Site visit question ideas:

Testimony and calling:

• What is the most rewarding aspect of starting your ministry?

• How has following your calling been affirmed since beginning your ministry?

• Is your ministry developing as you expected or hoped for?

• Explain where it has grown and where it hasn’t grown to this point.

• Review the original goals the director set at the beginning of his/her ministry.

• Have the director describe progress being made specifically in 2 or 3 of these goals.

• Describe some of the challenges since beginning—those you expected and those you didn’t anticipate. What are you doing to find solutions to these challenges (or more optimistically described as ‘opportunities for growth’)?

• Have any new needs been identified or have you added new goals since beginning? Have you dropped any of the original goals that might now seem to be unattainable or irrelevant?

• Have you been able to establish a rhythm of having devotions with staff members/opportunities to share the Good News with patients or community groups, etc.?

• Have Bible study or discipleship groups been started? Can you share any testimonies of people who have accepted Jesus through your ministry activities?

Observation:

• Is the director accepted by the community?

• In traveling in the community, is it apparent that the director is well-known?

• What kind of community connections have been made to date with community leaders, church leaders, government and business leaders?

Family:

• How are things going for your nuclear family?

• Are they adjusting well?

• Are there unanticipated blessings/unanticipated challenges?

• Have feelings of support or resistance changed since beginning your work?

Personal Spiritual Growth:

• Are you finding time to cultivate your relationship with God?

• Has anything had to change in your devotional/prayer life since starting the ministry?

• Are you getting enough spiritual encouragement/support from a local mentor?

• Is there a way in which the Luke Society could supplement the spiritual support you need?

Personal Professional Growth:

• Are you comfortable that your training is adequate to meet the medical/spiritual needs
  that you are addressing with your ministry?

• Are there areas in which you hope to pursue further training in the future?

Management:

• Is progress being made toward attaining NGO legal status?

• Progress on recruiting board members? How many are needed? How often do they meet? Are the firmly committed to the mission and vision of the ministry?

• Are mission and vision statements completed? If safe, are they visible to staff and patients?

• Do staff members have ‘buy-in’ to the Mission and Vision of the ministry?

• What are you doing to build a positive team culture in the ministry? Are you empowering team members? Delegating specific tasks to team members? Transitions?

• Do staff seem happy? Well-trained? Has there been high turn-over of staff?

• Describe a mistake you’ve made and how you dealt with it.

• Describe a mistake a team member made and how you dealt with it.

• How are you doing with submitting reports to LS central? Are there questions of how to do these?

• Encourage timely submission of reports. Review that reports are to protect the integrity of the ministry in how funds are used and also to guide the director as to whether some categories of expenses are exceeding budgeted amounts etc. Narrative reports are crucial in helping us to pray for the ministry.

• Do patient numbers in the clinic match the number sent in monthly reports?

• What does it mean to you to be in partnership with the Luke Society?

Accounting:

• Has a system been developed to ensure integrity with receiving cash payments and accounting for expenses (receipts should be available to review for each expense and more than one team member should be part of this process of accounting for how funds are spent). Are there safeties put in place to prevent the temptation of embezzling or mismanaging cash?

• Be sure that more than one person is involved in the process of receiving money and making reports/deposits on this revenue. Review the “books” of the ministry and do random checks of expenses with receipts that correlate with the expense. Also revenue produced and bank deposit slips that confirm that revenue was deposited.

• Do they have annual financial audits? If so, do they follow the recommendations of auditors?

• Are funds being set aside for depreciation of equipment and building?

• Share stories of things you’ve learned.

• Share stories of patients or family members who have been blessed by your ministry.

• Do you feel supported by the Luke Society central office?

• Are we doing a good job of communicating with you?

• Are there things that we can/should be doing to help/encourage you and your team?

• Are there ministry issues that the central office should know about that you have not mentioned to this point?