quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
I think you knew the answer to this question before asking it. Go with your gut. My gut would be saying Hell No as well.

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:
Does she have a passport? If not, getting one is expensive and can take a month or so depending on if you pay the expedite fee.

Getting passports for kids is a pain in the butt and below a certain age, they only last 5 years.

Getting passports for kids is no more difficult than getting them for adults. All three of my children, the oldest being six and the youngest six months, have passports. We recently renewed our oldest daughter's passport. Easy peasy Japanesey.

Except BOTH parents have to arrange time off work and show up at the passport office at the SAME TIME during business (work) hours.

If both parents can't show up then there's a form that has to go through a Notary.

Did they change all that??? If not, then I would disagree being easy peasy, for some working people.

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:

Did they change all that???

No. They didn't change that.

Seek an understanding of both parent and child needs and try to find ways to fulfill both.

Parent need -- child remains alive, free from injury, yet fully educated about life and loving others as we love ourselves.

Child -- to be grown up, to be on my own, to be with friends, to do something together, to be away from parents and most of all, to be trusted.

To meet both needs, Nassau is NOT required.

The problem is with the church leadership who failed, perhaps, to adequately address parental concerns before choosing such a location.

The only way I would consider it is if I could go.

My niece wanted to go on a mission trip to Costa Rica. My brother wasn’t involved with the church but didn’t want to stop her from going. He decided to go with.

Normally he would be cynical like everyone here. He had a great experience. It blessed the people they helped, my niece and him.

I assume this will cost money. Consider an alternative trip. It is not like we do not have needy people at home in need of religion and help.

I can't speak to Nassau, specifically, because I've never been there, but I can share some perspective on overseas missions trips.

I grew up as missionary kid overseas. My parents were starting a church in Europe. They were there for 21 years, I was there for 9 until I moved back here for college. We hosted multiple short-term teams during that time, and I also went on some myself.

Short term missions trips can range from really good to really bad. The biggest factor is do they have a local contact, and is the team going with the intent to fulfill a specific need of that contact, or are they going with their own agenda and just basically a church-subsidized vacation? The latter type exist, and they are no good. The former can be very productive and helpful.

My dad was really good at managing teams. He knew what he needed them to do, and put them to work. They walked miles passing out literature, or taught English classes, or lead bible studies...yeah, they got to see the city, but they worked their butts off too, and were worn out every single night. Their work helped in furthering what my dad was trying to do, made contacts for us, and many of them established relationships with the locals that continued after they went home.

The people from those teams were also an encouragement to us as we were away from "home" for years at a time, and many became good friends. There were a number of people who we met through those short-term teams who served as kind of an extended family for me when I moved back for college and my parents and brothers were still overseas.

There are plenty of other types of teams that can be incredibly helpful, too. Providing free manpower for construction projects, medical missions, programs for orphans...I've seen a lot of lasting good come from this kind of stuff.

I went on several mission trips while I was in high school myself. We did a week in Romania and a month in Brazil...and one summer when I was back in the states I went with a local youth group to Erie, PA. We did a variety of ministry and service projects, and I'd like to think we provided at least some lasting benefit.

There are also benefits to the people who go on the teams, especially high-schools aged kids. They get to experience how the rest of the world lives and interact with them on a personal level like you never would on a vacation. They also learn teamwork and are forced to perform outside their comfort zone. I met my wife on the Brazil trip (we were 16...didn't start dating until college, but we met on that trip), so that was definitely a significant positive impact on my life!

If nothing else, when your daughter gets to college and some social-justice type tries to tell her that meth-heads living in their own self-induced squalor are victims of our society and their "culture of poverty", she'll be able to call them on their BS because she's met truly impoverished people who don't have access to the myriad of resources available to everyone in this country.

Safety is obviously a concern. I grew up overseas, and so did my wife, so we were pretty street-smart by the time we got to high school. I was running all over the city on public transit by myself at the age of 9...as a young teenager I'd get on a plane and fly halfway around the world by myself. It felt perfectly normal to me at the time, but I look at my kids now and would expect somebody to call DCS if I let them do half of what I did back then at the ages that I did it. I got mugged a couple of times, and had a few things stolen, but usually I was observant enough to see it coming and got out of there before it happened. I was never injured or actually battered and none of it ever happened on trips...it was mostly in the neighborhood where we lived.

As a parent, I'd want a lot of questions answered. Who is leading the team? Who are they working with in-country, and what will they be doing while they are there? What are the living arrangements? How much do you trust your daughter and her judgement? How much do you trust the team leaders? Is there a possibility that you could go along as a leader?

Not all trips are a great idea, but don't just dismiss it out of hand, either. There's potential for your daughter to do a lot of good and benefit greatly herself.

I’m in the “not a chance” corner. It’s just not worth the risk to me.

I am more inclined to let her go than most as I spent most of my summers aways from home, on Mission trips in some very rough places.

Some questions include, how long has this group been going there? Who are the local contacts, where will they be staying?

But 20 adults to 30 kids that is a heck of a ratio and I would not be too worried.
We never had that many adults to kids, not even close.

Most of our stuff was in the states but the Bahamas and Hati were always places we went as well.

I’d sign up to go along as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
I am more inclined to let her go than most as I spent most of my summers aways from home, on Mission trips in some very rough places.

I'd probably be open to letting my 16 year old son go. But again, a 16 year old daughter...nope.

The immediate and emotionally instinctual answer is “not my daughter, no way’.

That said, I think the better question back to you is, “how well do you know the chaperones and how much do you trust them with your daughter’s safety?”

Shit can go south anywhere, and truthfully I sometimes feel safer when I travel in a foreign country than I do the US. Take Honduras for example…the locals want/need US tourist dollars and for the most part no one fucks with Americans there for that very reason…the offenders would receive a world-of-hurt from the local businesses and police.

Plenty of poor kids in the US that could use some help first and at less risk to her.
I another in the nope category.

I am on the hell no /no way in hell vote....In this day and age with the way things are going on in other countries with their attitudes towards the United States people as well as the US government a lot of people as well as those governments do not like the idea that the US is allowing/sending our citizens down meddeling in their country..And are not really interested in the safety of the mission members.. Also who vetted the adults that will be watching the children that will away from home and what might be up to no good and not have the best intrest of the children in their mind. I am on board with the idea of local or short travel distance for mission work especially if teen agers or young adults involved. Some of these mission trips have ended as paid vacations for some of the organizers. ........... drill sgt.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I’ve never understood this whole church “mission” trip thing to far away places like that. I suspect they end up being more a vacation trip but I’ve never been on one so I really don’t know for sure.

That’s the one thing I have to give credit to my former church for, they had a policy about mission trips that they DID NOT go far away into other countries. They went 20 miles north into Reading, PA or 20 miles south into Philadelphia and did local mission work as the pastor said “we have 1.5 million people who don’t know Jesus right here, we don’t need to travel to some far off country”

No they don't become vacation trips. Typically the people work hard, minister to many people, do a lot of good, and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Bible says do missions in your local community AND "unto the uttermost parts of the Earth."

Has she seen the 4th Rambo? RAMBO it's called.

I went to a Christian college and spent a lot of time in the church as a kid. I was further into the wolf category by college. The sheltered among me thought it was great to go to China to teach and would constantly beg for money, and even try to pressure me to go. I always said, "Communist China, no guarantee they'll let you leave."

The young often assume the values of others are upstanding. Until they've had their freedom taken, and they've experienced no reason abuse and trauma they won't understand what evil is. That lesson for a boy can be radically different than a girl. Kids think they would have to do something in order to be made a victim of.

It's a risk/reward situation here. And I don't see it balancing out.


Also many won't want to hear this but I know it firsthand as well as data. Those in the church are often the worst predators. I don't make the rules.

No

I wouldn't like it, would need to have complete confidence in the chaperones first of all and then let her make her own decision based on facts about the place

Nassau is a shithole

My church has regular missions to a school in Africa. They have contacts there and all trips so far have been successful. They've not had any safety concerns, but it's mostly adults and late teens who go.

Nassau? I'd say no.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
I wouldn't like it, would need to have complete confidence in the chaperones first of all and then let her make her own decision based on facts about the place

Nassau is a shithole

That is kind of the point. To take the light of Christ to the places that need it most.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
I wouldn't like it, would need to have complete confidence in the chaperones first of all and then let her make her own decision based on facts about the place

Nassau is a shithole

She's 16. It is your decision. Not hers.

No. Per the U.S. State dept

Exercise increased caution in The Bahamas due to crime. 

Country Summary: The majority of crime occurs on New Providence (Nassau) and Grand Bahama (Freeport) islands. In Nassau, practice increased vigilance in the “Over the Hill” area (south of Shirley Street) where gang-on-gang violence has resulted in a high homicide rate primarily affecting the local population. Violent crime, such as burglaries, armed robberies, and sexual assaults, occur in both tourist and non-tourist areas. Be vigilant when staying at short-term vacation rental properties where private security companies do not have a presence.