Stride FAQs
Q. I’d like to go and serve God in Latin America or Spain. How can Latin Link help me do that?
Q. What does Stride involve?
Q. How do I apply for Stride?
Q. What happens next?
Q. When I'm offered a place on Stride, what do I need to do?
Q. How is my Stride placement organised?
Q. When can I go?
Q. What happens when I get there?
Q. What happens when I come back?
Q. Can I stay for longer?
Q. What about longer term service?
Q. What about Bible College?
Q. How do I extend my service with Latin Link?
Q. I’d like to go and serve God in Latin America or Spain. How can Latin Link help me do that?
A: If you are thinking in terms of a few weeks or a few months, then have a look at the Step programme. For individual, couple or family placements of six months or more, or for shorter-term medical electives, the Stride programme is for you. As well as providing the opportunity to use and develop skills during a gap year, university language year abroad, career break, sabbatical or early retirement, Stride placements are also the way in to longer, ongoing service.
Q. What does Stride involve?
A: Tailored to your specific gifts and abilities, a Stride placement will allow you to use your skills working with a nationally-run project, responding to local needs. Placements can last for anything between six months and two years. All are self-funded.
To help you make the most of your time on Stride, we include:
- a preparation and orientation course before you go
- local orientation and language study when you arrive
- ongoing pastoral support and guidance from the Latin Link team in your host country
- a personal mentor
- individual and group debriefing on your return
Q. How do I apply for Stride?
A: You can download an ‘Application for Service’ form or we can post or email one to you. Complete this form and return it to us. We will contact your referees, and invite you to an interview day in our office in Reading. If you are in Ireland or Scotland, one of our Area Coordinators will be able to meet with you more locally. This will give you the opportunity to find out more about Stride, and for us to find out more about you during informal individual interviews.
Q. What happens next?
A: If we feel we need more information or professional advice, we might ask to meet with you again ourselves, or for you to meet with a health professional – this would be to ensure that we are not putting your health at risk by sending you to Latin America or Spain. Once we have gathered all the information we need, we will contact you to offer you a place. If we do not feel this is appropriate, we will always try to explain why. An offer of a place on the programme is always made subject to medical clearance, Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) disclosure and an appropriate placement being found for you.
Q. When I’m offered a place on Stride, what do I need to do?
A: We would ask you to pray about the offer, and if you feel it is right, to go ahead and contact us to accept your place. We will then send you a form to apply for a CRB disclosure, and ask you to have a medical check. If your placement is for less than 12 months, this check can be done online with InterHealth; if it is for between 12 months and two years, you will be asked to have a personal appointment either at InterHealth in London, the International Health Centre in Edinburgh if you are based in Scotland, or the Tropical Medical Bureau if you are based in Ireland.
Q. How is my Stride placement organised?
A: Once you have accepted your place, we will contact our Short Term Mission Coordinators (STMCs) in Latin America and Spain with details of your specific skills and interests. If you have a particular location or type of work in mind, we will try our best to accommodate this, but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet any specific requirements. We will however try to offer you alternatives, providing you with as much information as we can to help you make a final decision. Once the placement has been fixed, the relevant STMC will organise other aspects such as a mentor, accommodation (which in most cases will be with a local host family) and language study. Each step along the way, we will provide you with as much information as we can.
Q. When can I go?
A: The orientation programme is considered an essential part of Stride, so you must attend this before leaving for Latin America or Spain. The main programme runs for nine days at the end of August/ beginning of September each year. We also run a slightly shorter programme in December/January. The orientation programme combines a number of different elements including seminars on the biblical basis of mission and cross cultural communication, an introduction to the country where you will be serving, and getting to know other people going out on Stride at the same time as you. It is also a lot of fun!
Most people tend to leave for Latin America or Spain shortly after orientation, but there is flexibility to allow for different circumstances. Your actual dates of travel will be organised in consultation with the STMC in the country you are going to and yourself.
Q. What happens when I get there?
A: Once you arrive, the STMC or another local Latin Link member will advise you on local culture and expectations, and practical day to day living, for example, how to use public transport, access your money etc. They will also arrange any language study that you need – this can range from a couple of weeks to several months, depending on your starting point. The first few weeks are intended to give you time and space to settle in – you will not be expected to start at your project straight away. During this time, you will meet your mentor, often a member of Latin Link, who is there to advise, counsel, encourage, bounce ideas off or provide a shoulder to cry on. They will be available to meet with you on a regular basis, sometimes just for a chat, perhaps for some Bible study together; we would expect them to sit down with you at least every six months for a comprehensive review of how things are going.
Q. What happens when I come back?
A: The STMC who organised your placement will spend some time with you at the end of your placement as a form of debrief, to allow you to reflect on your experiences. Then when you get back to Britain or Ireland, usually a month or so after your return, we will meet with you to chat things through, and help you to reflect in depth on how your experience has impacted you and how it might help you in the future. You will also be invited to a debrief weekend for all those who have returned from Step projects or Stride placements during that year; this is usually held in November, and is a great chance to catch up with others you may not have seen since orientation, as well as to reflect as a group on what you have seen and done, and think about the future.
Q. Can I stay for longer?
A: The maximum length of any Stride placement is two years. If you originally commit to a shorter time than this, and then decide you’d like to stay on, this can be arranged with the agreement of your mentor and STMC, up to the maximum of two years. If you do stay on, there will naturally be some extra costs incurred which you will need to take into account – for example, for flight changes.
Q. What about longer term service?
A: As well as providing self-contained placements of up to two years, Stride is also designed to be the foundational time for those envisaging longer term involvement with Latin Link. A two year Stride placement gives you the chance to see whether you are really suited to cross-cultural mission, and whether Latin Link is the right avenue for you. It also allows Latin Link to get to know you, and see how the relationship works. If you hope to extend your service beyond two years, then we have the processes in place to help you do that. This will usually involve a return to Britain or Ireland, as we want the transition to longer term service to include a morale boosting time of vision sharing with your supporters and churches in Britain and Ireland, and for you to get the necessary training and preparation for the next phase.
Q. What about Bible College?
A: Research has shown that poor preparation is one of the main reasons people come home earlier than anticipated from serving in a cross-cultural setting. We are therefore keen that everyone we send receives the best possible preparation for their service abroad. We see training at a Bible or mission training college as a key element of this preparation, giving your faith a firm grounding and helping you to understand some of the cross-cultural issues you are likely to face. We recommend that anyone going on Stride considers a short course at Bible college; we can give some pointers to particular courses and colleges. For those looking at longer term service, we generally require you to complete a minimum of one year at college, depending on the type of ministry you expect to be involved with. For example, if you are looking at lecturing at a Bible college, you will need at least a degree or more likely a masters or PhD in a theological/missiological subject; if you are more interested in social action, one year may be sufficient. This training can be undertaken before the initial Stride placement or afterwards; in some cases, it might be possible to do this while in Latin America.
Q. How do I extend my service with Latin Link?
A: During your time on Stride, you should have six-monthly reviews with your mentor or STMC. At the 18 month stage, a more formal review will be undertaken from which a report will be written. This report should include a summary of any discussions you have had about further service, and will form part of your application to continue as a member of Latin Link.
If both you and Latin Link are in agreement to continue the process, you will be asked to complete a second form entitled ‘Application for longer term service’. This form can be completed and submitted during the final stages of your Stride placement, while the subsequent interviews will be conducted back in Britain and Ireland.
After you have submitted this form, and further references have been taken up, you will be invited to attend an interview day with our Debrief and Interview Panel (DIP). This panel is responsible for assessing your application for further service with Latin Link. It is made up of former Latin Link members and other people with appropriate skills and relevant experience, for example in Bible colleges, pastoral ministry and human resources. On the interview day, you will have two main interviews (personal and theological), each with two members of DIP. For couples, the personal and theological interviews will be individual, with an additional joint interview to consider how you work together as a couple.
A month or so before the Latin Link interview day, you will also be asked to attend a psychological assessment at InterHealth or a similar body. InterHealth will send a report to Latin Link with a copy sent to you too. This report forms another part of the application paperwork, and there will be an opportunity to discuss any aspects you are unsure about on the interview day. It will be seen only by the interviewers (not by everyone on PRAG), and the People Resources Coordinator (Stride-Stay), to maintain confidentiality as far as possible.
A decision will be made by the interviewers on the same day and this will be communicated to you by a member of staff as soon as possible.
Once the interviews are over, can I go?
The invitation to serve longer term with Latin Link is made, as with the Stride programme, subject to CRB disclosure, medical clearance (in this case, a full medical with InterHealth or similar body will be necessary – clearance cannot be given online), and appropriate placement being found and agreed with the team leader in your country of service. This might involve returning to where you had your Stride placement, or it might be somewhere different. You may also be asked to undertake some further study (see section ‘Do I have to go to Bible College?’) or prepare further in another way. Further support-raising (both financial and prayer) may also be necessary before going, to ensure you have sufficient funding for this next phase of your service. As with Stride, you will be expected to raise all your own financial support – there is no central funding available from Latin Link.