The LoveWorks Handbook provides important information for students, parents, and families. In this guide, you will find our LoveWorks program policies, support raising information, travel and safety information, and much more.
Frequently Asked Questions
How will I communicate with my loved one while they are away serving with LoveWorks?
Team members give LoveWorks e-mail addresses for updates, which are received by the program from team leaders and hosts every three to four days during the trip and forwarded. For three-week teams we do not allow direct communication home. This cuts way down on distractions, homesickness, missed connections, and high phone bills. It allows most students to leave their very expensive phone with us for safekeeping. It makes students and their families safer when there are emergencies because they are in the mindset of routing communication through PLNU LoveWorks.
What will happen if there is an emergency injury or illness that affects a team member?
Program staff are on call 24 hours a day while teams are traveling. We are ready to respond on behalf of PLNU to make necessary connections and arrangements in the event of an emergency back at home or with the team.
Does LoveWorks provide for travel insurance?
Yes, PLNU LoveWorks provides for travel insurance, including medical care, emergency medical evacuation, and emergency political evacuation. Please contact us if you have questions about travel insurance.
Who are the people who invite and host LoveWorks teams?
Our hosts are church leaders, pastors, and missionaries. Most of our hosts are leaders in the Church of the Nazarene, our sponsoring denomination. This is not an attempt to be exclusive; it is simply the Christian network we belong to institutionally. We are better able to maintain long-term connection and know reporting structures, expectations, and coherence. In most cases, our hosts are residents of or frequent visitors to the areas they invite us to. Listening to them is usually our best decision for safety.
Does LoveWorks accommodate dietary preferences or needs?
LoveWorks will facilitate your needs but may ask you to sacrifice many of your personal preferences. We will ask you to sacrifice vegetarian or other dietary preferences for the duration of the LoveWorks trip. This is to be culturally sensitive and accommodating to our hosts.
Documented dietary needs will be accommodated whenever and however reasonably possible. To clarify medical necessity, we require a note from the general practitioner or specialist who manages the participant’s care. This note should simply express that the dietary need is medically documented. For religious belief-related dietary needs, a meeting should be arranged with the program director to discuss the need and begin planning to accommodate it whenever reasonably possible. Physician/dietician notes cannot be provided by the PLNU Wellness Center staff.
Does LoveWorks accommodate documented special needs?
Yes, LoveWorks encourages persons with disabilities to participate as team members or co-leaders. LoveWorks is committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation to persons with disabilities. LoveWorks often serves in international settings where access and reasonable ability to accommodate varies by country. If you may require an accommodation to access LoveWorks, inform the program on the application form, the informational sheet, health information updates, and/or by meeting with us. LoveWorks will consult with the PLNU Educational Access Center to facilitate successful participation.
Can a student combine LoveWorks travel with other continuing travel?
A limited number of students and team leaders may apply for and be approved to alter their LoveWorks travel itinerary to accommodate for additional personal travel. Request forms will be available at the start of training. Deviation upon the conclusion of a trip is preferred over deviation before the start of a trip. The program reserves the right to refuse deviation requests for any reason. Participants are required to pay cash for expenses associated with deviation travel and to pay before the trip. Donations may not be used to pay for deviation travel unless such travel is for ministry associated with LoveWorks and is approved as such. If participants would like to deviate from the group itinerary to visit LoveWorks — or Church of the Nazarene — affiliated people or ministries, the program and church structure must give prior approval. When deviating from the team itinerary, the participant must purchase their own travel insurance policy and provide proof of purchase to LoveWorks. The deviation travel is in no way part of PLNU or LoveWorks activity. LoveWorks asks that participants refrain from behavior on deviation travel that would damage their mission and Christian witness as well as that of PLNU and LoveWorks.
Who can I talk to about LoveWorks concerns?
Please refer to the program handbook and if your questions or concerns are unanswered there, please do contact our staff.
Financial Considerations
LoveWorks strives to keep trip fees as low as possible. As always, all financial support raised goes directly to the expense of the trip. There are no "overhead" or "administrative" charges. We know raising support for a mission trip requires dedication, hard work, and faith. LoveWorks is committed to assisting students in the support raising process and will help in every way possible. For more specific financial information, please see the program handbook.
For the duration of team travel, all meals and necessary expenses are included. We discourage students from bringing more than $100 in personal funds for souvenir shopping (when appropriate).
There is no security deposit or timeline for payments to LoveWorks. Remaining balances are due on August 1, after which they will be rolled into the student account. Graduating seniors may establish a payment plan.
Expenses for LoveWorks ministry travel may be covered in one of three ways:
- Donations to the program from family and friends
- Payment from the participant or immediate family member
- Student financial aid (loans and grants, if available), applied after a remaining balance has been rolled into the participant’s student account
While gifts may be designated in support of a student team member’s support raising goal, LoveWorks also may use any gift in support of LoveWorks' general team ministry efforts, such as ministry supplies, or to support expenses related to other team members. In addition to other potential circumstances, this is the case when a student raises support funds in excess of their own goals, withdraws from the program, or is dismissed from the program.
Students in financial need may apply for scholarship assistance upon the conclusion of their LoveWorks ministry travel. Program staff will evaluate student requests and overall participation in the program to make scholarship determinations. Factors include, but are not limited to, training attendance, financial aid status, team leader report of travel, support raising efforts/personal sacrifice made by the student, and the student’s report of family need. Scholarship funds are provided by endowment from generous donors, annual PLNU institutional support, and any reserved funds generated by LoveWorks participation/program operation.
Please see the LoveWorks program handbook for additional financial considerations related to a student’s withdrawal from LoveWorks for any reason.