Guidelines for US Project Sites During COVID-19 (revised 11/20)

Guidelines for US Project Sites and Team Leaders during COVID-19

 (rev. November 2020)

Our first General Rule as United Methodists is to “do no harm.”  This extends to our mission relationships. We want to “do no harm” to our volunteers or the ones they serve.  Our goal as United Methodist Volunteers In Mission is to minimize COVID-19 infections spread by United Methodist activity.  

The United Methodist Volunteers in Mission leadership understands that many project sites rely on teams to assist in serving the community. These teams may come from nearby, from another state, sometimes from another country. Each individual situation will be different.  Some  local mission partners  or missioners may have contracted and already recovered from COVID-19. Some may be carriers. Some are not infected. Some live with family members who are immuno-compromised.  All want to serve.  Yet one of the worst unintended effects of mission work throughout the ages has been the spread of infectious disease.  Remember that we bring other things with us when we bring the Gospel.  We must be careful.

 The federal disaster declaration includes every state and territory with most states restricting large gatherings and promoting social distancing guidelines. These guidelines are designed to assist teams and hosts in determining when and how to prepare the site for future teams. All sites should adhere to public health and safety protocols in order to protect employees, homeowners, and missioners.   

All missioners are strongly advised to get a COVID vaccine when it is available. Project sites or annual conferences may require each missioner to get a vaccine.

For the latest updates in regard to COVID-19, please visit - Centers for Disease Control.   Pay particular attention to the CDC’s travel guidelines.

Responsibility for adhering to these guidelines is shared by the Team Leader and the Project Site.  This requires frequent communication and cooperation between both parties. 

General Guidance for International Service

The State Department issues travel advisories based on health and safety concerns. Travel to countries at a Level 4 travel advisory is prohibited. Team insurance is not available for mission service in these countries. 

Travelers may be required to quarantine before or after travel to countries with advisories at Level 3 and below.

General Guidance for US Project Service

Based on CDC guidelines

• Suspending teams 

  • Make this decision based on the guidance of your governor, bishop, and state, municipal, county, and tribal health authorities. Pay attention to directions about school closure, stay-at-home orders, and the size of gatherings that are allowed.

  • Make this decision with the guidance of your board of directors or other governing body.

• Hosting teams

  • Know the quarantine rules.  Some states require travelers to quarantine before or after arrival. Have a plan to ensure compliance.  

  • Follow CDC guidance on cleaning and disinfecting your facilities. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/disinfecting-building-facility.html

  • Post reminders for hand washing, awareness of symptoms, etc.

  • Improve air circulation in all common areas.  

  • Provide prevention supplies:

    •  hand sanitizer

    •  disposable facemasks

    •  eye protection

    • cleaners and disinfectants

    • Gloves for food preparation and cleaning

  • Other considerations

    • Avoid buffet-style meal service. Have kitchen crews prepare dishes. This includes sack lunch preparation.

    • If the dishwasher does not meet standards for sanitation, consider asking teams to bring paper products (not Styrofoam) to be discarded after each meal. Provide adequate trash receptacles.

    • All touch surfaces should be thoroughly wiped down when the team arrives and as they prepare to leave with approved cleaners. https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2-covid-19

    • Work should be done on exterior projects only. Make accommodations for port-a-potties so teams do not have to enter a home.

    • Consider ways to assure safe distancing on the work sight, in the dorm, dining area, and meeting space.

    • If possible, provide washer and dryer facilities for laundering expectations.

• Screening protocol on arrival

• Take temperature 

• Ask about general health

• Ask if missioner has been in contact with anyone who had COVID-19

• Wipe down all surfaces prior to welcoming teams.

• Arrange for outdoor projects to assure minimal contact between homeowner and team members (painting, deck or ramp building, landscaping, roofing). Make accommodations for rest room facilities so team members do not have to enter the home. (i.e.: port-a-potties)

• Childrens’ ministry (VBS) should be suspended until more guidance from CDC and the local officials is available.

• Have a plan in place to safely transport a team member who develops symptoms of COVID-19.

  • Provide space for isolation if someone reports symptoms.

  • The  team member exhibiting symptoms should contact his/her health care provider as soon as possible.

• Leading Teams

  • Follow the guidelines of the CDC for travel both inside and outside the U.S.

  • Follow your local guidelines from your governor, bishop, and state, municipal, county, and tribal health authorities.  Also make sure you know the local guidelines in the place where you intend to serve.  Where guidance from different authorities conflict, follow the more restrictive protocols.

  • If it is determined that it is safe and lawful to serve, continue to make arrangements for proper social distancing and PPE for team members, and sanitize surfaces and equipment wherever you go.  

  • Each team member will sign the Medical and Emergency Form. 

  • Know the health infrastructure in the area where the team intends to serve and the location of the nearest hospital. 

  • Have a plan for canceling the journey or sending team members home if any team members are uncomfortable with the enforcement of safety protocols.

  • Consider donations to the partner organization and organizing a virtual mission if it is not appropriate to physically travel to the project site.

Even though vaccines may be available to the public soon, going “back to normal” may be a few months away.  We expect to continue taking measures to interrupt transmission of the virus for the protection of our volunteers and those we serve, even if (1) antibodies are proven to protect against re-infection, (2) tests are widely available to the general public and all team members have recently tested negative, or (3) vaccines are widely available and all team members have been vaccinated.

Questions or concerns?  Contact your annual conference UMVIM Coordinator or your Jurisdictional UMVIM Coordinator.

UPDATED - Guidelines for Project Sites and Team Leaders During COVID-19

Guidelines for US Project Sites and Team Leaders during COVID-19

 June 2020 (rev. September 2020)

Our first General Rule as United Methodists is to “do no harm.”  This extends to our mission relationships. We want to “do no harm” to our volunteers or the ones they serve.  Our goal as United Methodist Volunteers In Mission is to minimize COVID-19 infections spread by United Methodist activity.  

The United Methodist Volunteers in Mission leadership understands that many project sites rely on teams to assist in serving the community. These teams may come from nearby, from another state, sometimes from another country. Each individual situation will be different.  Some  local mission partners  or missioners may have contracted and already recovered from COVID-19. Some may be carriers. Some are not infected. Some live with family members who are immuno-compromised.  All want to serve.  Yet one of the worst unintended effects of mission work throughout the ages has been the spread of infectious disease.  Remember that we bring other things with us when we bring the Gospel.  We must be careful.

The federal disaster declaration includes every state and territory with most states presenting shelter-in-place and social distancing guidelines. These guidelines are designed to assist teams and hosts in determining when and how to prepare the site for future teams. All sites should adhere to public health and safety protocols in order to protect employees, homeowners, and missioners.   

For the latest updates in regard to COVID-19, please visit - Centers for Disease Control.   

Responsibility for adhering to these guidelines is shared by the Team Leader and the Project Site.  This requires frequent communication and cooperation between both parties. 

General Guidance for International Service

The State Department issues travel advisories based on health and safety concerns. Travel to countries at a Level 4 travel advisory is prohibited. Team insurance is not available for mission service in these countries. 

Travelers may be required to quarantine before or after travel to countries with advisories at Level 3 and below.

General Guidance for US Project Service

Based on CDC guidelines

• Suspending teams 

  • Make this decision based on the guidance of your governor, bishop, and your state, county, and local health departments. Pay attention to directions about school closure, stay-at-home orders, and the size of gatherings that are allowed.

  • Make this decision with the guidance of your board of directors or other governing body.

• Hosting teams

  • Know the quarantine rules.  Some states require travelers to quarantine before or after arrival. Have a plan to ensure compliance.  

  • Follow CDC guidance on cleaning and disinfecting your facilities. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/disinfecting-building-facility.html

  • Post reminders for hand washing, awareness of symptoms, etc.

  • Improve air circulation in all common areas.  

  • Provide prevention supplies:

    •  hand sanitizer

    •  disposable facemasks

    •  eye protection

    • cleaners and disinfectants

    • Gloves for food preparation and cleaning

  • Other considerations

    • Avoid buffet-style meal service. Have kitchen crews prepare dishes. This includes sack lunch preparation.

    • If the dishwasher does not meet standards for sanitation, consider asking teams to bring paper products (not Styrofoam) to be discarded after each meal. Provide adequate trash receptacles.

    • All touch surfaces should be thoroughly wiped down when the team arrives and as they prepare to leave with approved cleaners. https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2-covid-19

    • Work should be done on exterior projects only. Make accommodations for portapotties so teams do not have to enter a home.

    • Consider ways to assure safe distancing on the work sight, in the dorm, dining area, and meeting space.

    • If possible, provide washer and dryer facilities for laundering expectations.

• Screening protocol on arrival

• Take temperature 

• Ask about general health

• Ask if missioner has been in contact with anyone who had COVID-19

• Wipe down all surfaces prior to welcoming teams.

• Arrange for outdoor projects to assure minimal contact between homeowner and team members (painting, deck or ramp building, landscaping, roofing). Make accommodations for rest room facilities so team members do not have to enter the home. (i.e.: portapotties)

• Childrens’ ministry (VBS) should be suspended until more guidance from CDC and the local officials is available.

• Have a plan in place to safely transport a team member who develops symptoms of COVID-19.

  • Provide space for isolation if someone reports symptoms.

  • The  team member exhibiting symptoms should contact his/her health care provider as soon as possible.

• Leading Teams

  • Follow the guidelines of the CDC for travel both inside and outside the U.S.

  • Follow your local guidelines from municipal, county, and state health authorities.  Also make sure you know the local guidelines in the place where you intend to serve.  Where guidance from different authorities conflict, follow the more restrictive protocols.

  • If it is determined that it is safe and lawful to serve, continue to make arrangements for proper social distancing and PPE for team members, and sanitize surfaces and equipment wherever you go.  

  • Each team member will sign the Medical and Emergency Form. 

  • Know the health infrastructure in the area where the team intends to serve and the location of the nearest hospital. 

  • Have a plan for canceling the journey or sending team members home if any team members are uncomfortable with the enforcement of safety protocols.

  • Consider donations to the partner organization and organizing a virtual mission if it is not appropriate to physically travel to the project site.

Going “back to normal” may be a long way off.  We expect to take measures to interrupt transmission of the virus until (1) antibodies are proven to protect against re-infection, (2) tests are widely available to the general public and all team members have recently tested negative, or (3) there is a vaccine available and all team members have been vaccinated.

Questions or concerns?  Contact your annual conference UMVIM Coordinator or your Jurisdictional UMVIM Coordinator.

Reflection on Race and Mission

I thought God had called me to spread the Gospel to those who needed it.

It was with this attitude that I left to go to Mozambique—to spread God’s word to those who needed to hear it. It wasn’t long before I realized that I was the one who needed to hear it most, and heard a call from God—this one louder—saying, “They don’t need you—you need them. They know me more than you do. Shut up and listen.”

While there, a professor invited me to imagine those who I felt “needed the gospel” and helped me realize that they often had darker skin than mine.

The recent killings of Black men by police and the recent protests have caused a lot of us to pause and take stock of our own prejudices, mistakes, and assumption about race and racism in our society. Like many of you, I’ve been asking myself how this relates to the work I do, and my call to ministry.

I do not want to speak for all of the church, for all mission teams or volunteers, or all churches. I can only be honest about my experiences, mistakes, and sins.

I recognize that, historically, some of the ways the church has “done” mission have been built on a foundation of racial stereotypes and assumptions—whether spoken or unspoken. For centuries the Western church believed that we had a monopoly on the Gospel and on the interpretation of God’s word and believed it had a duty to spread its beliefs to those “outside” the church—namely, those with darker skin. They were callously and arrogantly called “heathens” because they didn’t believe or look the right way, and because the church felt there was a formula to salvation and only it had the answer. All of this ignored the fact that Jesus resembled those who needed to be “evangelized” to more than those doing the “evangelizing”—and that during much of his ministry he warned against people who were certain that only they knew the way to God.

Over the centuries, the church has learned many tough lessons, and at UMVIM we try our best to teach and train teams and team leaders about those lessons, and to not be afraid to have difficult conversations about culture, race, and how it interacts with the work we do.

One of our most central tenets as Wesleyans is to “do no harm.” We try to take that seriously and recognize that, in God’s name, much harm has been done in the past and we need to learn from those mistakes. This is why UMVIM teams are taught the importance of only going when invited, and the need to listen to project leaders and community members who have ingratiated themselves in the populations UMVIM serves with.

I must recognize that the issue of race is not something relegated to history, but is still something that we must reflect on today, because there is still harm that is done in God’s name. I have struggled to write about this because I know my thoughts might distract from the voices of those we need to hear the most, and because I know that participating in a mission journey is, more often than not, privilege that many will never have.

All of us, including UMVIM team leaders and members, need to have these conversations. I hope that those of us who consider ourselves a part of God’s mission will take the time and make space for those conversations—difficult as they may be—and reflect on the damage that is done by dividing God’s kingdom into “us” and “them,” (or, in some cases, Black and white) and make changes. We are still not done learning those difficult lessons and hope God will grant us the wisdom to realize that racism is still alive and is still present in our church, and the strength to help us break our assumptions and rebuild our faith into the image of Christ.

-Rev. Matt Lacey, Executive Director, UMVIM, SEJ

matt_lacey@umvim.org

Guidelines for Project Sites and Team Leaders during COVID-19

June 9, 2020

Today UMVIM released guidelines to assist project sites and team leaders in determining when to resume hosting and sending mission journeys.

Click here to download a PDF, or read the full text below:

Guidelines for US Project Sites and Team Leaders during COVID-19

The first General Rule as United Methodists is to “do no harm.” United Methodist Volunteers in Mission leadership understands that many project sites rely on teams to assist in serving the community. These teams come from nearby, from another state, sometimes from another country. Some homeowners and missioners may have recovered from COVID-19. Some may be carriers. Some are not infected. All want to serve.  One of the worst unintended effects of mission work throughout the ages has been the spread of infectious disease.  Remember that you bring other things with you when you bring the Gospel.

The federal disaster declaration includes every state and territory with most states presenting shelter-in-place and social distancing guidelines. These guidelines for US project sites are designed to assist in determining when and if to suspend teams for the summer and how to prepare the site for future teams. All sites should adhere to public health and safety protocols in order to protect employees, homeowners, and missioners.   

For the latest updates in regard to COVID-19, please visit Centers for Disease Control.   

General Guidance for International Service

The State Department still has a Level 4 ban on international travel at the moment.  At Level 4, insurance is not available to teams traveling internationally. It is recommended that teams do not travel without travel medical insurance.

General Guidance for US Project Service

• Suspending teams for the summer

  • Make this decision based on the guidance of the governor, bishop, and county health department. Pay attention to their direction about school closure, lifting stay-at-home orders, and the time when small groups are permitted to gather again.

  • Make this decision with the guidance of the board of directors or other governing body.

• Guidelines for Hosting teams

  • Follow CDC guidance on cleaning and disinfecting facilities. 

  • Post reminders for hand washing, awareness of symptoms, etc.

  • Provide prevention supplies:

    • Hand sanitizer

    • Disposable facemasks

    • Eye protection

    • Cleaners and disinfectants

    • Gloves for food preparation and cleaning

  • Other considerations

    • Avoid buffet-style meal service. Have kitchen crews prepare dishes. This includes sack lunch preparation.

    • If the dishwasher does not meet standards for sanitation, consider asking teams to bring paper products (not Styrofoam) to be discarded after each meal. Provide adequate trash receptacles.

    • All touch surfaces should be thoroughly wiped down with approved cleaners prior to team arrival and as the team prepares to leave. 

    • Consider ways to assure safe distancing on the work site, in the dorm, dining area, and meeting space.

    • If possible, provide washer and dryer facilities for any laundering needs.

  • Screening protocol on arrival

    • Take temperature 

    • Ask about general health

    • Ask if the missioner has been in contact with anyone who had COVID-19

  • Provide space for isolation if someone reports symptoms.

  • Arrange for outdoor projects to assure minimal contact between homeowner and team members (painting, deck or ramp building, landscaping, roofing). Make accommodations for rest room facilities so team members do not have to enter the home. (i.e.: portapotties)

  • Children’s ministry (VBS) should be suspended until additional guidance from CDC and local officials is available.

  • Have a plan in place to safely transport a team member who develops symptoms of COVID-19.

• Guidelines for leading a team

  • Follow the guidelines of the CDC for travel both inside and outside the U.S.

  • Follow local guidelines from municipal, county, and state health authorities.  Also, know the guidelines for the locality where the team intends to serve.

  • If it is determined that it is safe and lawful to serve, continue to make arrangements for proper social distancing and PPE for team members, and sanitize surfaces and equipment.  

  • Each team member will sign the Team Member Liability Waiver.

  • Protocols for the interruption of transmission of the virus will be followed until (1) antibodies protect against re-infection, (2) tests are widely available to the general public and all team members have recently tested negative, or (3) there is a vaccine available and all team members have been vaccinated.

  • Know the health infrastructure in the area where the team intends to serve and the location of the nearest hospital. 

  • Have a plan for canceling the journey or sending team members home if any team members are uncomfortable with the enforcement of safety protocols.

  • Consider donations to the partner organization and organizing a virtual mission if it is not appropriate to physically travel to the project site.

Future Medical Student Learns from Sierra Leone Doctor

An aspiring medical student, Heidi O'Dell, was a member of a North Carolina Conference team to Rotifunk, Sierra Leone, in May.  She shares her experience learning from a local doctor who exemplifies what it means to be in ministry: 

I’m not sure that I could ever find the words to accurately describe how much this experience meant to me. The people of Rotifunk taught me more about faith, humility, endurance, and love than I could’ve ever imagined possible in such a short amount of time. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect before going on this mission trip, but it definitely exceeded any expectation I could’ve had. 

One of the most impactful experiences for me were the Outreach Clinics. It was special to get to actually interact with the people in the villages and see their need and be able to help them and give them more information about the hospital.  I also got to practice some medical techniques of my own which will be beneficial to me in my future. We had a lot of success with the clinics and I feel that, with time, they could be even more successful. 

Playing with the kids was also a highlight of the trip for me. I wasn’t sure how well playing limbo or with the rubber ball would go over given that we weren’t really able to explain what they were supposed to do, but the kids caught on quickly and seemed to really enjoy it. 

Another thing that stood out to me was how hardworking Dr. Asante, Lumeh and Arthur were. You can tell they really appreciate their jobs and want the absolute best for their patients. They all knew off the top of their heads each patient's’ status and that was impressive to me, as I don’t know if that would be the case in American hospitals. I also appreciated how Dr. Asante and Arthur allowed us to watch a surgery, and explained what he was doing throughout. I learned a lot about the kind of doctor I want to be from them. 

No matter how big of an impact we may have made on the people of Rotifunk and the surrounding villages, they made an even bigger impact on me. The happiness and love they exude is unparalleled. I hope that I am able to take what I learned from them and apply it in my life back here in the States. I also hope that I can one day be even half the source of Jesus’ light and love that they are. I am forever grateful for and humbled by this experience, and I pray that I am able to return someday. 

I’m not sure that I could ever find the words to accurately describe how much this experience meant to me.

One of the most impactful experiences for me were the Outreach Clinics. It was special to get to actually interact with the people in the villages and see their need and be able to help them and give them more information about the hospital.  I also got to practice some medical techniques of my own which will be beneficial to me in my future. We had a lot of success with the clinics and I feel that, with time, they could be even more successful. 

Playing with the kids was also a highlight of the trip for me. I wasn’t sure how well playing limbo or with the rubber ball would go over given that we weren’t really able to explain what they were supposed to do, but the kids caught on quickly and seemed to really enjoy it. 

Another thing that stood out to me was how hardworking Dr. Asante, Lumeh and Arthur were. You can tell they really appreciate their jobs and want the absolute best for their patients. They all knew off the top of their heads each patient's’ status and that was impressive to me, as I don’t know if that would be the case in American hospitals. I also appreciated how Dr. Asante and Arthur allowed us to watch a surgery, and explained what he was doing throughout. I learned a lot about the kind of doctor I want to be from them. 

No matter how big of an impact we may have made on the people of Rotifunk and the surrounding villages, they made an even bigger impact on me. The happiness and love they exude is unparalleled. I hope that I am able to take what I learned from them and apply it in my life back here in the States. I also hope that I can one day be even half the source of Jesus’ light and love that they are. I am forever grateful for and humbled by this experience, and I pray that I am able to return someday. 

Should We Stop Taking Mission Trips?

Mission Voluntourism: Yes, it is Still Worth Going.

Rev. Matt Lacey
UMVIM, SEJ Executive Director

Voluntourism is a word that has been getting some buzz in the last several years. If you haven’t heard it before, type it into your favorite search engine. Some use it as a pejorative to describe Christians who go on “mission” trips as an excuse to add another stamp in their passport.

I have been guilty of that, as well as thinking that travel makes you a more interesting person. Critics of the term—and some critics of mission trips in general—have rightly pointed out that sometimes the most economically effective way to help a community in need would be to take all that money you pour into a plane ticket, visas, travel adapters, etc. and instead use it to make a long term impact: pay for community based medical staff, make a donation to an already established and trusted NGO, or designate it for training for community members. Economically speaking, they are correct. Most of the time the expense of getting on a plane, getting a visa, and making a mission trip t-shirt with your church’s logo on it pales in comparison to the cost of community-based sustainable aid.

I have led mission teams that seemed more interested in taking photos than serving with those they came to visit. I’ve seen team members rushed to foreign clinics and given treatment for dehydration while a pregnant woman who was afraid she would lose her baby continue to wait in line. We should never prioritize our experience at the expense of another person. All of us do need to ask: why are we going and what do we hope to get out of it?

My very first international mission trip was when I was 20. My primary motivators were the romanticism of a foreign country, the great photos I would take, and the cute girls on the team I wanted to talk to. Oh, and because I wanted to evangelize. I went for almost all the wrong reasons.

God took my flawed and arrogant motivations and turned them into something else: a life-changing experience. Some of us go on mission trips expecting to “save souls,” and in reality the only soul that gets saved is our own. I know from experience.

God really messed up my life because of that trip. I started understanding a little more of what it meant to serve (I still haven’t fully figured it out). After returning home, I started noticing needs and opportunities all around me that I hadn’t seen—or that I ignored—before. I started reading scripture in a different way, and I started to feel God calling me to do more. Mission trips may not be economically effective, but it was effective in how I started understanding the message of Jesus. Much like farm land that has to be scorched in order to set the stage for future growth, God sees right through our misguided intentions and completely destroys them in order to make way for growth in one’s faith journey.

Yes, mission trips are still worth going on, because no matter where we go or why we go, we will eventually see God in a new way, and learn that the trip really isn’t about us but instead about how we see and interact with the rest of God’s children. However, we should not learn that lesson at the expense of those we are serving with.
To all the friends I have met all over the world during a mission journey: thank you for putting up with my arrogant intentions and expectations in order to let God work in my life.

May we all go forth and serve one another by listening more than we talk, learning more than we teach, and seeing God in each and every person we meet.

-Matt

Rev. Matt Lacey, Exec. Director, UMVIM, SEJ