No one likes to experience any problems when taking a team overseas, but from time to time you might find yourself in a situation that needs your attention as team leader. Some clever person has come up with an acrostic to help you remember some basic steps to take should a crisis arise. Just remember to take a STAND!

 S         Stabilize and secure.

The first thing to do is to take whatever action is necessary to keep the situation from getting worse.

T         Take responsibility.

In most unpleasant situations no one wants to be responsible for what is going on and/or what is going to be done about it.

A        Assess and acquire.

Once you’ve stabilized the situation it’s now time to “assess the damage,” decide what is needed to correct it, and then take necessary measures to get what is needed.

N        Notify.

Many fail to do this step. Consider all parties involved and the level of seriousness of the incident to make decisions about who may need to be notified: other team members?, the missionaries?, U.S. support team?, local authorities?, U.S. Embassy? It could be that these individuals can help you in determining what you should do next.

D        Document everything and determine plan of action.

As soon as you can, make notes of what happened, dates and times, who was involved, what you did etc. Clarifying these facts helps to determine your plan of action and serves as information that might be invaluable later.