It goes by lots of names... Furlough, Stateside Service, Home Assignment. Whatever term you or your ministry may use for the time you spent away from your field ministry and in the United States, - and you may hear us use various terms! - it is an incredibly important part of the life and ministry of the cross-cultural worker. (If you have doubts, check out this great article to re-orient your heart and mind). The purposes of home assignments are many:
- Strengthen ministry financial support with individuals and churches by visiting and casting vision to ministry partners.
- Promote international ministry needs.
- Spend time with family, and reconnect with American culture.
- Take intentional time for your own physical, emotional, and spiritual rejuvenation.
Our guiding principle is that workers should take approximately 6 weeks of home assignment per year overseas.
| 1 year overseas* | 2 years overseas | 3 years overseas | 4 years overseas |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 weeks stateside | 3 months stateside | 4.5 months stateside | 6 months stateside |
*Reliant recommends staying overseas 18-24 months during your first term before coming back. Returning within the first year may disrupt your transition and make it more difficult to acclimate to your host country.
These timeframes are meant to provide a framework for healthy rhythms. We understand every ministry and worker's needs are different and entrust you and your ministry to come to an agreement on the frequency and duration of being in the U.S. Some determining factors may include yearly work rhythms, size of your family, educational needs for children, etc.
We recommend you start planning about six months before you plan to come stateside. Below is a workbook specifically designed to help you think and plan through various aspects. You can make a copy in Google sheets and use it to the extent that it is helpful in your situation.
Please notify Reliant as soon as you begin planning for Home Assignment:
- Request form - Once you know your approximate timeframe.
- Travel Notification form - Once you have bought your plane tickets.
We've put together some great resources for all of your home assignment questions. See the pages below.
| Planning Timeline | Review this timeline for a list of ways to prepare, in the areas of logistics, MTD and personally. It's broken down month-by-month, starting with 6 months out from your return to the US. |
| Home Assignment Info Form | Notify Reliant of your upcoming home assignment by filling out this quick Google form. |
| Debrief and Retreat | You don't have to wait until you are returning stateside permanently to attend a debrief. Review a list of recommended options in the US and abroad. |
| Returning to MTD | Whether you need to raise new monthly giving or are raising funds for a new ministry project, home assignment is a great time to meet face-to-face with partners and communicate your vision. |
| Finances, Insurance, and Taxes | Please review important information on how your time in the US could impact your finances, insurance, and taxes. Includes information on how and what you can reimburse during your home assignment. |
| Extended US Stays (6+ Months) | There may be a few extra things to consider or plan for if your stay in the US will be greater than six months. |
| Reliant Debrief | Home Assignment is a great time to touch base with the International Team. We love hearing updates on your ministry happenings and receiving feedback from your term and your experience with Reliant as a whole. |
Are you a part of a country that has a totalization agreement? If you are a worker in one of the countries listed in the Furlough Request, you may need to plan a 6-month exit from the host country every 5 years to comply with the agreement, Please contact international@reliant.org if you have questions.
5 Comments
Sarah Swann
Unknown User (kate.pendola@reliant.org), user-1a794 I created this furlough page. The info is directly off of the tabs from the furlough form. I divided the furlough form and the notification form into two forms and put the other two info tabs directly on this solomon page. I then saw the Leave - Home Service page and wondered if that was the same thing as furlough? So you may want to merge some info from those pages. But, here's a start in getting the info onto Solomon and off of staffnet. I tried to attach related pages as well.
Unknown User (kate.pendola@reliant.org)
I think the Leave - Home Service page is supposed to be referring to furloughs, but it uses a lot of outdated language and details. (for example, it references a vacation request form, that I'm pretty sure doesn't exist anymore). I'm pretty sure it was one of the original policy pages that just got copy/pasted from StaffNet. I think we should take the parts of that page that are still accurate and add them to this page, then delete the Leave - Home Service page completely.
Sarah Swann
I like that idea! I'm leaving the moving of accurate info from the other page in your very capable hands
if you need my help just let me know.
Unknown User (kate.pendola@reliant.org)
And I'm going to leave the determining of what is accurate info in user-1a794's hands
user-1a794
Mike Swann pls review and approve this page.