Wide Open Missions

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FAQ for Team Hosts

All individuals and teams who travel overseas and engage with an AGWM missionary, associate or other AGWM-related personnel for ministry must complete the registration process before arriving on the field. There are no exceptions to this policy! It is the missionary’s responsibility to ensure that this is done before hosting or engaging with ministry visitors on the field. Willfully failing to comply with this policy will result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of missionary appointment.
 
Q. When I invite a team to minister with me on the field, where do I direct them to register with AGWM?

A. Once a team has been invited by a missionary, their team coordinator will begin the registration process here: https://wideopenmissions.org/go-short-term/short-term-trips.

Q. What does the registration process include?

A. A team will be approved with the completion of the AGWM registration packet for Adults and Minors, and the purchase of AGWM Travel Insurance. The adult registration packet includes the Assumption of Risk, Code of Conduct and Beneficiary Designation form/Emergency Contact form. The minor registration packet includes the Parental Consent and Authorization/and Temporary Guardianship forms. Our AGWM PMC Team Application Specialists will secure confirmation of invitation from the host via email, and approvals from AD/RD, depending on country and circumstances.

Q. How do I know I have a team that needs to process through PMC?

A. Any teams, or any individuals who will be on the field for up to one month, need to process through MAPS/Teams with PMC when they will be engaged with a missionary, career missionary associate, STMA, or other AG personnel with invitation/approval from the area director and/or regional director. Individuals staying on the field longer than one month follow a different processing path.

Q. Do I need to send a letter of invitation to the PMC team application specialist?

A. No. The team application specialist will email the host for confirmation of invitation via email. The host will reply confirming they have invited the team.

Q. How long does the registration process take?

A. The length of the registration process is dependent on the team coordinator. Some team coordinators can complete the registration process in less than a day if they have everyone’s adult registration forms (and Parental Consent forms, if applicable) signed. The team coordinator also must check each adult team member on the U.S. Department of Justice National Sex Offender Public Website. Only the first and last name is required for a search. This is a free service and results are immediate. Although the registration process can be done in less than a day, missionaries need to tell team coordinators to have this process completed one month before their day of departure. Because AGWM has hundreds of teams who are processed in a year, this time frame will help to ensure that teams have completed all registration steps, an invitation has been given by the missionary and needed approvals have been obtained.

Q. When does my team need to have the online registration process completed?

A. One month before departure.

Q. How do I know a team has completed the registration process?

A. After a team has completed the online registration process, which includes the purchase of AGWM Travel Insurance, the missionary host is sent an automated approval notification email.

Q. What if my team’s departure date is one month away, and I have not received the automated approval email?

A. Contact the team application specialist immediately at mapsteams@ag.org.

Q. What do I do if a team or individual arrives on the field for ministry, and I did not know they were coming?

A. If you have a team or individual arrive and they did not process through AGWM, call the PMC application specialist immediately. The team application specialist will email the appropriate forms you will need to process the team from the field. NOTE: You may not host or engage with the visiting team or individual until the AGWM registration process is completed. To do otherwise may put your missionary appointment at risk!

Q. If I invite even one person to minister with me on the field, do they need to register with AGWM?

A. Yes, even one person needs to complete registration with AGWM. The online registration process is designed for teams of three or more members. If there is a family traveling alone, or an individual, or two people, they will need to contact a team application specialist at mapsteams@ag.org to register. They are then processed in-house by the team application specialist.

Q. If I invite my family to minister with me on the field, do they also have to register with AGWM?

A. Yes. They will need to contact a team application specialist at mapsteams@ag.org.

Q. I have guests coming for a personal visit. Do they need to register?

A. A personal trip is one that is not planned, registered, or operated through AGWM and is therefore not associated with AGWM. For example, occasionally travelers decide to plan a trip to visit an AGWM missionary overseas. Those are personal trips and the travelers are not associated with AGWM. Therefore, those travelers are not covered by AGWM Travel Insurance even if they decide to attend a ministry-related activity while on their trip. Because AGWM Travel Insurance provides no coverage for persons who are traveling on personal trips, any travelers planning personal trips are strongly encouraged to secure sufficient insurance coverage of their own.

Q. Do I tell teams that it is ok to purchase their own insurance?

A. One of the requirements needed to complete the team registration process with AGWM is to purchase the AGWM Travel Insurance. The cost is $4.95 per person/per day, including the days of travel. The AGWM Executive Committee, with recommendation of legal counsel, has made a decision that all teams are required to purchase AGWM Travel Insurance as part of the AGWM registration process. Teams may have another overseas insurance provider, but they must also purchase the AGWM Travel Insurance to complete registration for approval.

Q. Are minors also covered by insurance?

A. Yes. Minors are covered under the AGWM Travel Insurance.

Q. I have invited an AIM team, how do I direct them to register?

A. AIM teams now register the same as any other ministry category. Have them start registration here. The minimum age for AIM participants is 15 years old, unless they are accompanied by their parent(s)

Q. Is there an age limit for minors?

A. No. There is no age limit for minors serving on the field. However, the expenses for minors 14 years old and younger cannot be counted toward missions giving credit. It is strongly recommended that any minors under 16 be accompanied by their parents or legal guardian. Guardianship agreements are available through PMC, and all minors must have a Parental Consent form on file prior to the trip unless their parent is accompanying them.

Q. Is there a fee to register a team?

A. There is no registration fee for trips under 31 days in duration.