More than sixty years ago, Brother Andrew took the step of yes; the step that had effects he never even imagined at the time.
Through the Travel Ministry of Open Doors, you can also take that yes step. You can literally cross borders to hold a persecuted Christian’s hand and encourage them by praying with them. You can take resources to a church who has been praying and trusting God to provide them with the means to learn more about Him. You can walk in the coldest, darkest, “closed country” and experience the power of prayer and the love of God burning in your heart for that country.
If you have a passion for Jesus Christ, a love for our persecuted family across the world, and meet the requirements below… You can travel with us!
The requirements are:
- You need to be between the ages of 18 and 70 years old. If you are over the age of 60, we will need a doctor’s certificate stating that you are in good health and fit to travel.
- If you are under the age of 18, you may travel with a legal guardian.
- You need to be physically fit – you may be required to carry heavy loads or walk long distances.
- You need to adhere to all rules and regulations given by Open Doors. This includes not being allowed to say anything about your trip, or previous trips, you have taken with Open Doors on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media/Internet platform.
Encouragement Trips – On an encouragement trip, you will have the opportunity to meet believers who face persecution and oppression. You will have the opportunity to pray with them, possibly attend a church service, conference or training and just spend some precious time having fellowship with brothers and sisters. You will also learn more about the various projects of Open Doors in the target country.
Prayer Trips – On a prayer trip, it may not be possible to meet believers, but if you have the gift of and a passion for praying, this will be an amazing opportunity to intercede for our brothers and sisters in their specific country. Praying on-site will give you a better understanding of the circumstances Christians are facing every day and will thus allow you to pray more powerfully and specifically for a country.
Delivery Trips – In many countries Christians are still not allowed to own Bibles and there are countless Christians who long to own their own Bible. The purpose of delivery trips is to take Bibles and other Christian literature into countries where there is a great need for this. A believer from a closed country once said: “When you give us Bibles, you give us life.”
Youth Trips – The aim of a youth trip is to give young people, aged between 18 and 25, the opportunity to meet and encourage other young people in the persecuted Church.
Special Trips – These trips allow people with special skills to help persecuted Christians in a practical way, thereby also honouring God with the talents He has given them.
The costs per trip will differ per country that you are aiming to visit, but generally ranges between R20 000 and R40 000. The overall cost depends on the time spent in the country, airplane tickets, and, of course, the Forex exchange rate.
Trip costs include:
- Flight fares;
- All meals, accommodation and transport inside a country;
- Visas;
- Travel insurance;
- Training costs.
The Open Doors Travel Coordinator is responsible for booking the flights, applying for visas, purchasing travel insurance, etc. You will receive the necessary information, as well as the forms to be completed, and the rest will be done by us.
On a Base Trip: all travellers are South African and the group will have a South African trip leader.
On an International Trip: there will be travellers from other Open Doors bases, from different countries. You will join these travellers in the destination city, and the trip leader will be appointed by the coordinator of the country you are visiting.
Yes, training is compulsory. This will take place at an appointed time at the Open Doors head office in Johannesburg.
You may have heard or read a fair deal in the news about some of the countries we are visiting, and this may scare you and/or your loved ones. Some of the destination countries are indeed dangerous to visit. The safety of our travellers is, however, our number one priority and Open Doors goes to the utmost lengths to keep our trips as safe as possible.
We work closely with contacts living in the countries and should any situation arise that poses a safety hazard, we will rather cancel a trip than put our travellers in a situation where their safety will be compromised. In other words, you will be safe travelling with us to any country!
Please take note, though, that you are still travelling at your own risk and that accidents may happen on an Open Doors trip just as they might in South Africa or when you are on holiday.
For any other questions, please contact Samantha at [email protected].
