The first step to embark on a mission is an involvement in the country. During this time you will prepare yourself for the depature, develop your strong sides, get to know SWM and the other volunteers more. There is a whole variety of activities which will enable you to become a part of the mission world even before the departure. The time commited to help missions for sure won’t be wasted and thanks to it it will be easier to decide on a place of departure and the sort of work done during the abroad voluntary service. We require at least one-year involvement in Poland, though in reality we don’t make it count, we just give everything we’ve got!

Along with an involvement in missions, our volunteers take part in formation meetings. For the people from Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw, Swietochowice and Kielce these are weekly meetings, for those from a little bit more distant parts- monthly conventions. This is the time for discovering and building up your own mission calling,and also for practical preparations for work in another culture and in different life conditions.

In mid November we start a process of choosing volonteers for the next year. The first step is to send an application for a mission departure, an example of which the coordinator sends to voluteers every year. After applying, during the December convention of volunteers, takes place a conversation with a priest and the coorinator of volunteers. On the basis of the application and conversation, and, first of all, how we managed to get to know each other, we decide on the departure of a volunteer.

Now we start a puzzle! We try to fit, the best we can, mission institutions which declared the need for volunteer’s help to volunteers’ ready-for-departure skills. We will suggest you the most optimal, in our opinion, place and work, and the final decision we will make together.

The preparation for departure includes: carrying out basic vaccinations and having medical examinations, completing all visa formalities, brushing up the language ( and passing the internal exam), buying a ticket, co-finansing the cost of departure, training before the departure and a day of concentration. Before embarking on a mission you need to find out a lot about a particular country, the mission institution and prepare yourself best ,paying special attention to the scheduled work. One of the most important events is taking on a mission cross, which emphasises readiness to share the testimony to faith.

You pack your suitcase, hug your family and friends, then set off!

Every day, during your stay in a mission institution, you share your testimony to faith by performing your duties conscienciously and spending time with people to whom you were sent with a mission. Check here what exactly you can do during your departure for a mission.

Every year, after volunteer’s return from a mission, we organise a special meeting during which we share our experiences with each other, we reflect on the things that we managed to do during our departure, on what we’ve learnt and what we are going to do next with our experiences.

”You were given it for free, give it for free” […..] After the return from a mission, volunteers engage in mission activities, even more deeply sharing their testimony to work on missions in congregations, schools, in Villages of the World, in their own environment and accompanying in forming people who prepare for departures.