10 Tips for Tackling Construction Projects on a Mission Trip

We’ve had posts about why people go on mission trips, what you need to believe if you’re leading one, and who to partner with on the field. Because so many mission trips these days have a strong construction focus, I thought it was time for some practical advice on how to take on these projects with a group of enerjetic, unskilled, volunteers from your church. Here are ten quick tips I’ve picked up organizing and working with teams here in Tijuana.

1. Prepare and train. If you know what projects you will be working on in advance, get someone in the church to teach the different skills needed to be helpful on the field. If you don’t have the luxury of knowing exactly what you’ll be working on, hopefully you can get some clues from the local missionary. Find out if the team should be learning how to swing a hammer, mix cement, lay block, or all of the above.
2. Know your team’s skills. Is there an electritian on the trip? How about a plumber? Someone who laid block one summer in college? How can these people help lead the rest of the team? Or maybe there is a smaller side project their skills are better put to use on. Perhaps a neighbor needs a retaining wall built or there could be an ongoing plumbing issue at the local orphanage. There are ALWAYS needs. Make sure the missionary knows the skills your team has and let them put you to work.
3. Buy local materials whenever possible. Come on, if they don’t sell it where you’re going is it really necessary? Support the local economy whenever you can.
4. Bring discretionary money. That pipe, wire, or cement for the side project is going to cost money (likely more than you would pay in the U.S.). Also, with so many laymen working on the main project you’re bound to get a few more missed cuts or broken cinder blocks than on a construction site back home. Make sure whoever is doing the budgeting doesn’t have you planned out to the penny. Even if you don’t use the spare cash for materials there will likely be a need you can meet elsewhere — medicine for an elderly person or school shoes for a kid in the neighborhood for example. Whatever you use it for, make sure you receive guidance from the local missionary or pastor you are working with.
5. With all that prep work, make a concerted effort to get everyone involved. Remember, God can use everyone on the team (see So You’re the one Spearheading that next Mission Trip for more on this).
6. Look for opportunities to teach on site — both team members and locals. Also, be ready to learn from the locals. They will likely have a different, possibly better, way of doing the task at hand. Don’t be condescending. Many Americans (and Canadians!) take the attitude of ‘We are helping you. You are not capable of what we are doing.’ Some locals may have issues with learning from Americans on top of whatever prejudices your team brings down.
7. Build to local standards without forgetting moral standards. If I hear ‘good enough for Mexico’ from one more mission tripper I’m going to… settle down Aaron.
   There is a balance you have to find here. You probably won’t be building to New York City building codes, but never try to justify doing poor quality work when you are serving the Lord.
8. Take less photos. Those before and after shots may look great for your PowerPoint presentation, but they can be very insulting to those you are helping.
9. Don’t make the trip about completing a task nor about humanitarian relief. The prime product of a mission trip is service to the Lord and showing His love to others. Families receiving houses, congregations getting church buildings, and orphans being fed can be wonderful by-products but ought never be more.
10. Thank God for giving you the opportunity to serve Him.

Have you led construction projects on a mission trip? Add your tips in the comments below.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 13th, 2007 at 9:31 pm and is filed under Short Term Missions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.