We have had a lot of fellow business owners and individuals inquire about our Vision Trip process and how it came to be. It all started in 2007 when our first Ministry Coordinator took on the challenge of planning our company’s very first Vision Trip. She started by meeting with church missions pastors to learn their strategies and processes. Those meetings led to what now has become anywhere between three to six trips each year with up to 80+ people attending them.

Vision Trip Goals

•  Foster growth for employees and their families (encouraging spiritual and personal development)
• Team building (deepening relationships among employees and their families beyond work)
• Experience the impact of our ministry partners (helping employees connect their daily job to a real-world impact)
• Serve others (taking the opportunity to serve our ministry partners and those around us)

Vision Trip Planning Timeline

• Early Summer – All opportunities are taken into consideration, and our team prayerfully discusses each opportunity for the upcoming year.
• Late Summer – Our Ministry Coordinator contacts the ministries, proposes dates & details, and the decisions are finalized.
• Fall – We present the opportunities to our employees in a fun or impactful way (skits, movies, etc.).
• December – Vision Trip sign-ups take place. This is a firm time and financial commitment from employees, by paying a non-refundable deposit to secure their spot.

We try to plan a variety of dates with the majority being in the summertime so younger children of employees can attend without missing school. Sometimes we provide a spring break or winter opportunity. Each date depends not only on the availability of the ministry partner’s schedule, but also the amount of sign-ups from employees.

Revealing Our Vision Trips

After creating excitement and momentum, we reveal our Vision Trips for the coming year at our November all-company meeting. Our Media Coordinator creates an inspiring video to present during this meeting that reflects aspects of every trip that will be offered. We also create brochures to feature each trip’s specifics to help employees select the trip that best fits their family.

Vision Trip Eligibility

Vision Trips are a unique privilege that we offer our employees! To be eligible for one of these trips, an employee must be working for Betenbough Homes for 12 months prior to the departure date of the trip. They are eligible to bring their spouse and children or one guest.

Because we are so passionate about creating a culture for our employees to go on one of these trips, the employee’s first trip (and their family/guest) is completely paid for by the company. Their second trip is 90% paid for by the company, and their third trip and every year after is 75% paid for by the company. This is an incredible investment, but we feel the results of going on a Vision Trip are worth the cost.

Vision Trip Requirements

• Passports for all international trips
• Manager approval & paperwork
• Pre-trip training

Vision Trip Training & Additional Resources

We offer meetings to provide informational, cultural and personal preparation, some team building opportunities, and a chance to get to know the leadership of our ministry partner before we take the trip.

We provide a book “When Helping Hurts” by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert to help prepare each participant’s heart before serving, as well as give guidance on how to correctly address and view poverty in the locations we will visit. We have team leaders on every trip that are trained to lead participants logistically and emotionally. Most recently, we added journals for every participant that provide additional training tips and discussion opportunities, more information on the team traveling and serving together, as well as the ministry partners that will lead the trip and the ministry partner organization and ministry partner trip leaders. The journals also include additional resources such as a packing list, a simple language guide, frequently asked questions pertaining to the specific trip, and daily devotions with extra journaling space.

Who Do We Partner With On Vision Trips?

We select Vision Trips according to our giving and ministry partnerships that have already been established. We love to connect with projects for which we have previously supported financially. Vision trip goals are summed up in our tag line – “Sharing our Passion. Experiencing their Purpose.” By going and seeing our ministry partner first hand, employees will experience the partner’s purpose, what they do, and who they serve.

Vision Trip Impact

As always, our trips come with one requirement – flexibility! We have found that when it comes to planning anything this spiritually powerful, you will be under Satan’s attack all the way through. Patience and prayer are required, but in the end, our employees continue to express to us through surveys that Vision Trips are their FAVORITE element of spiritual growth at our company! What a blessing!