The Service Learning Book: Getting Ready, Serving Well, and Coming Back Transformed - Softcover

Entwistle, David N.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1532674864 ISBN 13: 9781532674860

Publisher: Cascade Books, 2019

Synopsis

Service learning teams and short-term mission opportunities have incredible potential to help participants stretch their faith, to help others, and gain a bigger picture of what God is doing in the world. To be effective, and to serve others in ways that are helpful, preparation is essential. This book will help readers think through things such as:

·Deciding whether or not to join a team (and addressing the problem of team members dropping out)
·Thinking carefully about fundraising
·Anticipating group conflict, and strategies for preventing and managing conflict
·Preparing for cross-cultural encounters and cross-cultural reflection
·Reentry and reflection

The book is designed for groups (whether for those preparing many teams at once or for individual teams) and for individuals themselves. It includes careful Christian reflection and draws on cross-cultural experience and research. It can be used as a workbook to encourage deliberation about the most pressing issues likely to be faced in preparing for service learning and short-term mission opportunities with the goal of promoting lifelong change.

About this title

About the Author

David N. Entwistle is a clinical psychologist and a psychology professor who has led service learning teams to Poland, Austria, China, and Hong Kong. He spent three summers on mission stations in several African countries and has traveled extensively across four continents. He has published numerous articles and is a frequent conference speaker. His widely used textbook, Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity (Cascade Books, 2015) is in its third edition.

Review

"The let's-sit-down-and-chat-about-this style of this book is brilliant. David has done a superb job paralleling SLT with Bible narratives, then drawing on his experiences to give broad, practical advice in a short book, not dodging the issues, but highlighting good practices. This is an insightful, easy read that I would recommend to all involved in short-term teams."

--Howard and Ave Robinson, Director, Mobile Mission Maintenance New Zealand

"This book wonderfully illustrates that mission trips are at their best when they incorporate service and learning! Dr. Entwistle offers very practical, down-to-earth advice that is applicable to individuals involved in many types of mission work, helping them to avoid common pitfalls by learning about the culture instead of judging it, listening to those who live on the field and following their recommendations, and approaching the trip with the heart of a servant. As missionaries who have hosted hundreds of teams over the past eighteen years, we appreciate how this book can help prepare people not just to go on a mission trip to help others, but to understand that they will also be transformed by the experience."

--Allen and Trish Sowers, Missionaries to Honduras, Founders, Sowers4Pastors, Inc

"Having been with Dr. Entwistle and some of his teams, I can affirm that the wisdom imparted in this short treatise has sometimes been learned the hard way. He has seen lives and futures changed as young men and women have embarked on service-learning teams that impacted them as well as those in the host cultures. Insightful, practical, and challenging, the questions raised in this book are designed to make the most out of any cross-cultural experience. Like never before, the world awaits those who are willing to rise to the challenges, to embark on the journey, to see lives changed by exposure to others from other cultures. Great opportunities to learn and serve should begin with careful reading and discussion of this book."

--Don & Betty Orr, Humanitarian aid workers

"Service-Learning Teams offer a tremendous opportunity for individuals and teams to grow personally and spiritually, while providing meaningful help to ongoing ministry. However, this growth and impact is only achieved when there is a strong biblical foundation of service and calling, along with guidance on navigating thorny issues like team conflict, finances, and cross-cultural sensitivity. Drawing on years of experience and keen biblical insight, Dr. Entwistle provides the tools necessary to help individuals and teams to think through the fundamental components of a short-term mission to maximize the personal and spiritual growth of participants and their effectiveness in ministry."

--PJ Holmertz, International Short-Term Program Director, Africa Inland Mission

Edition details

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1532674864
• ISBN 13: 9781532674860
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 136