10 Steps To Go Global

1. Get Parent Support – Talk with your parents about going on a trip.

2. Get Accepted – Apply online or over-the-phone with your representative.

3. Start Fundraising – Start fundraising right away!

4. Get Identification – Apply for passports, visas and/or governments IDs before its too late!

5. Know your Target Dates – Pay attention to your financial and document deadlines so that you can stay up to speed!

6.  Guarantee Your Spot – Send in 50% of your base cost and secure your spot on the trip

7. Complete Important Documents – In order to participate in a Global Expeditions trip, you must complete all necessary paperwork

8. Make Travel Arrangements – You will need to arrange transportation to and from your trips starting location.

9. Prepare For Your Trip – Preparation brings peace, and we have provided resources to help you get ready for your trip.

10. Review Your Final mailer

Step 1: Get Parent Support

Your parent is your biggest advocate. Parent support is the key to making any trip a success. Your parent will play a vital role in helping you raise funds, getting paperwork done and ultimately allowing you to participate in going on a life changing Global Expeditions trip.

We encourage you to sit down with your parents and discuss your desire to go on a mission trip and the country you would like to participate in. Included in your GO Kit are some resources that we have specifically for parents.

Your parents have questions.  We have answers.

After you review the following resources we have put together for you, please do not hesitate to have your parent call a representative or visit this website!

Step 2: Get Accepted

There are 3 things that must be completed before your application is considered “complete,” and you can be placed on a mission project.  

We cannot review your application until all 3 things are received, so please review these next 3 steps to confirm that your application has been completed:

Fill out the entire application.  You can do this here or over the phone with a representative at 1.866.545.6239.

1. Pay the $24 application fee online or over the phone.
2. Get Your Parent’s Permission.  If you’re under 18, your parent needs to contact our office to give their permission for you to attend a mission trip.  Please have them call 1.866.545.6239 to give approval.

Step 3: Start Fundraising

In order to make your trip a success, you need to start fundraising right away!

Fundraising Resources

• Contact your representative for help and support to create a fundraising plan.
• You’ll be getting a Fundraising Kith that includes top fundraising ideas and other resources to get you started! This will be sent as soon as your application has been fully processed and you are placed on a missions project. 

Step 4: Get Identification

Apply for Passport/Government ID

All Global Expeditions participants are required to have a passport if they are traveling outside of the United States. If you do not already have a passport, you will want to start this process as quickly as possible because it can take 6-8 weeks for this process to be completed. All participants will need to provide a scanned copy of their passport/government ID by the 50% ticketing deadline.

If you currently have a passport, please check to make sure that it does not expire within six months of your trip’s start date. If it does, please check with your representative to find out if you will have to renew your passport before your trip.

If you are traveling within the United States for your mission trip, you will need a valid government ID for airline transportation. Go to your local department of motor vehicles to apply for an ID if you do not already have one.

Apply for a VISA

Some of our trips may require you to apply for a VISA. We will take care of the majority of this process. However, here is what we need you to do: Fill out the visa application that we email you, print and sign it, then send your signed application, passport, and two official passport photos to the Paperwork Mailing Address.

Step 5: Know Your Target Dates

There are a number of different deadlines leading up to your trip that you don’t want to miss! Please contact you representative about specific dates for each of the deadlines mentioned below:

$300 Deposit:  Your deposit should be sent in as soon as you receive confirmation of your trip placement. Your deposit goes towards the cost of your trip and lets us know that you are committed to getting on the field. While your deposit will keep your mission account active, you must still understand that your spot on your project will not be guaranteed until you complete step 6.

50% Ticketing Deadline:  Half your base trip cost must be turned in by the 50% ticketing deadline. Contact us for to find out the amount and date of this deadline.

Note:  Background Check Forms and Scanned Passport Profiles will also be due at your 50% deadline.

Travel Ready Deadline:  Your Travel Release Forms and your Domestic Travel plans will be due at this time. Remember to consider mail time, as snail mail can take several days to get to us.

100% deadline:  You’ll raise the full amount of your trip cost prior to your trip start date. Any outstanding funds will need to be turned in at registration on the first day of your trip. This includes any fees related to your project.

Step 6: Guarantee Your Spot

To reserve your spot and make travel arrangements, you must meet your 50% Ticketing Deadline. Trips are filled on a "first come first served basis,” and your spot is not guaranteed until we receive 50% of your total base cost AND you have been read a ticketing disclaimer with your representative over the phone.

Step 7: Complete Important Documents

TRAVEL RELEASE FORMS: Everyone must complete and send in Travel Release Forms by the 50% Ticketing Deadline. These 5 pages cover health insurance, emergency contact information, medical information, and parental release. 

• Health Insurance- All participants must have health insurance when participating in a GE trip. If you are going on a trip outside of the U.S., you must have international health insurance. If your current health insurance does not cover internationally, you can check out www.globalhealthinsurance.com. Include a copy of your insurance card or other proof of your international coverage when sending in your Travel Release Forms.
• Immunizations- Make sure your immunizations are up-to-date.  This includes all childhood immunizations and a tetanus shot within the last 10 years. All country-specific immunization recommendations will be referred to the Center of Disease Control online at www.cdc.gov.
• Medical Release Form- If you check yes to any of the questions on the medical check list you will need to fill out the medical release form signed by your doctor.
• Parental Notarizations- The notarized signature of both parents and the signature of each participant is required. If the participant is over 18 years of age, the parents’ signatures are not required. Below you will find requirements to common scenarios that arise from the need to have both parents sign the Travel Release Form:

Parents Married: both parents must sign and notarize the TRF.

Sole Custody: The parent with sole custody must sign and notarize the TRF and attach the copy of the court papers showing that he/she has legal custody.

Joint Custody: both Parents much sign and notarize the TRF.

Parent Deceased: Living parent must sign and notarize the TRF and attach a coy of the death certificate for the other parent.

BACKGROUND CHECKS:  A Background Check Form must be completed and sent in by anyone who will be 18+ by their trip start date. These must be sent in before 50% ticketing deadline.

Step 8: Make Travel Arrangements

You will need to arrange transportation to and from your trip's starting location.

*Go through this step with your parents, if you are under 18 years old.

First, check with your representative to see where and what time you need to be arriving.  

Next, choose an option that is right for you:

• Have Skypass Travel arrange your travel for you.
• Book your own flight to and/or from the starting point of your trip.
• Drive to and/or from the starting point of your trip.

SKYPASS:  If you are planning on booking a flight to your trips starting location, you may want to consider Skypass Travel. Skypass is a travel agency that allows you to use your tax deductible mission account to cover the cost of your domestic flight. To book through Skypass Travel, contact a Global Expeditions Representative and they will email you simple booking instructions.

BOOKING YOUR OWN FLIGHT:  You will want to ensure that your flight is booked at appropriate arrival and departure times. You can speak with your representative for this.  If you book outside of the times provided by Global Expeditions, we cannot be responsible for shuttle services or missed connecting flights.

DRIVING:  If you choose to drive directly to the training base, you should connect with your representative to find out exactly where and when you need to meet. If you are on a “meet-you-there trip,” you may have to park at an airport in the area, so prepare to pay parking.

ITINERARIES:  Please submit your flight or driving itinerary to domestictravel@teenmania.org by the Travel Ready Deadline.

Step 9: Fueling the Fire

Here are some tips to help you prepare for your trip! 

1. Pray, Pray, Pray:  We believe in the power of prayer! Pray for your country, your leaders, that God would get ready the hearts of the nationals, and ultimately that God would be glorified through your trip this summer!
2. Research your country:  Study the culture, people, custom, religion, and anything else that comes to mind.
3. Learn the Language:  Learn a new phrase each week until your trip.
4. Practice sharing your testimony:  Write down what you will want to tell someone about your decision to follow Christ.  Find out if you can share it with your youth group!
5. Memorize the Declaration of a World Changer:  This is something you will be taught on your trip, but get a head start and memorize this:  “Today, I will live honorably through my thoughts actions and speech. I choose to be full of faith; I will not only be a hearer but a doer of the word of God. I will serve before I demand. I will love and not hate. I will give before I take. Today, I choose to make a difference in this world and to be a part of something bigger than myself. I choose to dedicate my life to prayer and ask God for His miraculous power and courage to do the impossible. I will make godly relationships a priority in my life as I esteem others higher than myself. Today I will live my life in such a way that I will change the world!”

Step 10: Review Your Final Mailer

Before your trip begins, you will be emailed the Final Mailer which will go over all last minute details for your trip. The Final Mailer will update you on your status and any outstanding items that will need to be turned in at registration. To ensure that you receive your Final Mailer, you will need to confirm that your email address is on file.

Additional Costs: 

IMPORANT FINANCIAL INFORMAITON:

All the details you need to know about your finances.

How to mail money to Global Expeditions:

1) Include a completed Donation Coupon with your ID number and any donations you send to Global Expeditions.  Donation Coupons are provided in your Fundraising Kit, and are also available to be downloaded from online.

2) Make sure all checks/money orders have current dates (not post dated) and are made payable to Teen Mania to ensure tax deductibility.

3) Never send cash. It is not safe, and Teen Mania Ministries cannot furnish donor receipts for cash donations because of difficulty in documenting the identity of the donor.

4) Copy all checks and donation coupons for your own records before sending them.

5) In order for you mission account to reflect the most up-to-date financial status and to serve your donors in a timely manner, please send checks you receive directly to Global Expeditions no later than 3 days after you receive them.

6) If donations do not appear in your missions account 2 weeks after they were mailed to Global Expeditions, contact your representative with the following information:

• Donor’s first and last name as it appears on the check

• First and last name of individual signing the check

• The check number, account number, and the date

PLEASE INFORM YOUR SPONSORS OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

1) To receive a tax deduction, sponsors must make their checks payable to Teen Mania Ministries. Teen Mania Ministries has been recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt organization described in Internal Revenue Code Section 501 (c) (3) and is eligible to receive tax deductible donations. All contributions to Teen Mania Ministries are solicited with the understanding that Teen Mania has complete discretion and control over the use of donated funds.

2)  Contributions are NOT refundable, nor can the donor or missionary request the contribution be designated for another missionary. All funds donated by sponsors become the exclusive and permanent property of Teen Mania Ministries when received and are at all times under the complete discretion and control of Teen Mania Ministries. Donated funds will be used in furtherance of Teen Mania’s tax-exempt purposes of missions work and evangelism.

3) Sponsors are NOT to place your name anywhere on the check.  When sponsors send in a check, the check should be accompanied by either, (a) a donation coupon that has the missionary’s ID number, or (b) a note with the missionary’s ID number stating that the gift to Teen Mania was made as a result of a request by (name of missionary).  If the check happens to be made out for you, please be sure to endorse the check before sending it to Global Expeditions.

4) Teen Mania Ministries’ Cancellation policy.

• If a missionary cancels before the International Ticketing Deadline, no charges will be made to the missionary account, and those funds will hold in that missionary’s account for up to 1 year to send that same missionary or an immediate family member on another Global Expeditions trip.
• If the missionary cancels his or her plans to go on a mission trip after the 50% Ticketing Deadline, 40% of the trip cost will be charged to their account to cover the cost of deposits and administrative expenses.  If a domestic flight was purchase via Skypass Travel, that cost will also be deducted in addition to the 40%.
• If a project is rerouted at the discretion of Global Expeditions, the cancellation policy does continue to apply.
• If a cancellation is made within 10 days of the trips start date, the full cost of the project will be charged to that missionaries account, along with all relevant travel fees.  The funds in the account will be deducted for that season at a maximum charge of the trips cost.