Global Mission…

Absolutely! Inspire has been tried and tested in several countries around the world and continues to be used by people in both long-term and short-term mission contexts. The feedback from leaders and participants has been incredibly encouraging, and we are excited to see how individuals and organisations are adapting our Inspire courses to suit their specific needs. The countries in which Inspire has been, or is currently being, run include England, Wales, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia.

Please do get in touch if you have any questions about how our Inspire courses could benefit your organisation or if you would like to discuss which of our bespoke courses would best suit your needs.

Yes, they can. Using an interpreter to help deliver Inspire to people who understand and speak a small amount of English has already been tested and proved very straightforward and successful.

However, using an interpreter to teach people who speak no English has not yet been tested by The Self-Worth Partnership. Therefore, we strongly recommend that individuals and organisations carefully consider whether Inspire is the best course for people who speak no English based on their experience and understanding of the country and culture in which they intend to teach it.

We would be very grateful for your feedback if you use an Inspire course with people who speak little or no English. Listening to and understanding your experiences will enable us to pass the information on to others who may be considering doing the same.

(Please note. We are happy to give a full refund on the licence agreement and course materials if individuals or organisations purchase a course but then decide Inspire is not the best fit for them. Refunds must be requested within 30 of receiving the course materials.)

There are several reasons why teaching a self-worth course is a better option for mission trips than some of the more traditional activities that organisations undertake when taking teams abroad.

At The Self-Worth Partnership, we highly recommend the book ‘When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself’ by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. This book considers the root causes of poverty and its alleviation and argues that a path forward is found, not through providing resources to the poor, but by walking with them in humble relationships. It also emphasises that poverty is much more than simply a lack of material resources and takes much more than donations and handouts to solve it.

Therefore, how we empower the materially poor matters greatly, and arguably, the most effective way of achieving this is through education.

Teaching and delivering a self-worth course will not only help people to discover the truth about their value, identity, and purpose, but it will also empower, encourage, and equip them to embrace life and reach their full potential regardless of the circumstances they find themselves in. Ultimately, this educates and empowers them to help themselves rather than relying on the often well-meaning but misguided help from others.

Another reason delivering a self-worth course might be a better option for a mission trip is that it creates opportunities to take people who might not have ever considered going on one. Helping to facilitate and deliver a self-worth course may appeal to a much wider group of people than traditional mission trip activities such as painting a classroom or building a home.

Running a self-worth course in a different culture has proved to be a valuable experience, not only for the recipients but also for team leaders and helpers, who often testify that they have greatly benefitted from the course on a personal level. In fact, on returning from an Inspire mission trip, many leaders who have seen first-hand the impact such a course can have on people’s lives have subsequently gone on to teach Inspire in their local schools, churches, and communities.

Finally, teaching a self-worth course can be an attractive option for a mission trip as it helps to develop mutual, deep, and lasting relationships and trust between people from different countries and cultures as they learn life-changing truths about their value, identity, and purpose in this world together. This is essential in helping to bring love, hope, and restoration to the lives of others.

It’s possible but not encouraged. This is because the wide variety of resources makes the course more practical, interactive, and fun, which can make all the difference when teaching the material to people from a different culture where language might be a barrier to communication.

For those using Inspire for short-term mission trips, resources can be sourced and purchased in their home country and shared between team members to take with them as part of their luggage allowance. Many airlines provide extra luggage allowance to third-world countries free of charge, and we advise that you check this allowance when booking your flights so that you know exactly how much your team can take and can prepare resources accordingly. (It may also be possible to ship resources well before the start of the course, but this can be costly, so will require careful consideration.)

For those using Inspire in long-term mission contexts, the resources used may need to be limited, adapted, or replaced with easier-to-source materials depending on where Inspire is being taught, especially if there is a barrier to bringing resources into the country. Individuals and organisations should carefully consider how they facilitate the course with or without the suggested teaching resources in this context.

None. Most of the training required before teaching Inspire on a mission trip will involve general training about the culture and people from the country being visited, which organisations will already need to do for any mission trip that they organise. As far as training for delivering an Inspire course, none is required. Inspire has purposefully been designed to be taught without prior training to remove barriers to using it in global mission contexts where resources (people, time, or money) might be more limited.

However, whilst no training is required to teach Inspire, preparation and planning of the teaching material and resources that accompany the course is the key to its success. We highly recommend that anyone involved with the upfront teaching of the course familiarise themselves with the material and take the time to plan it thoroughly before teaching it to any group, regardless of the country in which it is delivered. They should also carefully consider how to adapt some of the more sensitive aspects of the course to make it culturally relevant so that no miscommunication occurs and so participants always feel understood, cared for and valued. (Please note. Getting advice on delivering the course in a culturally sensitive way from people who have had previous experience visiting, working in, or living in the country is essential.)

At the Self Worth Partnership, we have been using Inspire in mission environments for several years and feel that choosing the right course is essential to its success. The course you need will depend on the age of the participants, whether you are teaching single-sex groups or mixed-gender groups, and the time you have available.

Whichever course you choose will need some adaptations to make it more culturally relevant depending on the country you are working in, and it is the responsibility of individuals and their organisations to ensure that they do this appropriately and to the best of their ability so that the teaching is well received and helpful to all participants.

In many cultures, it may be more appropriate to work with single-sex groups. If this is the case, the bespoke Girls & Women’s course is the perfect choice for teenage girls and women, and the bespoke Mixed Youth course is ideal for teenage boys and young men. The Mixed Youth course should be chosen for use with mixed-gender groups. (Please note that these courses both contain Christian content so are only appropriate for use in Christian contexts.)

For mission trips where time is limited or where the participants are slightly younger, the bespoke Church Schools course may prove to be a better choice as the teaching has been condensed and contains less biblical material.

For secular organisations running non-religious mission trips but who are keen on teaching a self-worth course in a global context, the Inspire Signature Course is the correct choice because it does not contain any biblical material.

However, we recommend you carefully consider the information written about each of our courses before deciding which one you think best suits your needs. We would love to hear from you and to chat through any questions or concerns you may have before you make any decisions.

(Please note. If you order a course and find it unsuitable for any reason, we are happy to give you a full refund on the licence and any books you have purchased. Refunds must be requested within 30 of receiving the course materials.)