Our Mission: Initiatives International, Inc. is an inter/nondenominational organization that provides full service cross-cultural experiences for individuals and groups interested in partnering with ministries around the world through short-term mission trips and educational opportunities that are mutually beneficial to hosts and visitors.

Our Values: We operate out of a philosophy based on long term relationships and egalitarian partnerships. We serve as the cultural bridge between American groups seeking a significant cross-cultural service opportunity and our international ministry partners. We work together with local leadership to provide a high impact experience that is mutually beneficial to your team and to the host culture. We have been doing this for 17 years and have a long history with many of our ministry partners.

We utilize a small group approach, breaking up large groups into teams of 8-12 per project site. This maximizes the potential for team members to engage the host culture and one another. This emphasis on relationship is a core value at Initiatives International. Our advance and in-country logistical support facilitates this goal for your team. We have experience with training and sending over 3,000 people on international short term trips!

In order to provide a high quality experience; your group contract with Initiatives International will include:

- Air and ground transportation
- Meals (except designated travel meals)
- Lodging (in home stays when possible)
- Taxes
- Training materials
- Advance on-site training
- Project selection
- Advance consultation
- Material donation
- In country support
- Team debriefing
- Travel Insurance

Our History: David Jensen, our Founder and President, began his involvement in cross-cultural ministries while he was the Director of Campus Ministries at John Brown University. In 1990, G. P., (one of his students at the time, who has since become one of David’s heroes) invited him to come along on a 3 week trip to Guatemala. That truly was a “life changing experience” for David and has impacted his ministry, his family, his values, and his view of God and the world ever since.

As a result of that first cross-cultural mission experience, David began searching for ways to make this type of experience accessible to many more people. That is where God used another JBU student, Hector Martinez. Hector had come to JBU from Chihuahua, MX intending to spend just one semester there learning English. Hector and David began forming a friendship that has lasted ever since. Hector's father was a pastor in Chihuahua who had a civil engineering and construction background and was involved in building facilities for churches and Christian ministries. In 1993, David began taking teams to Chihuahua, Mexico and that Mexican-American relationship quickly became the foundation for a significant and growing ministry. It is no exaggeration to say that Initiatives International would not exist today without the loving involvement of the entire Martinez Family.

Those early mission trips to Chihuahua were designed for students of John Brown University, but quickly became very popular with people outside of the Univeristy community as well. In 1996, David, along with his friend Greg Robinson, began organizing trips for church groups outside of the university, thus marking the informal beginning of Initiatives International.

After returning to Minnesota in 1997 to take a position at Bethel University, David found himself once again training and leading teams to Mexico, both for Bethel and for church groups.

In January 2003, Initiatives International officially became Initiatives International, Inc. and a “new” short term mission organization was formed. David served until June 2003 as the Associate Dean of Relationship Education at Bethel University, and then began giving full time leadership to Initiatives International. Since 1992, David & Initiatives International have been involved in training and sending over 4,000 individuals on international mission trips. Guatemala and Mexico continue to be the main destinations for teams serving with Initiatives International, but strategic ministry partnerships have also been formed in several other countries.

We are so thankful for the example set by David's Guatemalan and Mexican students and friends.  They showed us how to do mission work that is focused on the people and not primarily on the project.  They showed us how to work in true partnership, with local leadership.  We still strive to follow that model in doing short-term mission with excellence.

Links:
Statement of Faith