In 2008, my husband Dave and I came on a five-week mission trip to Thailand as a result of a call from God so clear he might as well have put up a billboard outside our front door. We visited 25 charities in the furthest-flung parts of the country, producing articles and publicity materials to help mission agencies place volunteers with them. In 2009 we returned, this time for three years, to volunteer as communications officers for CCD (www.ccdthailand.org), one of those charities we’d paid a flying visit to before.
If that’s sounding appealing, here’s how to zoom off somewhere tropical yourself (with the benefit of our hindsight).
1. Find somewhere to go. Mission agencies can help with this, especially those who specialise in sending skilled volunteers (journalists, film-makers, PR people all welcome). Another great resource is Lonely Planet’s The Career Break Book which has plenty of contacts and ideas. Many international NGOs partner with small, local charities which might appreciate your help – ask their project managers. The website charityjob.co.uk often has overseas media vacancies, too.
2. Try a short commitment first. Before signing up for five years as press officer for a remote hill tribe tourism outfit, visit. Sounds obvious, but if you’re a creative type with a vivid imagination, the idea can be all-consuming. Get a good dose of the reality by signing up for three to six months to start with. Do you really like the lifestyle, the climate, the food, the cross-cultural challenges? You can always extend your stay if the reality is as good as you imagined.
3. Do the sums. Look into how you are going to be funded. Some volunteers pay all their own expenses from savings. Some choose a placement which pays a local salary and covers flights and insurance. Some are funded as missionaries through an agency or directly by their church and other supporters. We are with a mission agency which requires us to raise a fixed amount of support each year. As well as support from our church, friends and family, I continue to do freelance editorial work for clients in the UK which meets some of our funding needs (see www.sarahgiles.co.uk).
Don’t forget to consider what happens with your house if you find yourself without tenants, or you need to replace the washing machine. We have survived both with just a modest amount of savings, but it can be tight if you don’t have a lot of rental income left over once you’ve paid the mortgage. If you’re renting, of course, then your only issue is finding somewhere to store your stuff. (Hurrah for fab parents with spare rooms.)
4. Plan ahead. We received the job ad, applied, said we could move continents in three months and then tacked on the mission agency bit afterwards. This method is do-able but a bit crazy. For improved sanity, allow at least six months. If you’re going through an agency, they often like a year to get you through all their hoops. If you do find yourself making a swift exit, I’d recommend equipping yourself with an unending supply of passport photos, somewhere to sell/donate your surplus possessions, and plenty of chocolate.
5. Get your support sorted. Communication is what we do, professionally and personally. We blog (http://gilesnews.wordpress.com). We tweet (@sarahgiles and @davidpgiles). We send weekly prayer emails to our supporting churches, and beautiful, witty quarterly newsletters to our entire Christmas card list. But being overseas is an uprooting from your physical social network, regardless of how much time you spend on Skype and Facebook. Invest time in preparing your relationships for your move. Tell friends and family how much you’ll need their calls, postcards, and prayers. Neal Pirolo’s book Serving as Senders is the best book I’ve found on this topic, and one I wish I could give to everyone in our support network. If you can circulate a couple of copies amongst your church and other friends, it’ll be a good investment.
6. Think about what happens when you come back. In our line of work, employers are unlikely to hold jobs open for us while we globe-trot, however worthy the reasons for our travelling. So you’ll either need to have savings to cushion the impact of a month or more of job-hunting, or have a pretty sound Plan B for your return, perhaps involving a friend with a sofa-bed.
My freelance work has survived the transcontinental jump unscathed, thankfully, and I am able to sell the time difference as a benefit to editors – I always meet deadlines early! Dave left his job as The Salvation Army’s website manager, remains in friendly contact with his former colleagues, and now has lots of CV-enhancing experiences to broaden his options on his return – delivering web training in Thai, for example! So although financial preparation is ideal, don’t be afraid to leave the security of your current job to take on the unknown. If God calls you to it, he will sort out all the consequences.
Dave and Sarah Giles moved to Pakkred, Thailand, in May 2009. It is unbelievably hot. They miss pies and sausages. But they’re glad they did it.