Travel

We recommend securing the vehicles you’ll be using during your mission trip as much in advance as possible, especially when renting vehicles, to ensure you have the number and type of vehicles you’ll need to transport everyone safely and comfortable.

Bus Accessible

Bus accessible communities are designated as locations that can accommodate groups traveling on buses. A bus is defined as anything larger than a standard 15-passenger van. We do not allow buses at all of our YouthWorks sites based on community needs, parking specifics, and for safety reasons. Our communities fall into one of three categories:

  • Any and all kind of buses
  • 15 Passenger Mini Bus
  • No Buses

Please refer to the specific community page you are traveling to for the designation.

If you choose to bring a bus, you must bring additional vehicle(s) for transportation to and from ministry sites and for emergency purposes. For groups of 25-30, one additional 7-passenger vehicle is required, for groups 31-45, two additional 7-passenger vehicles are required.

Please don’t hesitate to call us (800-968-8504) with questions about buses!

Trailers

Parking can be limited at many of our YouthWorks sites and unfortunately they make us more susceptible to vandalism in some cases.  Please do not plan on bringing a trailer to haul luggage.

International Border Crossing

For ease of travel we recommend that each person in your church group obtain a passport.  An additional option for U.S. groups is the U.S. Passport Card. It is a travel document that can be used to enter the United States from Canada at land border crossings. It cannot be used for air travel. According to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, “U.S. and Canadian citizen children under age 19 arriving by land or sea from contiguous territory and traveling with a school group, religious group, social or cultural organization, or sports team, may also present an original or copy of his or her birth certificate, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, a Naturalization Certificate, or a Canadian Citizenship Card.” Read more here.

Insurance

For your protection, YouthWorks requires proof of liability insurance and vehicle insurance from every church that registers for a trip. During the trip you will not only be transporting your youth and leaders but also transporting youth and leaders from other church groups to service locations and Evening Activities. If you have concerns about whether your insurance covers your group and the transportation of other groups while on the trip, contact your insurance agency ASAP.

There are organizations that provide trip insurance and/or medical insurance to groups or individuals.

Participants are also asked to provide their medical insurance information for emergency purposes. If you have any questions about insurance please call the Service Center.

Contingency Travel

At times, due to unforeseen circumstances, someone has to leave their mission trip early. We strongly recommend all leaders have plans in place to get a participant back home if the need arises during the mission trip.