Trip Leader Manual
ORPHANetwork
1500 N. Great Neck Rd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23454
757-333-7200
www.orphanetwork.org
ORPHANetwork Trip Leader Manual
Table of Contents
ORPHANetwork Mission Statement Page 3
ORPHANetwork Statement of Faith Page 4
ORPHANetwork History Page 5
Trip Leader Responsibilities Page 6
Trip Logistics Page 7
Trip Leader Orientation Guide Page 15
Overview of Nicaraguan History Page 19
ORPHANetwork’s Mission, Vision and Values
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As a leader for an ORPHANetwork mission trip, it is important to know, understand and represent the mission, vision and values of the organization. Every aspect of ORPHANetwork activities should reflect these principles, including the mission trips and forming lasting church partnerships. Therefore, as a leader, one should portray the following in word and action to team members and churches.
Our Mission
To equip orphans and economically disadvantaged children indeveloping countries to fully realize their God-given potential.
Our Vision
A network of American, international and indigenous partners working together to build and strengthen orphanages indeveloping countries and to create real, lasting change in their surrounding communities.
Our Values
· We follow the leading of God.
· We work with and through the local church believing that the local church is the Hope of the World.
· We find/identify indigenous leaders that share our values and mission; and we get behind their work.
· We believe Nicaraguans are the best ones to solve the problems of Nicaragua.
· We seek spiritual transformation in those who serve our Children.
· We believe in being fully devoted followers - as Christ taught us through his life.
· We believe relationships are everything.
· We operate with unquestionable integrity.
· We believe in collaboration with other organizations that advance our cause.
ORPHANetwork Statement of Faith
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About God
We believe that there is one God who exists eternally in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
About the Bible
We believe that the Bible is God’s inspired word to man. We believe that God gave the Bible to mankind so that we would know who He is, our condition in life apart from Him, how to be reconciled to God, and how to live as new creation in Christ. We believe that it is authoritative and without error.
About the person of Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is the sinless Son of God who became flesh to reveal God to man. We believe that He voluntarily chose to bear our sin through His death on a cross. We believe He died, rose again and lives now in heaven and in the hearts of all who have placed their faith in Him.
About the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third unique person of the Trinity and that He indwells the hearts of all who have placed their faith in Christ for salvation.
About mankind and salvation
We believe that men and women were created in the image of God, but because of sin, we have been alienated from God. To return and reconcile with God we need to repent of our sin and by faith accept God's gift of salvation in Christ. We believe it is God’s greatest hope and joy to have all men and women reconciled in perfect relationship with Him.
About the Christian life
We believe that Christians are called to be Jesus in their world today. We believe that Christians are called to love, serve and witness the reality of Christ to people without regard to their status, socio-economic position or ability.
ORPHANetwork’s History
It started with a group of teenagers back in 1997. A Youth Group from the States visited an orphanage on the outskirts of Managua, Nicaragua, and something happened. It was not planned, but they fell in love. They fell in love with the kids at the orphanage, in love with the staff, in love with the community...and more in love with God.
They returned home dirty, tired and bursting with stories about how the trip had changed their lives. Parents did not pay too much attention at first, but then their kids wanted to go back, again and again. Teenagers were earning their own money, giving away their clothes and going every chance they could to hug and laugh with these orphans that the rest of the world had forgotten.
Their parents started paying attention; their church started paying attention. When Michael Simone, Senior Pastor of Spring Branch Community Church, finally decided to go on a trip and investigate - he understood. He understood what God was doing in the lives of his church's teenagers. And he understood what God wanted Spring Branch to do - Help Bob.
Bob Trolese, National Director of Verbo Ministries in Nicaragua, is an American missionary who moved his family to Managua thirty years ago - thirty years of living out the gospel in one of the poorest places on earth. Verbo Ministries started the Casa Bernabe orphanage on a farm in Veracruz, a small town with too many people and too little money. The orphanage originally had dirt floors and paper-thin walls, but the kids started coming... and coming...and coming, and Verbo would not turn them away. When Simone saw what Bob and his church members were doing he knew that his church needed to be part of it.
Spring Branch started giving. More students - and now their parents - started going. Realizing the potential to help Verbo and the Casa Bernabe staff save these orphans from an impoverished future, Simone wanted to share the gift Spring Branch was experiencing with other churches. And ORPHANetwork was born.
ORPHANetwork is a 501(c)(3) with a mission of seeing orphaned and vulnerable children fully realizing their God-given purpose. Today, ORPHANetwork is partnering with two of Verbo's orphanages as well as four community outreach and feeding center projects. We have also developed relationships with other Nicaraguan organizations who demonstrate their heart for vulnerable children through running Christian-based orphanages. We are watching dreams become reality as we create transition programs to help the older kids move out from under the wings of the orphanages and back into the real world as successful adults.
The Role of an ORPHANetwork Trip Leader
As a leader of an ORPHANetwork trip, your responsibilities are multi-faceted, requiring spiritual, personal and administrative dedication. Your role is to ensure that the trip provides a meaningful, lasting impact on both the team members you are leading as well as the community you are serving.
The responsibilities of a trip leader are:
· To lead the team members’ emotional, spiritual and intellectual processing of their experience through the stages of expose/engage/envision
· To deliver porch time curriculum based on biblical teachings appropriate with the team’s spiritual maturity to aid in the Christ-centered understanding of their experience
· To be a representative of ORPHANetwork, projecting the organization’s mission through example to the team, host and community
· To explain ORPHANetwork’s history in Nicaragua and its past, present and future work at each orphanage site
· To present the depth of the global church, explaining both the work of Nicaraguan partner ministries and the important role of American churches
· To have a sufficient understanding of Nicaraguan history and culture to help the team process their intercultural experience
· To arrange an appropriate and functional trip schedule through collaboration with the church point person that will ensure a meaningful experience for the community of service
· To collaborate with the host and native partners to facilitate logistics of the trip to operate smoothly and to mitigate possible obstacles
· To handle all emergencies in a timely and efficient manner
· To manage administrative details of the trip, such as itinerary, housing, food, transportation, finances etc
· To collaborate with the church point person during the trip to stay attentive to team member’s physical, emotional and spiritual needs
· To present information and motivate team members toward further involvement in orphan care, such as the One Child at a Time sponsorship program, fundraising or engaging others in the ministry
· To encourage team members and church point person to inform their congregation of the work happening in Nicaragua and to pursue building a greater relationship between their church, their partner orphanage and ORPHANetwork
Trip Logistics
Being a trip leader requires responsibility, attentiveness and flexibility. These logistics are suggested guidelines, for each trip will be unique depending on team size, previous experiences, location and circumstances. The real job of the leader is to serve the team and the community to the best of their ability. ORPHANetwork encourages leaders to keep a steady communication with our staff to address specific needs or questions concerning logistics.
Pre-Trip Logistics
The ORPHANetwork Program Director will contact trip leaders with the basic details and introduce the leader to the Church Point Person and the partner location 6-8 weeks prior to the trip. The Church Point Person is a designated contact for the mission group and is usually a member on the trip. The Point Person and the Program Director will arrange the travel and flights, but much of the itinerary-forming process will be done between the Point Person and the Trip Leader. Not all churches will have a designated Point Person and in these cases leaders will work with ORPHANetwork to arrange the trip details. The Host is the on-the-ground translator who will aid in arranging details and activities in Nicaragua. The Program Director introduces leaders to their designated host.
Planning the Itinerary
Ideally, the trip leader will work with the Church Point Person to arrange the trip schedule, consulting with Program Director as necessary.At the beginning, around 6-8 weeks prior to the trip, the leader will communicate with the Program Director about how to approach the schedule and to receive insights on how to work with the church group they are leading.
The role of the Point Person or the Program Director differs in many cases. For a new group, the process is much more driven by the Trip Leader with help from the ORPHANetwork staff. As the church grows more experienced in Nicaragua, they may take more ownership in scheduling by offering ideas and preferences.
Once the draft itinerary has been made, the trip leader will usually share it with ORPHANetwork staff, who will make comments and changes. Then the leader will share the itinerary with the Point Person, who will review it and give their insight. The trip leader then works with the Program Director to share the schedule with the Host. The trip leader should also share the schedule with the orphanage staff at least two weeks prior to the trip and create a meal schedule for the place where the team is staying. When the trip leader shares the schedule with the host, they should also share some details such as transportation needs (number of buses), translator needs, etc. This detail is more important for larger groups, but the trip leader should check with the host to make sure transportation and translators are being coordinated (as appropriate). On the East Coast, much of these details will be coordinated with the ministry leader (Earl or Ed), as he arranges translators/transportation, etc.
It is important that the team gets to see the children at the orphanage on a regular basis. Generally, trips should follow the expose/engage/envision philosophy, with most activities being geared towards expose/engage. On the team’s first full day, it is good to schedule a fun activity with the kids at the orphanage where barriers will be broken, everyone has fun and laughs, and relationships are reestablished and/or begin to form. Leaders need to find a way to break the apprehension early in the trip for the team. It is also important to try to schedule time with the orphanage staff on the first day in order to emphasize the partnership and to build a connection with them.
To further the team’s engaging with the orphans, we encourage scheduling two or three fun, relationship building activities with the kids and at least one spiritually-toned program. For example, at Casa Bernabe, each team during the summer plans and holds a Younglife Club for teenagers at the orphanage to discuss and teach spiritual matters. An example of a fun, relationship-building activity would be a guys’/girls’ night with the teenagers.
Work projects are outreach activities teams can participate in to use their skills to make a tangible impact. Of course, they are optional for every team, so consult the Point Person. In scheduling a project, it is good to schedule it in the morning while the kids are in school. Usually they are two or three scheduled mornings for a work project during the trip. The best types of work projects are ones that can be done in a local community, or if the orphanage has a need we can meet (e.g., painting) . However, keep in mind that the orphanage may have minimal need for a team’s labor and skills. A positive work project is one where the team can see what they've accomplished at the end, or the experience is a real opportunity to build community. Any outreach type activities are best to plan through the orphanage staff or someone at the church.
Meals can make up a large part of the budget and itinerary. Meals out can be a drain on the budget, so try limit this expense for the team. A good idea is to set aside a meal or two to share with the kids, such as one group meal on the last night (good bye party) or a staff appreciation night with dinner. If the team leader has planned a busy day and needs a find a place to eat on the run, eating out can be quick and cheap if the host can plan ahead (ex. pizza). The meals at the orphanage should all be pre-coordinated when the leader shares the schedule with the staff.
The trip leader should always create a written schedule and post it where the team can see, this creates a greater sense of comfort for the team.
List of Activities/Locations/Restaurants*
*note that this is a partial list of options and is oriented to Managua
Cultural Activities
-Trip to market (Huembes, Masaya)
-Trip to a volcano