Short Term

The ‘Year in Africa’ programme is designed to provide Christians with a real opportunity to get involved in mission work and to take on roles and responsibilities that will build God’s kingdom in Africa. You can serve from 6 months to 2 years and the duration of your time in Africa you will get to impact the lives of many people, sharing God’s love with them, taking time to pray and sharing the gospel with them.

Each day you will see firsthand the many needs that exist and you will be expected to take the opportunity to respond in love and action to what you see. You will be helping individuals or working with our other missionaries developing programmes that will help groups of people in need.

We have many placement opportunities with our partners in Nigeria, Chad, Kenya and Burkina Faso and we aim to place people in ministries that best suit their calling, gifts, personality and abilities. Everyone who has been a volunteer with Mission Africa has been challenged by God through their experience; they do not return home the same person who went out.

Who is this volunteer programme for?

For anyone from 18 to 65 who wants to take time out from their normal life and routine to try something completely different for God. Your age and experience will determine which roles you are able to work in, but whether you are straight from school or been working for 40 years we will have a role that is suitable for you.

As a participant we aim that you will:

Bring God’s love and build God’s kingdom in Africa, sharing the gospel and seeing lives changed.
Build positive relationships with everyone, whether it’s those you are serving or those who are leading you.
Integrate with the local culture and customs, living a respectful lifestyle, that glorifies God.
Work in partnership with the local church listening and responding to their direction.
Grow in knowledge of God and live a life that reflects intimacy with the Father.
Serve with the gifts that God has given you and know that you are empowered by the Holy Spirit to share God’s love with everyone.
Embrace simplicity, leaving behind many of the material things that distract from spending time with God.
In all things start and end with prayer, as it is only through prayer that God’s Mission is accomplished.

Start Times & Duration

You can start any time during the year and duration of your time in Africa can be from a minimum of 3 months to a maximum of 2 years.   The nature of the programme means that we want volunteers to build real relationships with the people and the ministries they are working with. The longer you go for, the stronger these relationships will be and the greater the impact you will make to the ministry and the community you’re working in.

What it costs:

You should budget on approximately £4000 for 6 months and £6000 for a year. This will cover most costs and includes the airfare, medical and travel Insurance, visa and Immigration expenses, internal transfers in Africa, accommodation costs, your monthly living allowance (about £250 depending on where you are living to pay for food and living expenses), and the cost of orientation and administration.  You should also allow £150 – 200 that you will have to pay for medical expenses before departure, your vaccinations and antimalarials.

Orientation and Debriefing

In order for you to get the most from your experience in Africa we insist you attend our orientation week before traveling to Africa. This is to explain what living in Africa will be like, to highlight the cultural differences and how to cope with them. We also give you travel advice as well as health and safety training and much more. After you return, we don’t just forget about you; we want to help you understand your experiences, to show you how to build on what you have learned and to help them in understanding what God has planned for your future so we will have opportunities for a debrief.

Pastoral Care & Supervision

When in Africa our volunteers are not just abandoned and expected to look after themselves, although they do have a large degree of independence. They are placed close to long term missionaries who will provide in–country orientation, show you around, teach you how to live ‘African style’, show you where to shop, how to greet, introduce to you people you’ll be working with, etc. Throughout the placement there will also be a person who you can turn to when problems arise. They are close at hand to help you and guide you through your experience.

Accommodation and living in Africa

Mission Africa provide all volunteers with a home to live in, sometimes it is shared with others and sometimes it’s an apartment or house in a compound with other missionaries. It will be quite basic, but more importantly it will be safe, clean and comfortable with access to electric and running water (usually). You will have to shop, cook, clean and do laundry for yourself, but generally this is part of the experience that people enjoy, particularly the interactions at African markets.

Responsibilities

When in Africa, volunteers are responsible for what they do each day. You are placed within ministries by Mission Africa, but what you do each day is decided by talking to the African staff in that ministry and seeing where they can make the most use of your gifts and skills.

Application

To Apply for the Gap programme you need to fill in an application form or perhaps you’d like to find out some more about what you could do so send us an email and we can start and give you some options for serving.

More information…