Welcome to the preparation site for volunteers who are either associated with Christians Abroad or have been appointed by Christians Abroad. This is your chance to think through what you are letting yourself in for and how you can get ready to make the most of this exciting opportunity.

You can access these exercises in any order. You should notify your moderator that you have started the exercise and arrange a date and time when you can e.g. skype each other and talk through the exercise when you have completed it.

SKYPE: Christians Abroad will arrange for you to skype or telephone using skype free of charge from wherever you are to any address in the UK.This is part of the benefit of being a Christians Abroad volunteer or associate. You will need to download skype and have a microphone (and optional video camera) accessory for your laptop or have access to skype at an internet cafe for immediate messaging. Click on the skype logo for downloading skype and then use your user name given you by Christians Abroad to access the service.

Motivation and Planning

The 'Motivation and Planning' exercise is to

1. encourage you  to think clearly about why you want to work internationally

2. to help you plan to achieve your hopes and aspirations for the period you spend overseas.

For additional reading you might find interesting an overtly Christian perspective on motivation written by Philip

Wetherell, former Director of Christians Abroad 'What are you going for?"

Adaptation

The 'Adaptation' exercise is to

1. help you understand how important culture is in making the decisions that people make and in the communication of ideas between people

2. to help you accommodate to the strangeness of the culture in which you work

3. to enable you to work most effectively in the community in which you serve

If you do not have a regular bible study plan, then Christians Abroad recommends Scripture Union's 'World Live' . This offers you a wide variety of resources including bible reading. commentary and creativity. Check out the Audio features such as Podcast for music and poetry, drama etc. Click on the logo for access.

Health, Safety and Security

 

The 'Health, Safety and Security'  exercise is a prompt to action that you need to take before departure, whilst overseas and when you return.The objective of the exercise is to help ensure that your experience of international voluntary work is not marred by poor health, accident or injury.

One of the most important sources of information about your safety and security is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Click on this link to make the connection and read the advice that the FCO gives to travellers.