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Taking Off Our Shoes Our first step in approaching another people, another culture, another religion, is to take off our shoes, for the place we are approaching is holy. Else we may find ourselves Treading on another’s dream. More serious still, we may forget that God was there before we arrived. -author unknown |
We hope that you will find God in the people who appear to be (or should be in our limited view) most downtrodden. We want you to discover and rediscover the paradox which is God’s kingdom: Blessings come when you are at the end of your rope. Because it is then that God can find the space to enter your life. Luke20: Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
We will visit the same questions at the end of each day. Where and in whom did you meet God? What God-truth was revealed through them? What strengthened those who seemed to be at the end of their ropes – the poor in spirit? And our prayer is that you are strengthened and that in your weaknesses, God can enter and bring peace. -Danielle and Eduardo
This information is provided to help your group plan for the DOOR-San Antonio experience. It provides background on the DOOR program, specifics on who can participate, registration procedures, schedules, cost, what to bring, transportation, insurance, and other logistics.
If you are considering a trip, please contact the City Directors or our National Office, Marie Voth or 303-295-3667.
Register now by clicking directly to the Registration Form
Who Can Participate?
The week-long DOOR program is designed for participants of all ages, middle-school, high-school age and beyond and is open to all denominations. DOOR asks that one adult sponsor accompany every five high school youth and one adult for every four middle school youth who make up the group. For a week-long experience, DOOR-San Antonio can accommodate groups up to 75 total participants (youth and sponsors.) Smaller groups may be paired with other small groups, a practice that allows participants from different places and denominations to share in service.
What Will You Do?
A typical DOOR-San Antonio week begins on arrival Sunday evening after supper and ends with departure after lunch the following Friday. A two-hour orientation/logistics session Sunday evening helps prepare everyone for the week. Your group will be divided into work teams, (4-6 participants with one adult sponsor as designated leader) that are also your meal teams. Meal teams are responsible for preparing and cleaning up after all meals eaten together by the group. Groceries, menus, and cooking instructions are provided and a DOOR staff person is on hand for reference.
Once assigned to work and meal teams, participants generally stay with those same teams for the week. Work teams usually spend each day at a different service assignment. However, due to the nature of some assignments, there are cases where we will ask the same work team to stay at a site for more than one day. Our goal is that all participants will have a variety of experiences that they can then share with each other.
Examples of service assignments are preparing and serving meals at a soup kitchen; helping with children whose parents may be looking for a job, in school, or living on the streets; lawn and building maintenance for individuals, seniors and/or for organizations that temporarily house homeless families; stocking shelves in food banks; sorting donated clothing;building ramps for low-income, disabled elderly; meeting with and listening to groups that are working for change in the city; working with children and youth with developmental disabilities.
What Will The Schedule Be Like?
Although the schedule varies and is flexible, a typical day may go as follows:
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6:30 - 8:00 a.m. |
Wake up, prepare, eat and clean up breakfast |
| 7:30 a.m. | Quiet Time/Bible Study |
| 8:00 a.m. | Travel to service assignment |
| Noon | Lunch at work site |
| 4:00 p.m. | Return to San Antonio Mennonite, clean-up, free time |
| 5:45 p.m. | Supper at San Antonio Mennonite Church |
| 7:00 p.m. | Evening session/free time |
Evening sessions include worship, presentations, and group reflection. Thursday evening is set aside for a time together to help participants reflect on and process what they have seen, felt, and learned during the course of each day. This is perhaps the most important time of the week. Issues raised are addressed in light of our calling as Christians to love others and to respond to those in need. On Wednesday evening a formal reflection time is not scheduled. DOOR does not provide supper on this evening, so most groups choose to eat out and spend the evening seeing more of San Antonio. (Please keep in mind that some work teams may not finish their assignments until early evening.)
Cost and Registration for the San Antonio Week Long ProgramParticipant cost for 2010 is $295. This covers food, lodging, materials for service experiences, and program administration. Our registration process has several stages:
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Registration and Deposit: Return the group registration form and a deposit of $75 per person to reserve your dates. This deposit will be applied, in its entirety, toward your total group cost and will hold your requested date. -
Second payment:
- For groups coming in the summer, between May and August: $100 per person payment is due on March 1.
- For groups coming other times in the year: $100 payment is due 10 weeks prior to your trip.
This payment is per person. This means that if you deposit for 10 people and only bring nine, you lose the $100 deposit for that one person. You may increase your numbers, if space is available, with a telephone call to us. Again this deposit is non-refundable and helps us to determine final space availability.
Upon receipt of this payment, we will send you an orientation package via email, including a statement of funds received and balance due 3 weeks before arrival. The orientation packet is intended to prepare your group for the DOOR experience, and we strongly recommend you take the time to go over it with your whole group.
Balance is due 3 weeks before arrival.
All funds received must be in U.S. currency.
For groups registering after Mar 1, please contact Christie in the National Office for payment schedule.
Should your group need to cancel, please see our Cancellation Policy.
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Start the registration process for your trip by filling out our Online Registration (Fill out, print and send in with deposit), or if you prefer, filling out a PDF version of the Registration (Print, fill out, and send in with your deposit. |
What To Bring To San Antonio
Go to the: San Antonio Packing List
While at DOOR, groups stay in San Antonio Mennonite Church. Cooking is done in the church kitchen and participants sleep on the floor in Sunday school rooms and the sanctuary. Each participant should bring a sleeping bag, a towel, and toiletries. We provide a limited number of air mattresses. Work clothing is a must and other casual/sport clothing as desired. There are no laundry facilities at the church. A packing list will be included in the orientation materials sent in the spring.
Transportation
The DOOR-San Antonio program relies on a combination of public transportation (buses) and the vehicles you come in for transportation of your work teams to and from service assignments around San Antonio. You are responsible for driving your own vehicles around the city. If you are thinking of coming by plane, train, school or touring bus, you have two options. First, you may rent vans in San Antonio as needed to transport your group to service assignments. Second, you may choose to use public transportation for your entire experience. There is a $15 additional cost per person (this option is limited to the summer and to 30 people per week) if you choose the public transportation option. Riding public transportation throughout the city is often a valuable learning experience and a good way to see the city from a local perspective. For those arriving in school or touring buses, you may be required to park your bus somewhere other than the host site due to limited parking space.
Health InsuranceWhile participating in the DOOR program, there is always the chance that volunteers will need medical care. Accidents can and do happen while at the service assignments, during recreational activities and free time, even on the trip to and from San Antonio. Since the DOOR program does not carry medical insurance for participants, we ask that group leaders make sure that all group members have insurance and that the DOOR Medical Release Forms (sent along with orientation the materials) are completed and available to our staff while your group is in San Antonio.
Additional San Antonio Information
In addition to learning about service, we hope DOOR participants will have fun! The DOOR staff tries to be sure that not all your time in San Antonio is spent working or being involved in serious discussions. We have built into the schedule one free evening and free time each afternoon. We invite participants to bring recreation and entertainment ideas with them.