We strategically chose mission contacts and locations based on relationships, strategic investment, and safety. 

1. We have long-term relationships with many of our contacts, meaning we send them teams year after year. We either know our contacts personally or have been connected to them by trusted sources. 

2. Chosen contacts also do sustainable Kingdom work, meaning our contacts have been planted in the nation or city long-term, carry a good reputation with the local people, and have a sustainable ministry model. 

3. Finally, safety is our utmost priority. We work hard to ensure that our students have good places to stay, are well taken care of on the field, and are in healthy ministry situations

You will be placed on a team in November and attend Big Team Trainings from January to April. We train all teams on spiritual authority, worship and prayer, kids ministry, youth ministry, sharing a testimony, evangelizing, preaching, culture, religions, safety, and contact investment. You will also meet weekly with your team, attend a Serve Saturday event (a designated outreach event where your team serves Tulsa together), and go through Ropes training.

Each student fundraises for their trip. Trip costs are based on length, duration, and location.
We encourage you to use this as an opportunity to trust the Lord’s provision, to ask people to partner with you, and to do creative fundraisers.

We ask that you send 20 support letters in December when we host an event called “Stamp Party.” Your team will stuff and seal your letters, and ORU Missions pays for the postage for both domestic and international addresses (ORU Missions will pay for as many letters as you want to send out). We see that most funds come in from these letters!

Beyond that, you are encouraged to fundraise in creative ways. It is the responsibility of each individual to raise their funds. Some teams do fundraisers together, but this is not required or expected of the team or its leaders.

The funds you raise go directly to the cost of the trips and needs of the department, including flights, housing, food, in-country transportation, ministry supplies, administrative fees, visa costs (when applicable), training materials, Ropes training week, and more.

All fundraised monies that come into the ORU Missions Office go towards mission trips and administrative expenses. While extra funds cannot be refunded to the donor for any reason due to our 501(c)(3) status, they will only go towards the team’s fund or other students’ trips for that calendar year. Extra funds cannot be saved for future years, cannot be given directly to you, or cannot be used for any other purpose.

There are limited scholarships available that are allocated at the discretion of the Directors. Scholarships are need-based and awarded only on financial deadline days.

To help you meet your fundraising goals, we’ve created smaller deadlines to make the fundraising process more manageable. The 2026 deadline days are as follows: 

25% — January 21

50% — February 16

75% — March 25

100% — April 13

ORU Missions and Outreach is a 501(c)(3) organization, and monies donated cannot be refunded under any circumstances. If you experience an extenuating circumstance (a death in the family, a serious illness, etc.) and want your funds to be held for the next academic year, you must petition and be given permission by the Directors. 

ORU Missions will not cover the cost of a passport. Since passports require an extensive application and extend well beyond the length of the trip, ORU Missions cannot assist with the passport process. 

Passports are due on January 28 (the 25% financial deadline). If you do not turn your passport in on time, you will be moved to a domestic trip. We do this because all passports must be turned in to our office before we can purchase flights and apply for visas.

Yes, ORU Missions will do the paperwork and cover the cost of any necessary visas. You may need to take a visa photo and provide additional information for the visa paperwork, but you will not have to apply for or pay for the visa yourself. 

One of the unique parts of ORU Missions is that all our teams are student-led, meaning there is a student Team Leader and a student Assistant Team Leader. These two students receive copious amounts of extra training and support throughout the year to equip them for these roles.

The whole team comprises ORU students: a Team Leader, an Assistant Team Leader, and Mission Members. All are current ORU students, either undergraduate or graduate.

It is trip-dependent. Many of our trips do not require specific vaccinations; however, we always recommend that you are up-to-date on basic immunizations, such as Hepatitis A & B and tetanus. For some trips, we strongly recommend you receive the polio booster, typhoid, etc. 

A few trips have yellow fever or malaria requirements that are either mandated by the nation’s government or based upon our office’s assessment of what’s needed for individual safety, and this is noted on our application. Our office provides a list of required or recommended vaccines and monitors outbreaks and risks throughout the year. Requirements could change based on real-time updates.  

The cost of immunizations and the responsibility of getting them rest on you and is not included in the trip price. If you are uncomfortable with the necessary vaccinations for your trip, you are always welcome to fill out the petition to be moved to a different team.

We encourage you to have personal medical insurance and carry your insurance card during the trip. We also purchase travel medical insurance for additional medical coverage when you are on the field.

You can petition to change teams up until the 75% deadline by filling out a petition in the Missions Office. 

Many factors go into placing you on a team, including length of trip, ministry interests, desired Peak rating, and team capacity (all of our teams have a capacity limit, meaning our contacts cannot physically host over a certain number of students).

If you need to switch teams based on your trip availability, health, or vaccination concerns, you will be moved to an available team, although it cannot be guaranteed to be a specific trip. Other reasons to petition could be denied.