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Helpful advice

Photo: Richard Hanson/Tearfund
Pack sensibly – you don’t always know what the transport will be.
There’s nothing like learning from others’ mistakes – it can save a lot of energy, time and tears.

Building a relationship with a church or project overseas can be a rich and rewarding experience for everyone involved – but there are also plenty of pitfalls to beware of.

Tearfund has 40 years’ experience of working with churches overseas, and we’d like to share some of what we’ve learnt with you, to help you.

Here are some key areas for you to think about:

If you’re travelling overseas, it’s important to keep yourself and your church safe and well.
Even if you are a seasoned traveller, it pays to take care with your arrangements.
If you’re going to build a successful relationship with a church or community in another part of the world, it’s essential to understand their culture and be sensitive to it.
If you want to run a good community development programme and have a positive impact on poverty and need, these tips may save you some pain.
Money is a mixed blessing: with the best will in the world, a relationship between your church and another overseas can flounder on issues of finance.

Photo: Gordon Melville/Tearfund
‘At times we found it difficult not to force our own agendas. Work seemed to be moving slowly, but remaining sensitive to the people and culture was more important than imposing our own plans or objectives. It was tempting to throw money at issues to provide a ‘quick fix’, but this was not always beneficial in the long term.’ Nathan Gilmour (right), Ayr, leader of a team to Malawi.

Please note: These tips are just that – they’re not intended to be a complete and comprehensive guide. Whatever plans you have in mind, you should seek proper advice from professional experts. Our aim here is simply to give you some food for thought based on our own experience.

About Tearfund: We are Christians passionate about the local church bringing justice and transforming lives - overcoming global poverty.
So our ten-year vision is to see 50 million people released from material and spiritual poverty through a worldwide network of 100,000 local churches.

Tearfund is a registered charity No. 265464 (England and Wales) No. SC037624 (Scotland)     Email: churches@tearfund.org
Tel: 0845 521 0021 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm)