GCE: Global Connection Experiences
Global Connection Experiences · GCE
Meet the child you sponsor. See the project you built.
You have sponsored a child, given to a project or prayed for a community for years. Now you want to see it with your own eyes. A Global Connection Experience takes you there with a Bridges of Hope team. You volunteer, but above all you come to understand the context in which we serve and how to raise more support for the projects you love.
We are all connected
Many sponsors and donors give for years without ever meeting the people they help. A GCE takes you to the child you sponsor and the project you support, so you serve side by side and come home with a story and a calling.
This is what a GCE does. It connects churches, businesses and individuals with our partner communities around the world, to build relationships that last and communities that thrive.
What stands in the way
Generous hearts. Too much distance.
For you
Perhaps you have given faithfully and still wondered whether it made a lasting difference. A photo and a thank-you note can only carry so much.
For communities
Local leaders carry heavy loads with few hands and little encouragement from the people who support them.
For all of us
The body of Christ was never meant to be divided into those who give and those who receive, strangers to one another.
And underneath it all there is a quieter voice. It says, “I am only one person on a short trip. What difference could I make?” That voice is a liar. Poverty grows best where people remain strangers.
Travel with us
Four ways to go. One purpose.
Bridges of Hope connects churches, businesses, sponsors and professionals with the communities they support, so relationships grow and the work grows with them. Every GCE serves a Bridges of Hope project, and you do not need the DTS to join one.
Church partner trips
This is where your church’s partnership comes alive. Meeting the community you support, worshipping with local believers and hearing their story first-hand will deepen your bond and give your congregation a fresh picture of what the gospel does in a community.
For you if you are…
- A church supporting a Bridges of Hope project or partner
- A pastor who wants members to see the work they give to and pray for
- A congregation looking for a missions focus that lasts beyond one trip
Includes…
- Time with local families, pastors and community leaders
- Site visits to the projects your church has helped support
- Worship, fellowship and celebrating local culture, food and hospitality
- A plan to share the story and grow support in your congregation
Business partner trips
For business owners and leaders who give through Bridges of Hope or Hope Business Groups. See enterprise, training and microloans at work, meet the entrepreneurs your support helps, and come home with a story your team, clients and community will remember.
For you if you are…
- A business or Hope Business Groups member partnering with Bridges of Hope
- A leader who wants your employees to see the community your business supports
- Interested in how enterprise and opportunity move families beyond charity
Includes…
- Meeting entrepreneurs, trainees and local leaders
- Site visits to projects your business has helped fund
- Honest conversations about what each project needs to grow
- An impact story to share with your staff and customers
Sponsor and donor visits
You have written letters and prayed for years. Now you can meet the child you sponsor or stand inside the project you helped build. We plan every visit with our field team, so it is safe, respectful and unforgettable.
For you if you are…
- A sponsor who wants to meet your sponsored child and their family
- A donor who wants to see a project you have supported
- A family who wants to share this experience together
Includes…
- A planned visit with your sponsored child, family and teachers, where travel is advised
- Site visits to schools, clinics and community projects
- Time with our local staff, who know every child by name
Skills trips
Nurses, doctors, engineers, teachers and tradespeople bring expertise that our hosts ask for. Your skills strengthen local staff and leave capacity behind long after you fly home.
For you if you are…
- A nurse, doctor or other health professional
- An engineer, builder, teacher or skilled tradesperson
- Willing to train and serve alongside local staff
Includes…
- Work that our hosts request and help plan
- Training and mentoring local staff
- Cultural orientation and a team leader who knows the project
Travel with people who know the road
You will not go alone. We have walked this road since 2003.
Perhaps you are nervous about your first trip abroad, or unsure your skills are needed. That is normal. Our team leaders and in-country hosts prepare you, walk with you and bring you home safely.
Where GCE teams have served
Our travellers have served in Haiti after the earthquake, in Guatemala, in Uganda and in Burkina Faso, beside the local leaders who carry the work every day.
Money alone is not the need. Understanding is.
Come less interested in bringing your contribution than in seeking to understand. Out of that understanding comes a contribution that helps.
What a trip does
Understand first. Then help the work grow.
In our experience, engagement grows highest when people take part in a GCE. You will volunteer on every trip. Above all, a GCE is about seeking to understand the context in which we operate, and returning home ready to raise more capital for our projects.
Understand the context
See daily life, local leadership and the real needs on the ground, so your giving and advocacy are wise and well informed.
Raise more capital
Learn what each project needs to grow, and come home equipped to raise support from your family, church, business and friends.
Volunteer alongside
Serve beside local staff, and offer your skills where our hosts ask for them.
Grow in Christ
Return with a deeper faith, a wider heart for the nations, and perhaps a calling you did not expect.
What the research shows
Seeing changes giving. Follow-through makes it last.
We built the GCE on what credible research says about giving, sponsorship and short-term trips, including the cautions.
People give to people.
In experiments published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes (2007), donors gave more generously to one identifiable child than to statistics about millions in need. Meeting a child or a family face to face is the strongest form of that connection.
Read the studySponsorship changes lives.
A six-country study of 10,144 people in the Journal of Political Economy (2013) found that sponsored children were 27 to 40 percent more likely to finish secondary school and 50 to 80 percent more likely to complete university.
Read the summaryPreparation and follow-up matter.
A study of trips to Honduras found that most travellers did not increase their giving once home, while a randomized study in the Journal of Sociology and Christianity (2017) found that training improved how travellers understood poverty. That is why every GCE includes training, a debrief and a plan to raise support.
Read the studyWhere you can serve
Our project sites come first. The world is open.
We give priority to Bridges of Hope project sites, where your team serves people and partners we know well, and we also welcome teams to other places of need. Every destination is approved against current Government of Canada travel advice before a team is formed.
Bright Light and partners
Health, schooling and agriculture with local leaders.
Samuelito
Day care and early learning for children in Santa Cruz.
Beautiful Feet
Meals, schooling and care for children and families.
Boura, Burkina Faso. Our flagship campus is close to our hearts. The Government of Canada currently advises Canadians to avoid all travel to Burkina Faso, so we are not sending teams there at this time. Sponsors stay connected through letters and updates from our field team, and visits will resume when it is safe.
Our commitments
We take every trip seriously. Here is how.
A GCE carries people we love into communities we love. These are the standards every trip is held to, from the first conversation to the final debrief.
Safety first
We follow Government of Canada travel advice, require travel and medical insurance, keep your itinerary and emergency contacts on file, and ask every traveller to register with the Registration of Canadians Abroad service.
Children protected
Anyone who will be around children provides a criminal record check and a child welfare check. Adults are never alone with a child, and all contact with a sponsored child goes through Bridges of Hope.
Dignity in every story
Children are never a tourist attraction. Travellers sign our confidentiality and personal etiquette forms, ask permission before taking photos, and share stories that honour the people in them.
Partnership, not tourism
Our hosts help set each trip’s purpose and activities. We serve where we are invited, and we never do work that local people can do and be paid for.
Trained and led
Every team has a team leader who knows the project, and every traveller receives the GCE Team Manual, cultural training and team meetings before departure.
Thorough follow-through
Every team gathers for a debrief within three weeks of returning, and we help you turn what you saw into lasting support for the project.
How it works
Three steps to your first trip.
Talk with us.
Tell us your interests, your gifts and the child or project you support. Together we find where you can serve best, or another organization that fits you better.
Email our officeApply.
Complete the trip application with a copy of your passport. Successful applicants receive an acceptance letter, the trip budget and a fundraising guide.
Request an applicationPrepare and go.
Train with your team, raise your support and travel with people who know the field. Then come home, debrief and tell the story.
What to expectWhat to expect
Prepared, supported and cared for.
Your budget
- Plan on about $6,000 CAD per trip. Your acceptance letter confirms the exact budget and what it covers.
- Family, friends and your church can give toward your team budget through Bridges of Hope, and receive an official tax receipt for eligible gifts.
- We give you sample support letters and help you plan your fundraising.
- Passport, visas, vaccinations, malaria medication and spending money are your own costs.
Before, during and after
- Team training, the GCE Team Manual and meetings with your team leader.
- Valid passport, travel and medical insurance, and your record checks.
- Comfortable lodging, safe drinking water and a doctor on call in country.
- A team debrief within three weeks of your return.
Good to know. Gifts toward a team budget support the project and are receipted by Bridges of Hope, so they cannot be refunded if plans change.
Two different endings
Stay at a distance, or come and see.
If we never go
- 1. Your giving stays a transaction, and you never meet the faces behind it.
- 2. Local leaders keep carrying the work without the encouragement of friends who came.
- 3. A young person in your church never discovers the calling waiting on the other side of the world.
A bridge with only one side never carries anyone across. We do not want that for you.
When you come
- You move from giver at a distance to partner on the ground.
- The child you sponsor knows your face, and you know theirs.
- You come home with a story that moves your family, your church and your friends to act.
- You become an ambassador who helps the project raise the capital it needs to grow.
Want to go deeper?
Discipleship Training School. A season of formation.
You do not need the DTS to join a GCE. For those who want more, the DTS is a nine-month discipleship program that complements the GCE and prepares you for a lifetime of serving, with a global outreach in February. It meets at Bridges of Hope in Lethbridge and is offered with Tehillah YQL.
What the school includes
- Weekly teaching, plus a Tehillah gathering on the third Tuesday of each month.
- At least two hours a week of servant leadership in a local church.
- One-on-one mentorship.
- Several local outreaches through the year.
- Daily spiritual practices, journaling and assignments.
Tuition
- School: $1,500, payable at $300 a month, or $1,000 by October and $500 by November.
- Global outreach (optional): $2,000, flights not included.
- We confirm your payment plan after you apply.
Questions
Before you pack your bags.
Who can go?
Everyone is welcome to apply. Most travellers are sponsors visiting their child and donors visiting a project they support, joined by professionals such as nurses, doctors and engineers, and by church teams, families, students and gap-year volunteers. Not every trip fits every person, and we will tell you so with care.
Can I visit the child I sponsor?
Yes, in countries where travel is advised. Tell us when you ask about a trip, and we will plan the visit with our field team so you can meet your sponsored child and their family safely and appropriately.
Can I bring gifts?
Yes. Small, practical gifts such as school supplies, shoes, clothing and toothbrushes are welcome, and our hosts help you give them well. Please do not give cash directly to children or families.
Can I take photos?
Yes, with permission. Ask before photographing anyone, take extra care with children, and never share images or locations that could put a child at risk or rob a person of dignity.
How much should I budget, and is it receipted?
About $6,000 CAD per trip. Gifts from your supporters toward your team budget are given to Bridges of Hope, which issues official tax receipts for eligible gifts.
Do I need the DTS first?
No. A GCE stands on its own. The DTS is an optional, longer program for those who want deeper discipleship training.
Do I need a passport and vaccinations?
Yes. Your passport needs two blank pages and must be valid six months past your return date. Some countries, including Uganda and Ghana, require a yellow fever vaccination, so speak with a travel health clinic at least two months before you leave.
What if a country becomes unsafe?
We monitor Government of Canada travel advice before and during every trip. If a destination becomes unsafe, we postpone or redirect the trip, and your team budget continues to serve the project.
Can I arrive early or stay longer?
Yes, as long as you arrange and pay for the extra travel and lodging yourself and confirm your plans with our office.
Your next step
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28:19 (NIV)
One step today: ask about a trip. We will listen to your story and help you find where you fit. Because we are all connected.
Why we do what we do
In Jesus’ name. For the glory of God.
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me… Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”Matthew 25:35–36, 40 (NIV)
Six people Christ asks us to see. Six ways we answer.
Matthew 25 is our inspiration: we answer the call of Christ to care for the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the stranger and the prisoner, with compassion, love, justice and mercy, and we serve every person with dignity, whatever their faith. Every plate, well, classroom and loan is an act of worship. To God be the glory.