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Amy Phillips

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Dear Parent:

Thank you for the privilege of working with your son or daughter through Student Training in Missions. It is a delight for me to have this opportunity to walk with your student as he or she prepares for an overseas experience this summer!

Though I am not a parent myself I know that it is natural for you to have some concerns about the health and safety of your children. I remember the first time I spent a summer overseas (at age 25!) my parents were also concerned about my health and safety as I prepared to take a team of students to Mongolia . I also know that it is your job to be concerned about your child’s well-being!

Please know that sending your son or daughter overseas is not something I, InterVarsity, or the other missions agencies we work with through STIM take lightly. Both InterVarsity, Pioneers, Latin and South America Missions are very concerned about the safety and health of your child and have excellent track records when it comes to safety.

I am aware that recent world events can make us nervous about travel overseas. While I hope that students will make lifetime commitments to serving Christ (even in places where it may seem dangerous to do so) it is not my intent to put students in life-threatening situations on their short-term summer projects. For this reason, STIM sends students overseas on either InterVarsity projects or with other mission agencies that we feel are responsible when it comes to safety and work very hard to provide a positive experience for those who participate in their projects.

While I cannot guarantee that nothing will go wrong while your child is overseas (any more than I can while they are in the States), I can promise that STIM staff and the agencies we work with will do all that we can to monitor the political situations in countries where we send students and take every precaution to keep students safe. We pay attention to State Department warnings and we keep in contact with host missionaries who are on site and often know more about safety than anyone else. There have been times that both InterVarsity and the other mission agencies we work with have redirected project locations because of safety concerns. There have been other times that we’ve found certain locations are not a dangerous as they may appear because our students will be in an area of the country far from where there are safety concerns.

I appreciate the words of Scott Bessenecker, director of InterVarsity Global Projects: “The dangers that exist in overseas travel are different than the dangers at home; however, going overseas does not automatically imply danger any more that staying home automatically implies safety. Beyond the issue of safety, we are compelled to help our students love God's people from every ethnicity and culture in tangible ways and to explore his global purposes for them as individuals and for the Church. This is often best done by taking them overseas.

I would urge you to support and encourage your son or daughter in their journey of faith. Of all the "easy roads" your child might choose, it must be very satisfying to see them wanting to live a life of self-sacrifice and service.”

I too hope that you will enjoy the journey that your son or daughter has begun through the STIM experience, for it will likely be a journey of growth for you too. I hope that you will see your son or daughter change and grow as he/she participates in something that will stretch and challenge him/her.

Sincerely,
Amy Phillips, Director
Student Training in Missions, Blue Ridge Region

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