Safety

Your safety is very important to Way of the Cross. Please know, if we felt that you were to be in danger in a community, we would cancel the trip or move to a different site. We would never put your team in danger.  We want your team to feel safe throughout the entire week, and we want parents and church leadership to know that we take every precaution in order to ensure their safety. We do rely on your Adult Leaders to help the Way of The Cross staff in maintaining the safety policies and procedures for their mission week.

When your team arrives and is settled in we lead you through orientation.

  • We talk to you about the area we will be working in and what we are going to do.
  • We talk about team behavior and what we expect.
  • We ask everyone to travel in groups of 3 with notification to your leader and preferably one of our staff. Ex) walking to the store to get a Coke.
  • We talk about being flexible, tempers, getting along with others. We even partake in the flexing cookie. We will explain it when you get here!
  • We take time to share the boundaries on what to do and what not to do.
  • We ask that every member of your team fill out a medical release form. If you need medical attention we have the proper paperwork in order. Our staff are aware of the closest hospitals or medical centers in the area if an emergency should arise.

Our facilities for the short term teams are in very safe and secure areas. The areas that we work in are areas that we know, where we are known and loved and we believe are very safe. Our schedule does not bring us out late at night. We want your team to feel safe at all times. Our desire is that your church leadership understand our hearts in these areas. Our staff and leaders are always aware of the things that are going on around us.

 

Background Checks

To promote a safe environment for Way of the Cross participants and for the communities that we serve, we require that a background check and sex offender registry check be completed on all participants 18 and over, including Adult Leaders attending the mission trip. This gives peace of mind to the parents that are sending their children. All our missionaries at Way of the Cross have had an extensive background check.

 

Money and Valuables

You will not need a lot of finances on your trip. Finances for souvenirs, coke and snack items. We encourage participants to leave valuables at home. Please remind all participants to keep cash and valuables in a secure location at all times. Way of The Cross is not responsible for lost, damaged or stolen items. Always keep your backpack locked up in the vehicle or with you while you are working or traveling.

Food Preparation

All short-term missionaries will work and serve alongside our full time missionaries. From preparation and serving of meals to clean-up. This gives youth an opportunity to serve one another.  We ask your leadership to assign people to help in the kitchen and other areas daily.  A Way of The Cross staff member will be present in the kitchen for all meals. Way of The Cross provides breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

We know that there are many food allergies – so we can be prepared.

Contacting a Participant While on Site

Way of The Cross provides your Leaders with a 24-hour emergency line to give their church or parents in case a student needs to be contacted.  Dependent on what country you’re in, communications can be a little bit of a problem because of phone service. We will make every effort through our communication service open to you in these remote areas.

Discipline

If there is a discipline problem that comes up in your team – we will bring it up immediately to your team leader. Way of The Cross and Adult Leaders from other groups will leave the discipline of your youth to you. Likewise, we ask that you leave the discipline of youth not in your group to their leaders. We are aware that team leaders discipline differently. We will be respectful of your leadership’s decision. Our heart is always to work things out. We don’t want anybody to go home and miss what God has for them.

Clothing Policy

We ask that you always dress on a more modest side. If one of your team members are dressed inappropriately – we ask that the team leader handle the situation. We want the people that you are ministering to be more interested in what you have to say – than what you are wearing.

 

Alcohol, Drug and Weapon Policy

Alcohol, illicit drugs and weapons will not be tolerated in any form at Way of The Cross ministry on any of our sites. Be assured we will investigate any accusations of this. To ensure the safety of your youth, we request that all medications be held in the custody of one of the Adult Leaders from your group.