Self-Supporting Volunteers: Blessed Beyond Belief

In 1997, we closed our business in Tampa, Florida, and enrolled with United Methodist Volunteers In Mission as individual volunteers. Our first assignment was five months at Southwest Indian School, a boarding school in Peoria, Arizona. There, we worked as cooks and dining-room attendants as our full-time job but also developed and taught a life-skills course for the juniors and seniors. In our off-duty time, we took our students on field trips to give them actual experience with such subjects as budgeting, banking, paying taxes, apartment living, and car maintenance.

During a three-month assignment at Chugiak United Methodist Church in Alaska, we made repairs to the parsonage and church building, reorganized and catalogued the church library, and planned vacation Bible school. While there, we house-sat for two families and lived the rest of the time in our travel trailer in the church yard. It was our loving relationships with staff and church members that made the 10,000-mile round trip worthwhile.

In most instances, the individual volunteer is completely self-supporting. We generally travel in our 26-foot travel trailer, which is very comfortable for the two of us. In Arizona, we paid the school $60 per month for parking and could have a meal while on duty in the dining hall. All other travel, costs of living, and student field trips were out-of-pocket expenses. All of our travel and cost of living for the Alaska mission was at our own expense.

A dedicated volunteer must expect to meet the challenge of serving under conditions that may be uncomfortable or trying. But if you approach the challenge with a loving heart and willingly apply yourself, you will feel blessed beyond belief.