{"id":623,"date":"2014-10-29T15:49:52","date_gmt":"2014-10-29T19:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/missions\/?p=623"},"modified":"2014-10-30T08:32:38","modified_gmt":"2014-10-30T12:32:38","slug":"to-go-or-not-to-go-missions-trips-and-ebola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/missions\/to-go-or-not-to-go-missions-trips-and-ebola\/","title":{"rendered":"To Go or Not to Go-Missions Trips and Ebola"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bible has much to say about trusting God.\u00a0 Victory is connected to trusting God (2 Chronicles 13:18).\u00a0 Jesus promised that God would take care of His children (Matthew 6:28-30).\u00a0 We are to trust the Lord and not our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).\u00a0 And yet we are also commanded to plan and consider the cost of our endeavors (Proverbs 6:6-8; Luke 14:28).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How do we balance\u00a0trusting God’s sovereignty\u00a0with responsible decision making and planning mission trips in the shadow of the\u00a0Ebola outbreak in\u00a0West Africa\u00a0that has killed nearly 5,000 people?\u00a0 I would like to\u00a0suggest 6 questions that will help us make wise decisions while trusting God’s sovereignty.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Should you cancel all missions travel to Africa until the outbreak is over?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0We should not be ruled by a spirit of fear (1 John 4:18) and we should be willing to take some risks for the cause of Christ.\u00a0\u00a0How much risk?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Where are you going?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>Many people are unaware that <\/span>Africa <\/a>is the second largest continent on the planet.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It is 36% larger than all of North America\u00a0(Canada, the United States and Mexico combined).<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0You could be<\/span> be serving thousands of kilometers from an outbreak, where the\u00a0outbreak\u00a0could\u00a0be less of a factor.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Who are the participants?\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>This will help determine your risk tolerance,<\/span>\u00a0medical versus non-medical, adults versus youth, etc.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  4. What is the purpose of the trip?\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>Determine if you will meet an urgent need or could fulfill the mission just as effectively another time.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  5. What alerts or warnings are in effect for the area where the team will be serving? \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>Check the<\/span><\/span><\/span> t<\/span><\/span><\/span>ravel alerts and warnings posted by the US State Department<\/a>, the Centers for Disease Control<\/a> and the World Health Organization<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Be sure to read each site’s definitions of its warnings and alerts.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Weigh the warnings and alerts against your tolerance for risk.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  6. How will you travel?\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>Consider the route and carriers you might use.<\/span>\u00a0 You may want to avoid select airport locations because of travelers or airlines using those airports. You may avoid using\u00a0particular carriers because of potentially risky policies.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Every organization participating in short term mission trips should develop\u00a0risk protocols to help determine when to say no to a trip based on risk.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>This article only deals with health risks, but similar protocols could be developed to prepare for\u00a0threats that might pose other physical risks to travelers.\u00a0 May God help us balance\u00a0trust in\u00a0God’s sovereignty\u00a0and wise planning.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Please share your comments and questions below.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Bible has much to say about trusting God.\u00a0 Victory is connected to trusting God (2 Chronicles 13:18).\u00a0 Jesus promised that God would take care of His children (Matthew 6:28-30).\u00a0 We are to trust the Lord and not our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).\u00a0 And yet we are also commanded to plan and consider the cost… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":640,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[4979,4980,52,24],"tags":[66,8661,8654],"yoast_head":"\nTo Go or Not to Go-Missions Trips and Ebola - Faith Global Missions Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/missions\/to-go-or-not-to-go-missions-trips-and-ebola\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"To Go or Not to Go-Missions Trips and Ebola - Faith Global Missions Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Bible has much to say about trusting God.\u00a0 Victory is connected to trusting God (2 Chronicles 13:18).\u00a0 Jesus promised that God would take care of His children (Matthew 6:28-30).\u00a0 We are to trust the Lord and not our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).\u00a0 And yet we are also commanded to plan and consider the cost... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/missions\/to-go-or-not-to-go-missions-trips-and-ebola\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Global Missions Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-29T19:49:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-10-30T12:32:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/20170523134410\/EbolaVirus.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"655\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"278\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Selvey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DRSelvey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Selvey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/missions\/to-go-or-not-to-go-missions-trips-and-ebola\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/missions\/to-go-or-not-to-go-missions-trips-and-ebola\/\",\"name\":\"To Go or Not to Go-Missions Trips and Ebola - 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