Mission Applicant Reference – Staff

It's very possible that if you're a new staff, or if the applicant is new to CCO, that you don't know the applicant very well. That's Ok. If you're the staff who knows the applicant best, you're the one we want filling out the reference. We require other non-staff references who hopefully should be able to fill some of the gaps.

Often when someone thinks of mission, they think of building houses and feeding the poor. This is generally not what our missions look like. We do evangelization missions where our participants are daily expected to share the Gospel with strangers. Mission can be a daily GRIND. We can have early mornings, followed by late nights. The mission may be in a country where they don't like the food, there is intense heat, and you need to pee in a hole in the ground. There can be next to no personal time and personal space. On the flip side, we know mission is beautiful because God chooses us and uses us to change peoples lives. Participants will experience iconic moments, and they'll develop new friendships that they'll keep for the rest of their lives. They will be equipped for a lifetime of mission.

Mental health issues can be a huge red flag as we consider an applicant. Mission can act as a magnifying glass for an issue that may seem small, and can be easily manage while at home. A student who is struggling with mental health issues while on mission can jeopardize the safety of the team and themselves, and use up a ton of staff's time and resources. A mental health issue doesn't automatically disqualify an applicant, it just means that we need to examine them with greater scrutiny, and make sure that the illness can be managed while we are on mission.

Participants need to know that at times we can be very strict with our financial deadlines. We have deadlines for when when we need to pay airlines and accomodations, and so these deadlines need to be applied to students as well. It's important for the applicant to know that if they don't reach a financial deadline, it's possible that they could be removed from the mission.

Having an accurate picture of an applicants strengths and weaknesses is important that we build our mission teams. Don't try and make things up! We want to know why the applicant would be great FOR mission, not why mission would be great for the student.

Hint: I hate when staff use one of those weaknesses that aren't really weaknesses (i.e. They care too much; They try too hard) Staff write stuff like this all the time. Please don't do it!

This is a bit of a "catch all" question. Feel free to include any information that you want us to know, but you didn't feel like there was a place to include it in the rest of the application.

Please don't be afraid to use the "Recommend with Reservation" It's not a death sentence! If there are are questions about their suitability, or you feel like maybe you don't know them quite well enough, use this one! We accept people who are put in this category all the time.