Mission Trips - common questions

Please complete the application form and return it along with a non-refundable $100 deposit to: CFCA, 1 Elmwood Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66103, Attn: Trip Coordinator. We recommend submitting your application as soon as possible because spaces are limited trips fill up quickly. CFCA reserves the right to cancel any trip. Your deposit would be refunded if this happens.

The cost for 2010 trips to Latin America and the Caribbean is $450. Trips to India, Kenya, and the Philippines are $650. Airfare is not included.

In 2011, trips to Latin America and the Caribbean cost $475 plus airfare, and trips to India, Kenya, and the Philippines cost $750 plus airfare. Your food, lodging and most in-country transportation are included. The price is the same for adults and children. Additional costs include entrance and/or departure taxes that vary for each country; visa fees for U.S. citizens visiting Bolivia, India and Africa; immunizations and travel medical insurance. More specific cost information is included in the registration packet.

The most important reason for a mission awareness trip is to meet your sponsored friend. CFCA will do everything possible to make this happen. Sometimes, road conditions, illness and other unexpected circumstances can prevent visits from taking place. For this reason we cannot make guarantees. But most sponsors do get to meet their sponsored friend.

When you meet your friend, CFCA provides interpreters to help you communicate.

You cannot imagine how much sponsored friends and their families anticipate these visits. You may bring a small, simple gift for your friend and for the family if you wish, but you don’t have to. Just your presence is a special gift. CFCA provides a list of suggested gift items in your confirmation packet.

Mission awareness trips are open to anyone based on availability: family, friends, even children, whether they are sponsors or not. All participants must be registered. A parent or guardian must accompany minors and be responsible for their behavior. Special considerations must be made to accommodate minors, so please let our trip coordinators know if you will be travelling with a minor.

A. A CFCA trip is not a traditional mission trip. You will not be building houses or working in CFCA projects. A mission awareness trip is an in-depth immersion experience intended to strengthen the bond of friendship that already exists between sponsors and their sponsored friends, and to show sponsors how their contributions are used to support and empower families.

CFCA project staff will meet you at the airport and be your guides for the week as you travel to communities served by CFCA. You will be welcomed into the homes of CFCA families and talk to them about their daily lives. You will hear families served by CFCA describe their challenges and successes, and come to see them as individuals with distinct gifts, abilities and potentials instead of as “poor” people. You will hear presentations about the culture, religion, social and economic conditions in the country. As you travel to CFCA communities, you will observe the country’s unique natural beauty. Each day, you will have time for personal or group reflections where you can process what you have seen and learned.

Over the course of the week, we will try to provide you with shopping time as the schedule allows, but this is not guaranteed. You are likely to receive souvenirs of local handicrafts from the CFCA communities you visit.

Mission awareness trips are filled with activity and the schedules can be rigorous. Rest time is limited. You may travel long distances, sometimes in very warm weather and often on rugged terrain, and may be gone all day visiting a community. Participants walk each day, possibly on dirt paths or cobblestones. We suggest you check with your doctor if you have any doubts about whether you can handle our trips. In general, people enjoy our trips if they are flexible, enjoy meeting new people and trying new foods, and can handle long days with frequent changes in routine.

You will receive a detailed itinerary at least one week before departure. The trip itinerary may change to accommodate unexpected circumstances.

A. Accommodations are simple, such as a retreat center or a modest hotel, and located near our projects. Married couples and families stay in private rooms. Individuals are assigned a roommate. Running water for showers is available, but it may not be heated.

Meals are simple and nutritious. A selection of food is typically available, and you will have the opportunity to try new foods. All food is prepared with purified water, and the project provides bottled water for drinking.

If you are not a U.S. citizen, you will need to investigate additional requirements for entering the country you are visiting.