Go for it!

One time when I took a group to Mexico, we worked at an orphanage laying cement for a basketball court. The orphanage director wanted to do something special for us, so he had some of the ladies make us some soup. The main ingredient was cow intestines. We told our group in advance at our orientation meetings that they were to eat whatever was set before them, as much as possible. I was so proud of one young man who ate what he could and then went outside to discretely vomit. The irony of this situation is that when this group sits around reminiscing about the good times, this soup story usually comes up—no pun intended.

The once-in-a-lifetime opportunities? Go for it!

When I went to Brazil, they needed someone to butcher chickens so we could have chicken for dinner. Growing up in a housing project, I didn't get too many opportunities to butcher chickens, so I volunteered. It was quite an experience —especially since I had to use a knife (they didn’t have a machete). I haven't been asked to do something like it since (thank God), but I'm glad I did it then.

(c) 2008 Bill Allison

Page 5

www.cadreministries.com

The language? Go for it!

Even though I am among the worst at learning foreign languages, I always just dive right in and try to use what little I know when I am on a mission trip. I always get laughed at by the nationals because I so badly butcher their language, but they seem to appreciate me trying. I have said some real dumb things on accident, but that's just part of a good mission experience. (One missionary asked me, “Why do you keep calling that kid ‘dog’?” Oops! I guess there is a difference between “Pedro” and “perro.” My bad. No wonder the kid never responded to me. But boy, the dogs hounded me—pun intended this time.)

Having a "go for it" attitude will help you shed the ugly American image that we have in many places. Also, it gets you out of your comfort zone, where you have to trust God. And anytime you’re trusting God, that’s a good thing. Keep in mind that when you get back to America, it's too late to take advantage of the diverse cultural experiences you could have had during your mission trip.

Withdrawing hinders the impact of the mission trip, so have a "go for it" attitude.

How will you ensure that you and the people in your group avoid the land mine of withdrawal—and not miss the opportunity to trust God in a new way?

Mission Trip Land Mine #6 A Lack of Orientation If you haven’t picked up on the idea that this article should be used in your orientation BEFORE your team leaves for a mission trip let me underscore that right now. Why wouldn’t you want to warn your team about the mission trip land mines out there as a part of your orientation meetings? Prefield training is often the difference between a good short term mission trip and a bad one.

During orientation, the leader must communicate pertinent information about such things as culture, interpersonal relationships, and any rules for the team's trip. Without a thorough and engaging orientation program, the team doesn’t have a chance to build momentum for the mission trip.

Mission trips would be great if it weren’t for the people on the team...

Since I’ve been on mission trips where the interpersonal relationships have gotten ugly (some of our groups put the “FUN” in dysFUNctional), I highly suggest that you strategically invest some time in your prefield orientation training those on the team to love God and each other. You’re going to need this! Cadre Ministries can connect your team with a trainer who can bring Ministry Is Relationships training to your team. At a minimum, you’re going to need a devotional guide that will daily encourage and equip those on your team to love God and people in practical, hands-on ways. For this, we suggest Cadre’s One Another Living Guide. This devotional is a journey through the adventure of living out twenty-five “one another” verses in the Bible. (For example, love one (c) 2008 Bill Allison

Page 6

www.cadreministries.com

another, pray for one another, and encourage one another.) If your mission trip is a ten-day trip, you can start everyone in the devotional guide fifteen days BEFORE you leave... and walk through the last ten “one anothers” as a team while on the mission trip.

To whom do you need to give this article and how can you use it in your next orientation meeting?

Mission Trip Land Mine #7 Fatigue Almost every short term mission trip that I have had the privilege to participate in has been physically exhausting. That's why I always laugh inside when I hear comments like, "They go on a mission trip every year because it's more or less a vacation." This comment usually comes from a very uninformed person. The truth is that the schedule starts around 6 AM and runs till around midnight. This is okay for the first two or three days, but then the emotional unravelling begins to show. People get on each other's nerves. Words are said. Emotions run high to low. Also, work ethic slips and complaints start to surface. Team unity hits a low.

The first couple of nights, the excitement of the trip keeps people up at night. If a group is sleeping in the same room (males with males and females with females), the first couple of nights mean a lot of conversation. About the third day of the trip, you need to make sure everyone gets right to sleep, because if they don't, you will have problems that you wouldn't otherwise have had. If you need to, sleep in one day or take one day off. A team that is physically exhausted is not likely to have a positive mission experience. Vince Lombardi said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” Fatigue can turn an otherwise loving person into an angry and emotionally out-of-control idiot—just ask my kids.

Learn to read your group, lest a lack of rest hinders the impact of the trip.

What would be the signs that those in your group are leaning on the land mine of fatigue?

Mission Trip Land Mine #8 A Lack of Food On a mission trip life can get very busy. You might be tempted to skip a meal or eat very little because you don't have time. Been there, done that, and didn’t like it. (Nor did those in my group.) That’s why I’m telling you: Don't do it! A wellfed group is a happy group. And a happy group stands to gain much from a mission experience. Your team should have plenty of food to eat. Ideally, water should be available at all times. It may be to your advantage to have light food/goodies/snacks available too, but not enough to take away appetites for the main meals. (c) 2008 Bill Allison

Page 7

www.cadreministries.com

This “feed-the-team” principle especially goes for young men. Young men can eat like horses. I've seen the nicest men turn into monsters when their stomachs were empty. But enough about my issues. Save yourself some trouble. Feed the team.

What do you need to do before the mission trip to ensure that you and your team don’t step on the lack of food land mine?

Mission Trip Land Mine #9 A Lack of a Biblical Foundation It seems that fewer and fewer people who claim to know and love God are intentional about reading, studying, and applying the Bible. Yeah, they go to church and are conversant about God and spirituality. But a mere 9 percent of all people who claim to have a relationship with Jesus Christ actually hold to a biblical worldview. Something is missing in our Christian lives. I think it’s the APPLICATION of the Bible to every nook and cranny of our lives... also known as discipleship (Luke 6:46-49) and spiritual maturity (Hebrews 5:13-14).

A mission trip is an opportunity to reengage Christians with God via The Holy Bible. That’s why I require everyone going on a mission trip to find a verse of Scripture that they can base the trip on and then memorize it. People need to have a foundation in the Word of God for missions involvement. Without a biblical foundation for missions involvement, people will base their trip on emotions. The problem is that our emotions change. When things get tough (and they will), our emotions tell us to quit and complain. The Word of God is stable, and it doesn't change like our emotions tend to. With a verse or two of Scripture firmly fixed in the mind and heart through memorization, God's stable Word can override our unstable emotions. As we make our emotions subject to the Word of God, the result is stability in our lives.

Emotional Roller Coaster in Brazil Let me illustrate what I am saying with an experience that I had when I was on a short term mission trip. Right before I left to go to Brazil for six weeks, my church had a commissioning service for me. One of our spiritual leaders read and expounded on II Timothy 2:3, "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (KJV). I decided to make that verse the verse I would base my trip on.

Three weeks later, I was out in the middle of nowhere in a tribe in Brazil, sick and dehydrated from experiencing dysentery for ten days. I remember laying in my hammock when a tremendous fear and doubt came over me. I started to panic. Did I have something internally wrong with me? I was afraid that I'd die (c) 2008 Bill Allison

Page 8

www.cadreministries.com

and never see my family and friends again. Just about the time my emotions had a good hold on me, my mind flashed back to my commissioning service three weeks earlier. In my mind, I watched one of the elders of our church read, "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." I can't explain the peace that came over me as I understood that God wanted me to endure this little inconvenience I was going through and that He would take care of me. The Word of God stabilized my emotions, and I was able to continue on even though my emotions were telling me to panic.

At some point on every mission trip, the flesh will run out of gas and the emotions will start to take over. At that point, people will need to rely on the Word of God —not their emotions.

What practical steps will you take to equip yourself and the team to avoid the land mine of a lack of a biblical foundation?

Mission Trip Land Mine #10 Culturally Insensitive Dress It's very important to know what the appropriate dress is for the country in which you will be working. Here are some clothing issues that could cause problems: Bright colors scream "look at me.” When you are in another country and culture, the goal is to blend in as much as possible—not to stick out as much as possible. I was reminded of this recently during a trip to Egypt. It was quite easy to identify the tourists from the nationals... and that is not a compliment. Do not wear bright colors unless it’s considered the normal dress for that culture.

Rethink wearing gold and diamond jewelry. If it’s not your wedding band, you may want to leave it at home.

At the risk of sounding like a guy with five daughters (yep... it’s true), women have to be very sensitive about their shirts. The problem is, for obvious reasons, women’s shirts can be too tight, too loose, too high, or too low. (Sorry ladies.) The less revealed the better. Be sure to have this clothing chat with the young women in your group before you leave.

Guys working with shirts off is offensive in some cultures. Find out from the hosting missionary what is culturally acceptable.

Wearing shorts can also be a problem in some cultures. Again, before you leave, find out what is culturally acceptable from the hosting missionary.

Use discretion. (c) 2008 Bill Allison

Page 9

www.cadreministries.com

Perhaps the safest bet is to wear modest jeans and a comfortable fitting work shirt to work in. You may want to take something a little nicer for church or special occasions. Do your homework and find out what is proper in the culture in which you will be living. It’s safe to always err on the conservative side.

What homework do you need to do to make sure you and your team don’t step on the land mine of culturally insensitive dress?

What Now? 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Give this article to each person on your mission team and have them read it—marking it with a pen as they read.

Gather the team together to discuss the article.

Have each person sign off on the Checklist Covenant on the next page.

Guide the team through the Free Mission Trip Training Session included in this article.

Contact info@cadreministries.com to bring Cadre’s Ministry Is Relationships training to your team.

Visit www.cadreministries.com/store to get Cadre’s devotional, the One Another Living Guide, for each member of your team.

About Cadre Ministries...

Our Obsession: Equipping Local Churches to Make Volunteers WILDLY Successful!

Cadre Ministries is a [501(c)(3)] not-for-profit ministry.

To be trained to take Cadre training to your church/ministry, contact info@cadreministries.com and ask about Cadre’s certification process.

For information about bringing a certified Cadre trainer to coach and train the volunteer teachers, leaders, and youth workers in your church/ministry, contact info@cadreministries.com.

For Cadre training resources visit www.cadreministries.com/store.

Cadre’s fun-loving staff serve as support-based, God-dependent missionaries who can only do this ministry with Cadre because of generous friends like you.

To make an online, tax deductible donation to Cadre Ministries: GO HERE. All other tax deductible donations can be sent to: Cadre Ministries PO Box 278 Sycamore, IL 60178 (c) 2008 Bill Allison

Page 10

www.cadreministries.com

A Checklist Covenant to Help You and Your Team Avoid Stepping on a Mission Trip Land Mine...

Check off and sign.

I have read the article, Ten Mission Trip Land Mines.

I understand and will obey the “no romancing with anyone” rule.

I understand and will obey the “be flexible” rule.

I know what work projects we will be doing on the mission trip. Our work projects are ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ I clearly understand that missions is about people, not projects.

I will do my best to have a "go for it" attitude and not withdraw when I encounter culturally different circumstances.

I understand that orientation meetings are critical to the success of our mission trip and will participate in each orientation meeting.

While on the mission trip, I will go to sleep when my leader tells me.

While on the mission trip, I will keep hydrated by drinking water and take time to eat even when I get incredibly busy.

I have a biblical foundation for my involvement on this mission trip. I have memorized the following passage of Scripture: ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ I will dress in such a way as to honor Jesus Christ and the culture of the people whom I am serving.

Signature: ____________________________________________ Date: _________________ (c) 2008 Bill Allison

Page 11

www.cadreministries.com

A Free Mission Trip Training Session...

On Your Own: Create a list of at least five more mission trip land mines not touched on in the article: Why is this a land mine?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

With Your Team: Gather your team together and have everyone share their lists of mission trip land mines. On a piece of large poster board, create your group’s top ten mission trip land mines. Be sure to discuss these questions: 1.

Why are these mission trip land mines?

2.

What could happen if a team member steps on each of the land mines on your list?

(c) 2008 Bill Allison

Page 12

www.cadreministries.com

Recommended Resources for Mission Trips At a minimum, you’re going to need a devotional guide that will daily encourage and equip those on your team to love God and people in practical, hands-on ways. For this, we suggest Cadre’s One Another Living Guide. This devotional is a journey through the adventure of living out twenty-five “one another” verses in the Bible. (For example, love one another, pray for one another, and encourage one another.) If your mission trip is a ten-day trip, you can start everyone in the devotional guide fifteen days BEFORE you leave... and walk through the last ten “one anothers” as a team while on the mission trip.

Note: For orders of 10 or more, you get a FREE PDF download of the One Another Small Group Guide.

Cadre Ministries can also connect your team with a trainer who can bring Ministry Is Relationships training to your team.

To order online, go to www.cadreministries.com/store.

For questions, info@cadreministries.com.

(c) 2008 Bill Allison

Page 13

www.cadreministries.com

Notes ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

Page 63 of 65

Notes ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

Page 64 of 65

Page 65 of 65