Mission Volunteers
Mission Volunteers are individuals or couples (ages 18 and up) who seek long-term partnerships with communities around the world and fund themselves. Mission Volunteer opportunities are diverse and range from working with refugees, children and youth to serving as a teacher, pastor, camp director or health care professional. The length of service ranges from two months to more than two years.
Plan to attend a Mission Volunteer Training:
- August 4-7, 2025, Mary & Joseph Retreat Center, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA.
- November 10-13, 2025, Mount Sequoyah Center, Fayetteville, AR.
To learn more about the training events:
Explore volunteer opportunities around the world and see our urgent volunteer requests.
This handbook is for team leaders, members and others involved in short-term mission journeys. Order your copy from The Upper Room below. Available in English, Spanish, Korean and French.
Order Volunteer Handbook | Leader Handbook
Mission Volunteers David and Shari Nelson return to Ecuador for a second year to serve with staff and students of a Methodist school in Pastocalle, Cotopaxi.
Jerry Feese and Robilea Swindell, a couple from the Great Plains Conference, have made volunteering a cornerstone in their lives. As Global Ministries Mission Volunteers, they have broadened their opportunities to serve in different places and capacities.
In 1960, Ruth Johnson Colvin decided to volunteer her time to do something about the high rate of functional illiteracy in Syracuse, where she lived. Sixty-two years later, the nonprofit she founded and the methods she designed to teach literacy have spread across the United States and into 26 developing countries around the world.