THE SHOVE-OFF PROGRAM!            DO 2070          12/85
--Spend Your Vacation on the Field!

         1. FOR SOME PEOPLE WHO HAVE BIG FAMILIES AND CAN'T REALLY MAKE IT ON THE MISSION FIELD OR SPEND TOO LONG, if they've got any kind of income or could save up toward it, I think it would be a good idea to suggest to them, "Why not be a missionary for six months?"
         2. MAYBE WE SHOULD SUGGEST TO OUR PEOPLE IN THE STATES & EUROPE, "YOU COULD GO OUT & GET A TASTE OF THE FIELD & what it's like, so you'll always have a real burden for it & really have a heart for it! Get out there & see what the conditions are & get a real heart for the missionaries & concern for them & want to at least help them." They could save up enough to go for 3 or even 6 months.
         3. IF THE U.S. PEOPLE EVEN GO TO MEXICO THEY CAN SEE THE SAME KIND OF POVERTY YOU SEE IN THE EAST! All you have to do is go across the border! They can maybe even make arrangements to pay full room & board in a Reception Center, which helps the Reception Center. Maybe we could encourage them to stay for as long as they can, for as long as they've got money saved up.--Even if they could only take a month's leave from their job or a two-week vacation, or if they don't have a job or are between jobs they could go from 3 to 6 months!
         4. ALTHOUGH, OF COURSE, ALL OF OUR PEOPLE ARE PRETTY GOOD SUPPORTERS ALREADY, we might encourage them to at least visit the field. Spend your vacation on the field! Bring greenbacks to keep it green! Pay your way, don't come expecting to sponge off the missionaries.
         5. ALL RECEPTION HOMES AS WELL AS ANY OTHERS WHO WANT TO COOPERATE IN THE PROGRAM COULD SEND THEIR NRO THEIR RATES & HOW MANY THEY HAVE ROOM FOR. Visitors would need to book, of course, well in advance so the Home can plan their reservations. They've got time to do that months in advance. That way they get a taste of the field & a burden for it & go home & support that Home well afterwards. It's also a big blessing to the Home financially. It's kind of a burden with new people there who are unused to working under difficult conditions on the mission field, but a part of our veteran missionaries' ministry is to inspire them to do more for the mission field.
         6. HAVE REGULAR RESERVATIONS! Have the Homes send in a listing of room & board rates. And make sure they have round-trip tickets & only plan to stay as long as their vacation lasts or their visa. They can choose whatever Home off the list they think they can afford. They make their request for reservation for certain dates & after hearing back send a down payment, a good advance payment as surety that they really mean business.
         7. I THINK IT WOULD MAYBE BE A GOOD PROGRAM & I THINK IT WOULD HELP BOTH MISSIONS & THE VISITORS! Just count them as visitors. You're not expecting them to stay or to become fulltime missionaries or start their own Homes, but they're just coming on a visit & to see the field & help out all they can & then go back to their job or home or school or whatever. (Maria: That would be great for Latin America!) (Peter: Also you can get excursion flights for 30 days or between 30 & 60 days or 3 months. Then your return flight is very cheap.)
         8. THE PEOPLE IN NORTH AMERICA COULD GO SOUTH TO MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA OR SOUTH AMERICA, depending on where they can afford to go, & the people in Europe, encourage them to come East!--Especially Commonwealthers, lots of British, Canadians also. I think it would be a good program: Spend Your Vacation on the Mission Field!
         9. WE COULD CALL IT THE SHOVE-OFF PROGRAM! SPEND YOUR VACATION ON THE FIELD! SHOVE OFF! I just got to thinking about it when I was thinking about trying to help those people in the North who haven't been able to make it on the field, some of whom never even tried. They could be encouraged to come spend their vacation on the field & see what it's like. It amazes me how faithful & steady & reliable some of those people have been for years now in the North!
         10. IT'LL ENCOURAGE THOSE PEOPLE TO KNOW THAT IF THEY'VE GOT ENOUGH MONEY SAVED UP THEY CAN HAVE A PLACE TO STAY & EAT & FELLOWSHIP with people who know the language & everything else. If they can't do anything else they can go out & help witness & stuff like that with somebody who does know the language. (Maria: That's the key, to have a place to stay & be welcomed, otherwise they don't have the faith to go get their own. And this program might help some who are still stuck in the North having already raised their fare & landing funds, but who still do not have promises of home support.) (Peter: And then knowing that they don't have to feel bad if they go back. They're not going to be condemned about it, like they failed!) They've already got a nice round-trip ticket & all expenses paid. We could advertise all-expense-paid vacations! YOU cover expenses! "How would you like an all-expense-paid vacation on the field? We'll provide the PLACES, you pay the EXPENSES!"
         11. I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF A FEW OF THEM, HAVING ONCE GOTTEN TO THE FIELD, REALLY GET THE BURDEN & THE FAITH FOR IT & see that it's not as hard as they feared & that they can get a start! Certainly the people who entertain them would know who's got it & who could really make it, then they could really work on them: "Why don't you try it? If you have to go back to earn enough money to get started, okay, but now you know what it's like!"
         12. I THINK IT WOULD BE A GOOD PROGRAM! IT WOULD HELP BOTH THE VISITORS & THE HOMES. I would expect the most fruit to be amongst the TRFers who are still in Europe & North America.
         13. I WAS THINKING, "HOW CAN WE HELP THOSE PEOPLE?" At least if we propose a program like that it could give them a chance, give them the vision & the burden, so even though they have to go back, they see the need & know it, how hard the field is etc., & if they can't make it, at least they can go back & support'm. If you can't BE a missionary, SUPPORT one! I think it'll be a real blessing to the Homes, & it will certainly be a blessing to the visitors, both ways!
         14. THEY CAN COME EXPECTING TO LIVE JUST LIKE A MISSIONARY, expect to help with the household chores, cooking, dishwashing, witnessing & everything else. Spend your vacation as a missionary! Be a missionary for a few weeks & live just like we do! We'll help you to be a missionary on your vacation!
         15. AS MANY HOMES IN NORTH AMERICA & EUROPE HAVE QUITE A FEW CHILDREN, we'd like to encourage any Missionary Homes that are able to do so, to open their doors to some of the larger families. One suggestion in order to make this possible would be for any large field Homes to have some of their seasoned veterans take Postering & tapenessing road trips during the warm vacation months, to help make room for new arrivals from Europe & the U.S. that have large families of three or four or more children.
         16. P.S. TO HOMES ALREADY RAISING FUNDS TO GO TO THE MISSION FIELD ON A PERMANENT BASIS, you will need to pray about what is best for YOU, to either participate in the Shove-Off program OR finish raising funds & support for permanent missionary work.

         17. OUTLINE OF "SHOVE-OFF" PLAN:
                 A. THE "SHOVE-OFF" APPLICANTS SEND ONE COPY OF THE APPLICANT'S SHOVE-OFF REQUEST FORM TO THE HIGHEST-RANKING AS of their country, requesting a brief Clearance Recommendation be sent to their CRO, & send ANOTHER copy of their form to THEIR CRO, along with 3 sets of photos of themselves.
                  B. THE CRO WOULD MAKE 3 PHOTOCOPIES OF THE APPLICATION FORMS THEY RECEIVE, & send 1 copy (along with 1 of the sets of photos) to the NOs of each of the 3 fields that the Shove-Off applicant has shown an interest in going to. The CRO would also include HIS recommendation or any other helpful information about the applicant.
                  C. MEANWHILE, THE PARTICIPATING MISSIONARY HOMES WOULD FILL IN THEIR FORMS, the Shove-Off Missionary Receiving Home Form, with the necessary information about their Home, & after getting the information verified by their LAS or DAS, send their forms to their local NO.
                  D. AS THE NOS WOULD BE RECEIVING FORMS FROM THE "SHOVE-OFF" APPLICANTS (via the CROs) & would also be receiving forms from the Missionary Receiving Homes in their own countries, they have the means to match up the requests with openings on their field.
                  E. THE NOS WOULD THEN RESPOND TO THE REQUESTS FROM THE "SHOVE-OFF" APPLICANTS on a first-come-first-served basis, matching up Missionary Homes that have adequate housing available with "Shove-Off" applicants that have the correct amount of money available to spend. If there are no Missionary Homes available within the NO's area (for example, to house a very large family, or if there are no Missionary Homes available to house people with an exceptionally low budget), the NOs will write to the "Shove-Off" applicants explaining that there are no openings on their particular field, & suggesting they consider the other two areas the home field Home is interested in. This correspondence from the NOs on the field to the "Shove-Off" applicants would be sent via the CROs of the home field Home.
                  F. IF THE CHOSEN MISSION FIELD DOES HAVE AN OPENING, the NO sends a letter of confirmation of clearance & acceptance to the "Shove-Off" applicant (via the home field CRO), confirming the DATES AVAILABLE & giving the city the Missionary Home is in, & suggesting they go ahead & book their tickets, & send 10% of their funds to their home field CRO, along with a photocopy of their return TICKETS. This would be done a minimum of 6 weeks before the departure date.
                  G. THE "SHOVE-OFF" APPLICANT WOULD ALSO BE GIVEN A GP ADDRESS IN THE NO'S CITY to which he should send a TELEGRAM informing the NOs exactly when he'd be arriving. The NO would then pass the info on to the Missionary Home, who would make the necessary preparations to meet, receive & accommodate the guests. (The NOs would have already passed on the Request Form & photos to that field Home, & gotten an acceptance of this new team from the Missionary Home itself.)
                  H. WHEN THE CRO RECEIVES THE 10% PAYMENT, ALONG WITH THE PHOTOCOPY OF THE GUESTS' RETURN TICKETS, he would release the funds to the NO of the chosen mission field & would send the photocopy of the round-trip ticket to the NO. This forwarding of the money & ticket copy should be accomplished at least 4 weeks in advance of departure by the "Shove-Off" applicant.
                  I. THE "SHOVE-OFF" APPLICANT WOULD INFORM THE CRO TO PUT THEIR MAILINGS ON HOLD until they return from their missionary vacation! (For the ROs: As the CROs would be receiving no reports or funds from these Homes while they are on the field, & because the field Homes would report them as visitors on their reports, the home field CROs will continue to add in the "Shove-Off" applicants' population stats on their monthly reports.)
                  J. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MEETING & TAKING CARE OF THE NEW ARRIVALS would be given to the participating local Home, as the NO has taken care of much of the preliminary details. Happy vacation for the Lord! WLY!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family