The New Adventure

Well we've found ourself at a new point as a team preparing for a mission trip! Due to volatile conditions in Monterrey, Mexico including recent counts of violence and kidnapping we have decided that we will not be traveling to Mexico this summer. We will however be taking the same group of students and leaders on an alternate mission experience this summer. Here is the letter we wrote to the parents and students explaining more of what has happened and what is going to happen as the new adventure unfolds!

"Dear Parent,

You are receiving this letter because your high school student was participating in the
Mexico ‘10 Mission Trip with Granger Community Church. Mexico has been in the news for several months now regarding violence and reported travel security concerns. Up until now this violence was focused along the borders and primarily amongst drug cartels. The situation has continued to escalate and is no longer isolated to the borders. There have been violent acts as well as kidnappings that have occurred in Monterrey. Because of the news of the last few months and the escalated need for security that these reports bring, we have decided to not take the GSM team to Monterrey, Mexico this summer.

This decision comes after many conversations and prayers and we believe it is the absolute right thing to do. GCC has also been preparing a family mission team that was also going to be serving down in Monterrey this summer. The trip leader for that team was the first to see the latest news report and after conversations with Jack Magruder and Rob Wegner on the Life Mission Team, they decided to cancel the family trip on Monday. After conversations with that team on Tuesday and a chance for the GSM staff to process the news, we also decided to immediately cancel our travel plans to Mexico.

As always, we are interested in doing what is in the student’s best interest and as we mentioned in an earlier letter regarding travel security, “We've never been interested in putting any of our students, leaders or staff in danger and this situation is no different. While we love the opportunity to be a part of an incredible mission experience, we are not willing to knowingly risk anyone's safety.” Safety first is always our standard with your students and we believe that a trip to Mexico this summer is not a safe decision.

So, where does that leave us? While we believe strongly in the ministry that Back2Back is doing in Monterrey, our primary concern has always been your student. Students are the reason we do these trips and we believe that the team is what makes these mission experiences so impactful and meaningful. The shared impact of serving God and serving with others is where the sustaining year-round effect remains with your student. We believe that God put together this team of students and leaders to make an impact this summer which is why we’ll be providing an alternate location for this team’s mission experience.

We realize that a new location will bring about a lot of new questions, which we honestly don’t have all the answers for yet. The decision to not travel to Mexico was a thorough, but quick process and we wanted to inform you of that immediately as well as the decision to relocate this team’s experience. That being said, here is what we know now:

• We will be keeping this trip stateside. We don’t feel that three months is adequate time to ensure an international experience that meets all of our standards.
• ALL of the money your student has raised will be going directly to this new experience. The great news is we did not “lose” any money on airfare or trip deposits.
• We are not sure of the final cost of this new experience but we guarantee that it will not be more than what was originally expected for Mexico and there is a high probability that it will be less costly, depending on the travel necessities.
• The new experience will still be within the July 24-31, 2010 timeframe. We realize that vacations, family trips and camps have been planned around this commitment and we are committed to honoring that.
• This new experience will not be added to our regular mission focus in GSM but we are going to make every effort possible to ensure that the impact we make is part of an ongoing, sustained ministry that will continue on in strength after we’re done.
• Finally, we will have the new details including location, cost and what we’ll be doing by the time of the next team meeting on May 22.

We wanted to be very open about the process and where we’re headed and we hope this information is helpful. We trust that you will communicate this information to your student and assure them that they can ask either one of us any questions they may have. We’ll be addressing the students through Facebook and the team blog as well. We are grateful to you trusting us with your students and we are committed to do everything in our power to keep them safe and help them have a great mission experience. We are committed to excellence and helping your student take their next step!"