Well, sort of! If you were secretly hoping to take a stab at a new grapheme structure, aka language, you have come to the right place!

But if you mean learning a new language to fluency so you can join a philosophy club, for ministry purposes of course, then no. The program will start off with a few months of language learning so you can function well in your role, and fluency is still on the table in your spare time, that is if you really love philosophy and hope to pontificate with the locals on the wisdom of their culture for hours on end.

Have you ever been to one of those fancy seafood restaurants where the menu often says “market price” on it?  It’s sort of like that sometimes in the journey of serving overseas. We could tell you a ballpark price, but the better answer is to say that it will most likely change based on many factors as you go through the process and as you get closer to Launch, pun intended.

But to be serious, your ballpark raise will probably be around 5k a month. That sounds like a lot, but Europe is worth it. You can do it, we can help!  

Can fundraising really be made easier? Yes! It certainly can! GEM has a great program with fantastic staff to help you through the fundraising process.   

(Do we need help here, or does Launch only rely on the AS team for this training?) 

There are several reasons for this.  One, Europe can be an expensive place. (What else?? Cost of visas?) 

(Cost of GEM benefits? Retirement, HI, etc...)

The Launch program is a full-time role. It’s for those who are passionate to see the Kingdom come. It’s for people who want to gain real experience and develop into lifelong disciples and disciple-makers.

Day-to-day life is more than just setting up chairs for events or cleaning after it. It looks more like a responsibility than a service project. It's being developed into capable ministry professionals rather than serving for a season. It looks more like being devoted to seeing the context you’re in radically transformed, than coming in to do grunt work.  

Before we answer this question, let’s start by reflecting on what this program is for. This program is for someone passionate about giving a longer season of life to ministry. It’s also for those who want to pursue ministry life for the rest of their lives, and use the Launch experience on their resume, or turn pro in Europe.

That said, there will be opportunities for time off, rest, and recuperation. These opportunities are given for you to be successful in ministry, and avoid burnout, so we do want to value your service and energy level with our policies.

Vacation time and visiting family, or family visiting you, will be handled with your supervisor, just like any other role with certain time frames that are more suitable for vacation than others.  

We’re committed to giving you what life really feels and looks like living overseas. There will be adulting! Living overseas has its adulting challenges even for the most seasoned middle-aged adults. Living overseas can be a joy and a challenge of a lifetime, but those who do rarely want to take it back because of the catalytic experience it was and is.  

We are also committed to providing you professional and spiritual development so you can thrive and produce real ministry fruit. It’s one thing to toss some time toward Habitat for Humanity for a day and feel good about yourself, but it’s a whole other level to serve on the ground for an extended period of time where your life will never be the same.  

We’re also committed to providing you professional-level ministry experiences that go beyond sweeping the floors, although you may do some of that too!  GEM is committed to giving you exciting (and sometimes, many times, exhausting) opportunities for you to be a living sacrifice and pour your life out for the Kingdom in Europe.

If you have been with us for Ten2, or done other short-term mission trips, this is different. It’s different in length of time which changes a lot of factors.

Because of the significant time you will be giving to the launch program your communication with your field leader will certainly be more robust.  It looks more like being on the same team than it does receiving orders from them. It will look more like setting strategy together, than coming in to execute what’s already been laid out for you.

Your field leader has your back and wants to see you succeed and thrive in ministry. Therefore, they want to give you direction, guidance, and oversight to ultimately see Europe transformed hand in hand.