Prepare to Go

General information

• ELCA Global Mission Country Packets
• Travel Documents System*
• Lonely Planet*

Travel Agencies

• Menno Travel (tel. 1-800-635-2032)
• Best Travel (tel. 1-800-543-8016)
• Group Travel Directors* (tel. 1-800-747-2255)

Visas/Documentation

• US Passports
• Perry International can assist you with official documents, including passports and visas

Health Insurance

• The ELCA Health Benefits Plan covers pastors, rostered laypersons and lay employees who are members of the plan. See information from the ELCA Board of Pensions. 
• For others, and traveling on official ELCA business, at churchwide, synod or congregational levels, the ELCA has a contract with HTH Worldwide Insurance Services
• HTH Worldwide also offers general travel insurance.

Travel advisories, safety information, and your health

• US State Department* information, advisories, and more
• British Foreign Office* information and advisories (to see things from a non-US perspective)
• United States Center for Disease Control*
• Travel Health Clinics*
• Travel health issues*
• Traveling to a malaria-risk area? Know you options about malaria medication and prevention.*

Travel opportunities / Study tours / Mission service

• ELCA-connected study centers
• Mission service opportunities
• The Center for Global Education
• Lutheran World Relief
• Heifer International