Especially for Team Leaders

Team leaders are the unsung heroes of UMVIM, so a word of thanks to you.  Here’s a list of items that the team leader should be on top of.  Delegate when possible to lighten the load.

Review this Website

UMVIM Honduras requires that team leaders review the team information on this website, and pass on relevant information to team members in orientation meetings.  Please review and share the information off the website, especially from the page: Preparing and Orienting your Mission Team.  Remember, some of your team members don’t have easy internet access.

Acquiring Passports and Immunizations

Don’t forget that each team member should be working on getting both passports and immunizations as soon as possible.  Both of these can involve a long process, and can involve a significant cost to team members.

Forms

The UMVIM coordinators in Honduras will send a blank Data Form to the team leader to fill out and return. Team leaders should be able to fill out the form when airline tickets are purchased, months ahead of the arrival date.  It is very helpful to the UMVIM coordinators and to the local hosts in preparing for your arrival in an efficient way.  Please fill out each part of the form, leaving no blanks.  The UMVIM head office in the US also offers other forms that are helpful to team leaders.  

The leader will receive an Evaluation Form after you arrive in Honduras.  Please have each team member fill this out at the end of your stay.  Evaluation forms should be returned to UMVIM staff in country or mailed to the UMVIM coordinator at the address at the bottom of the form.

Accident Insurance

Each team member is required to purchase short-term UMVIM Travel Insurance that is available from the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) and some Jurisdictional Conferences.  It covers the cost of medical evacuations, medical injuries, and life insurance coverage.  The insurance form is available on the internet.

Passport Copies

Two complete copies should be made of each team member’s passport.  Have each team member carry one copy of their passport separately from the original passport (like tucked in a piece of luggage), and the team leader should carry the other copy of everyone’s passports—in their carry-on.

Alcohol and Smoking Policy

It is better to clearly inform team members sooner than later about the Honduras UMVIM policy of no smoking or drinking alcohol at any time during the mission team’s stay in Honduras.  Please remind each team member that ANY alcohol use or cigarette-smoking by any team member at ANY time during your stay in Honduras damages the church's reputation in the communities in a very real way, and is strictly prohibited.  Drinking alcohol and smoking, even in moderation, are not Christian activities in Honduras.  This is a cultural reality in Honduras, and UMVIM teams must take this reality seriously.   

If a team member cannot follow this rule, he or she should not participate in the mission to Honduras. 

Team leaders should decide if they will extend this rule to the travel times to and from Honduras, to the team’s conduct in airports.  The head UMVIM office in the US has a no-smoking, no-drinking alcohol contract for UMVIM team members to sign.

Roles for Team Members

Assign specific roles and jobs to individual team members on the mission team.  Here are some team roles that have worked well in the past:

§         Team medical advisor.  Someone who is prepared to give first aid during the trip.  She or he should create and carry the team’s first aid kit, remind team to take malaria prophylaxis, to drink water, use sunblock, etc.

§         Daily devotional leader. Or someone to organize a schedule so that different team members lead daily devotionals.

§         Luggage coordinator.  Knows total number of checked bags, carries all claim check tickets, creates and carries general inventory list of bags.

§         Other roles include: Money-Manager or Treasurer, T-shirt acquirer (see section on team t-shirts below), Team photographer, Team journal-keeper, Air-travel coordinator, Donations coordinator (includes gathering used suitcases to pack donated items in, and the actual packing of the donations).

Used Luggage for Donations

Take advantage of all the luggage your group can check when you travel to Honduras.  Each team member can check two pieces of luggage.  Most teams designate one piece for the team member’s personal luggage, and one piece for donation items.  Often teams use second-hand luggage from Goodwill or donated luggage from friends to carry donations.  This makes the transfer easier.

A few teams have required that team members use just their carry-on for personal luggage.  Then two pieces of luggage are available for donations!  Reports are that this method is challenging, but a valuable exercise in "going simply"

NOTE:  Airlines are adjusting (lowering) the maximum weight allowed for a piece of checked luggage.  Teams are not able to bring heavy bags like they used to in the past.  Call your airline about the current international and domestic weight allowances. 

This website has a list of possible donation items that would be put to good use in Honduras .  Local pastors in Honduras often have donation requests, too.  

Practice Spanish

The experience of each team member will be enriched by even a minimal knowledge of Spanish.  We encourage each person to explore ways to learn, or review, some basic Spanish before you leave for Honduras . 

§         On this website, you can find a list of some Spanish Words and Phrases.  Go over the pronunciation of this list with someone who knows Spanish. 

§         Please actively recruit Spanish speakers to be team members.  The more Spanish-speakers on a team, the more opportunity for deeper connections with your Honduran brothers and sisters. 

§         The Data Form for the team has a place to mark the Spanish ability of team members.  Please consult the team members for this information and don’t guess or assume.

Team T-Shirts

Consider creating a team t-shirt that you can wear on your trip to Honduras.  It is not absolutely necessary, but does help make team members easily recognizable as you move through airports, and helps make going through customs in Honduras quicker and easier. 

Leadership

§         Please encourage less emphasis on the tasks, and more emphasis on relationships with locals.  It is always helpful to reiterate with team members that the actual construction work may be the task of the group, but is not the most important reason a team is in Honduras.  It is tempting for North Americans to forget the importance of relating, of listening, of taking opportunities to show the love of Christ , because the task gets in the way. 

§         The team leaders who model flexibility generally have the most flexible, easy-going teams.  (This is true for many team characteristics, not just flexibility.)  Practice recognizing that an unexpected (potentially frustrating) pause in the work is an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to work—in a conversation, in spontaneous playing or singing fun songs.  Unexpected pauses are a great opportunity to have a conversation with a local person.  The teams that connect with Hondurans are the ones remembered most fondly—not the team who laid the most bricks.