CVC 105
Introduction to Missions
Instructor: Tim Kozyra
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Course Description
This course provides an overview of the missionary work. Students gain an understanding of the philosophy of mission trips along with the advantages and disadvantages of short term mission trips. This course also examines social justice, working with various cultures and the advantages of teamwork and teambuilding. Additionally, students will take a one week mission trip where they will experience many of the topics studied throughout the course.
This course will primarily be conducted online, but it week 7 will include in person training as a part of a missions trip.
At the end of this course students should be able to:
- have an understanding and vision for the field of missions and service learning
- define and explain the concept of social justice and culture.
- recognize potential problems on a mission trip.
- explain the advantages and disadvantages of a mission trip.
- list, describe and evaluate the components of a mission trip.
Required Texts
Ellis, L., & Fields, D. (2008). Mission Trips From Start to Finish: How to Organize and Lead Impactful Mission Trips. Lake Forest, California: Group Publishing.
Livermore, D. A., & Borthwick, P. (2012). Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence (Updated edition.). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
Course Outline
1 / Why do a mission trip?
Reading – Manitsas, D.L. (2000). Short Term Mission Trips: A Vehicle for Developing Personal and Spiritual Well-being. George Fox University. Pages 1-20, 30-52 / 6.0
Quiz / 1.0 / 1% / 3
instruction tutorial – layout of course/quizzes (15 slides) / 1.0
DB/Forum (intro and 1 question) / 1st posting Days 1&3 / 4.0 / 7.5%
instruction tutorial – info for trip (15 slides) / 1.0
2 / Social Justice
Reading / 6.5
You-tube – how to make a Glog / .2
Quiz / 1.0 / 1% / 1
Assignment instruction tutorial – (15 slides) / 1.0
Assignment - Prepare a Glog / 3.0 / 5% / 1
3 / Downside to Mission Trips
Reading / 5.0
Quiz / 1 / 1% / 3
instruction tutorial – common questions (15 slides) / 1.0
4 / Prepare
Reading / 5.0
Quiz / 1.0 / 1% / 2, 4
Assignment instruction tutorial – (15 slides) / 1.0
Assignment - PP presentation / 6.0 / 10% / 2, 4
5 / Teamwork
Reading / 6.0
Teamwork videos / .3
DB/Forum (2 questions) / 4.0 / 7.5%
6 / Culture
Reading / 6.0
Quiz / 1 / 1% / 1, 3
Assignment instruction tutorial – (15 slides) / 1.0
Assignment (3 pages x 2 hours/page) / 6.0 / 10% / 1
7 / Mission Trip
Journal (4 days x 3 pages each x 1.5 hr/page) / 18.0 / 5% each = 20% / 1
Cultural lectures (4 - 2 hour lectures) / 8.0
Team building discussion and exercise / 2.0
8 / Return
Reading / 6.0
Exam / 2.0 / 5% / 1,2,3,4
Paper (10 pages x 3 hr/page) / 30.0 / 30% / 1,2,3,4
Overall / Total Estimated Hours / 135.0 / 100%
Quizzes will each be comprised of 10 multiple choice and true/false questions that come from the reading assignments.
Justification of time allotted: 30 minutes per quiz. 10 question quizzes. These “open book” quizzes be multiple choice and true/false in format and deal with significant points from the readings. They will also be specific to the reading assignments and their goal is (1) to help the student understand the concepts and (2) encourage the student to read the material. It is anticipated that it will take the students 3 minutes to read the question, locate the response and record it for each question.
Exam is 40 questions (multiple choice and true/false) that come from the reading assignments (cumulative).
Justification of time allotted: 2 hours. This “open book” quizzes be multiple choice and true/false in format and deal with significant points from the readings. It will also be specific to the reading assignments and the goal is (1) to help the student understand the concepts and (2) encourage the student to read the material. It is anticipated that it will take the students 3 minutes to read the question, locate the response and record it for each question.
Discussion Board/Forum questions occur in Units 1 and 5 (2 questions for each Unit). Each question requires an original response of 300 to 500 words relating to the question along with responses to at least two other postings (from other students or the professor) for a total of at least 6 postings per Unit). The responsive postings must be comprehensive and add value to the discussion. These postings must be spread over at least three days. Postings must be well written and citations must be consistent with APA requirements.
Justification of time allotted: 2 hours per db/forum question. This assignment anticipates that students will research the question and write a well written (approximately one page) response to it, citing sources. Additionally, they will read other db/forum comments and chose one to respond to and then formulate and post a response (twice for each db/forum question). This must be done over at least three days. Additionally, students will be graded on spelling, grammar, word usage and sentence structure, which will necessitate review and rewriting as applicable. Postings must be well written and citations must be consistent with APA requirements.
Unit 2 Assignment will be a Glog dealing with Social Justice.
Social justice is a concept that we speak about in school and in the news, but what is it really? For this assignment you are to create a Glog and in it you will define social justice and give four examples of how it applies or doesn’t apply to life in America. These examples will be headlines or titles to news articles. Remember to cite your sources.
Justification of time allotted: 3 hours. For this assignment it is expected that students will research and write a definition and then provide four examples of how the concept of social justice applies in our country. They will then have to create a Glog. Additionally, students will be graded on spelling, grammar, word usage and sentence structure, which will necessitate review and rewriting as applicable. Postings must be well written and citations must be consistent with APA requirements.
Unit 4Assignment will be a PowerPoint focusing on Mission Trip preparation.
Will Smith once said, “I've always considered myself to be just average talent and what I have is a ridiculous insane obsessiveness for practice and preparation.” The secret to doing well in school is the same as in most aspects of life – preparation! And mission trips are no exception. At first, setting up a mission trip can seem like a daunting task, but as you break it down into its sections and prepare for them one at a time, it suddenly becomes manageable. That is your assignment: create a 12 to 15 slide PowerPoint presentation (not including the title slide or the reference slide) that will lay out the steps required to set up a mission trip along with an explanation of each. For this assignment you must use at least three sources.
Justification of time allotted: 6 hours. This presentation will necessitate that students research the preparation of a mission trip. That preparation may include creating goals for the trip (both individual and team goals), who to team with, what specific work/relationship projects you will work on, deciding who to bring and when and where to go, how to raise funds and how much you will need, teambuilding, releases, packing information, housing, food and transportation on the trip, talks and programs while on the trip, and post-trip plans to keep the experience alive, amongst other things. Along with researching these topics, students will need to organize their thoughts into a written format and transfer it to PowerPoint slides. Additionally, students will be graded on spelling, grammar, word usage and sentence structure, which will require review and rewriting as applicable. Postings must be well written and citations must be consistent with APA requirements.
Unit 6 Assignment will be a 3 – 5 page essay.
Much of culture is the way in which a person speaks. To better understand the difference between formal and casual register, select a well-known fairy tale and retell using formal register and casual register
Justification of time allotted: 6 hours. For this essay, students will be required to research and define formal and casual register. They will then need to choose a well-known fairy tale and rewrite it in both formal and casual register. Additionally, students will be graded on spelling, grammar, word usage and sentence structure, which will necessitate review and rewriting as applicable. Postings must be well written and citations must be consistent with APA requirements.
Week 7 Journals will consist of 4-2 page papers.
This week actually began when you signed up for this course and your plan for a mission trip became a reality. As the course progressed, you were exposed to the various aspects of a mission trip and some of the subtle and not-so-subtle experiences you might encounter along the way. Throughout this week, you are to write four two page journal entries commenting on what you observe and feel. Consider topics such as your trip to the mission site, your housing, your team and team building, the work you are performing and the people you meet, cultural differences you are experiencing, social justice issues, relationships you are building, whether your expectations were met, and what you have taken from this mission experience. You can write about some, all, or none of the topics just listed: the goal is to discuss what you have seen and felt on your mission experience.
Justification of time allotted: 3 hours per two page paper (4 papers) for 12 total hours. This assignment will require minimal research. Students will consider their observations and experiences each day and transform them into written form. Additionally, students will be graded on spelling, grammar, word usage and sentence structure, which will necessitate review and rewriting as applicable. Postings must be well written and citations must be consistent with APA requirements.
Week 8 Paper (10 pages)
This paper is a series of 17 essays totaling between 10 and 13 pages. For each topic, you will respond with two to four quality paragraphs. Some of these topics will be asking for your personal experiences and some will require you to do research. It is expected that you will use in-text citations and at least 5 sources for this project. Please use the topics listed below as subheadings for your submission. The topics are as follows:
What were your expectations prior to this (or your first mission trip)?
How were your trip experiences different than your pre-trip expectations?
How would you describe the culture of the people you met on your trip?
What team building exercises did your team do and if you were planning the trip, what team building exercises would you have planned?
Did your team members work well together? What could have been done to improve your team’s cohesion?
What supplies did you not bring that you wish you would have? How would they have helped on this trip?
What is social justice?
What is an example of how social justice did not apply in something you saw or experiences on your trip?
Based on your research, what are some of the arguments against doing mission trips?
Based on your experiences from your mission trip, did you feel the arguments against mission trips you mentioned in the previous question are justified (at least pertaining to your trip)?
Based on your research, what are some of the benefits of mission trips?
Based on your experiences from your mission trip, did you feel the benefits of mission trips you mentioned in the previous question are justified (at least pertaining to your trip)?
What did you most enjoy on your mission trip?
What did you least enjoy on your mission trip?
If you were overseeing a mission trip like the one you just experienced, what would you do differently to improve it?
Upon your return from the mission trip, what will you do differently as a result of your experience on this trip?
Based on your experiences from this trip, would you consider doing another one week mission trip and/or a longer one? Why or why not?
Justification of time allotted: 10 hours. 17 two to four paragraph essays. This assignment involves research, outlining and creating original responses. Some questions will also entail the student’s recalling personal experiences and organizing them into responsive statements. Additionally, students will be graded on spelling, grammar, word usage and sentence structure, which will necessitate review and rewriting as applicable. Postings must be well written and citations must be consistent with APA requirements.
Estimated Activities and Times
●Reading is measured at 25 textbook pages per hour for normal textbooks and reading 20 pages per hour for dense textbooks. Total reading for this course is 50 hours.
●Listening to live sessions or recorded audio/video elements (in-class equivalent) – 9.00 hours
●Forum Discussion (in-class equivalent) 24.00 hours.
●Written projects - 49.00 hours (7.00 hours of which are in-class equivalents)
●30% of this course (40 of 132 hours) meets the prescribed interactivity guidelines of the U.S. Department of Education.
Forum Expectations
Each forum requires that students post three times during the designated period. Students should plan to spend at least one hour to post their initial message, one hour to read posts from 5+ students (presumes that a student doesn't read every post), and 60 minutes to post two reply messages. Forum grading will be based on the following items:
●Forum posts should be 150-250 words.
●Students must demonstrate comprehension of the material and achievement of the related learning objectives related to that forum.
●Students should demonstrate critical thinking and use outside material researched beyond the assigned readings.
●The goal of course forums is to have scholarly dialog among peers combining both the strengths of in-person class discussion and providing concise, professional quality writing (similar to a well thought-out academic or scholarly blog) and responding in a way that adds value to others writings
●For further reading on quality forum posts, see dialogue guidelines online.
●All minor and major projects will be evaluated with the grading rubric, found in the course online.
Written Work
Except for Class Forum posts, all written assignments should be double-spaced using 11-point font and 1-inch margins, and include a relevant heading (name, date, assignment title), and subheadings where appropriate, which can be viewed in a Navigation Pane. Multi-page assignments should also include page numbers. Please correct spelling and grammatical errors before submitting all assignments. Spelling, grammar, and writing style will be taken into consideration in evaluating written work. Assignments should be submitted to the Course Dropbox within Moodle. Every assignment should carry a filename that MUST include your name (Student Name) and the assignment number, e.g. Jan_Smith_Minor1.doc
Written work must be reflective, balanced, scholarly analysis and be well-supported by references. Deep familiarity with the biblical text will be appreciated as will the ability to showcase extensive theological reading and reflection and to critically examine an issue from many points of view.
Very informal or highly opinionated writing styles will be severely penalized. Do not preach.
Late Policy
Coursework is scheduled over a seven-day week to provide structure for students residing on six continents. The weekly schedule begins on Monday at 12:01AM US ET (USA Eastern Time), and ends on Sunday at 11:59PM US ET.
●Assignments submitted more than 1 week late (after the following Sunday) will lose 1 letter grade (i.e. "A" becomes a "B").
●Assignments submitted more than 2 weeks late will lose 2 letter grades (i.e. "A" becomes a "C").
●All assignments and quizzes must be submitted by the week after the term ends or they will receive a failing grade.
●Incompletes: incompletes are only given in the case of major health or family crises requiring extended care. Extension of work will be due the following 8-week term.
●Applications for incompletes must be submitted via the online extension request form at least 1 week before the final course due date. If an incomplete is granted, no other courses may be taken until this course is completed.
Week Eight is the last class session with assignments posted. All course work must be completed by the student and submitted to the instructor by the final due date on the Course Schedule. No credit will be given for work submitted after this date.
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