Debriefing

Debriefing is a very important aspect of your project to help you understand what God did in and through you on the field. Debriefing also helps you learn to tell your story effectively so that others will want to be involved in international missions.

Work with your field supervisor(s) to develop a time of debriefing before you leave the field, preferably on the last day or two of the project. Topics for debriefing include the following:

• Coming Home Bible Study
• Understanding Your Grief at Leaving
• Moving On exercise
  • Prepare to leave the mission field and return to the USA. This exercise is most helpful if completed before you leave the mission field.
• Basic Debriefing Tips for Family, Friends, and Collegiate Ministers
  • Tips for your family, friends and collegiate minister to help you debrief your missions experience.
• Personal Debriefing questions
  • Get to the heart of your feelings and your thoughts about your mission experience, future mission involvement, and your return to American culture.
• Re-entry Stress (also called Reverse Culture Shock)
• Between Two Worlds: Tips for Returning Home
  • More advice on how to readjust to being home after living in another culture.
• Conflicting Values: Condemning American Culture
  • Living overseas makes you view American culture through different lenses. Gain advice for dealing with negative feelings about life in the United States.
• Common Unexpected Situations
  • Returning missionaries are frequently surprised or caught off guard by situations they do not anticipate. Some common situations are included in this article plus some suggestions for facing specific situations.
• Settling Back In exercise
  • The challenge of re-acclimating to the culture of the United States is often greatest after one or two months back home. This exercise will help you process through your feelings.
• How to Tell Your Story
• Ready to go back to the mission field? Find out some Ways to Serve.
• Mobilize!
  • Resources - like videos and CDs - to help you fire up your friends and family to get a grip on God's global mission.

A second round of personal debriefing comes from the evaluation sent to you via email when you return from your mission project. Please complete the evaluation and return it to our office within two weeks after receiving it. Make the time to complete this evaluation not only for the sake of improving collegiate missions but also as a means of personal debriefing.