MissionGuide, (referred to as “the Service”) is operated and maintained by MissionWorks, a not-for-profit organization headquartered in the State of Washington. MissionWorks maintains MissionGuide.global as a service to both the Christian missions community and the Body of Christ.
A. Terms of Contract
By signing up for listing short-term mission opportunities on the Service, you and the organization you represent (referred to as “the User”) agree to the following:
- The User is in agreement with the current criteria for posting their short term mission opportunities on MissionGuide.global.
- This contract begins upon the creation of the account and is in effect for one year from the first day of the month following the month the Client signs up. This contract may be renewed.
- All requests for becoming a User of the Services are subject to acceptance by MissionWorks.
B. General Use of the Service
By using the Service the User agrees to:
Use the User Account features for their intended purposes. The User agrees that the webmaster and administrator of this web service have the right to close a User Account with or without cause. You agree to any information you have entered or saved being stored in a database online. This information will not be disclosed to any third party in any way attributable to you without your consent.
You agree that your trips fit the religious nature and purpose of the web service.
You agree that your organization is committed to continually improving the quality of your short term mission programs and the experience which the goers receive.
You understand that though we do everything reasonably possible to keep the service up 24 hours a day we cannot guarantee that due to occasional maintenance issues and circumstances beyond our control like power outages, hacking and denial of service attacks. We have experienced all of these in the past and expect to experience them again in the future. We have taken many measures to prevent or minimize them and we have measures in place for rapidly restoring the website in worst case scenarios.
C. Posting Descriptions of Trips
By using the Service you agree to:
- Post accurate, truthful and reasonably complete descriptions of the User’s trips and of the User’s organization so that people will accurately understand who they are going with and what the trips will be like.
- MissionWorks with MissionGuide.global, reserves the right to block trips that contradict the purposes of the web service or reveal information that would endanger those going on the trip. For example, a trip detailing the date and where the team will stay in a non-secure country will be blocked.
- The user retains all rights and ownership of the content they create. We do not claim any ownership rights to your content.
- By posting your trip descriptions to MissionGuide.global you grant MissionWorks the necessary license to operate the service. When you create or upload content to the Site you grant us the license to use, reproduce, publicly display distribute, modify your content. This license is only for the purpose of operating or improving this service and expires when you terminate your subscription to the Service.
D. Posting of Pictures
By using the Service you agree to:
- Copyright issues – You agree to only upload pictures for which your organization holds the copyright or has the necessary permission or license to use.
- Stock photos – If the picture is from a stock photo website, a collection of purchased photos, from social media or anywhere on the internet, you understand and agree that:
- Displaying a picture on MissionGuide.global is “commercial use” of the picture. It is not editorial license nor fair use.
- Stopping ones stock photo subscription frequently results in several changes in the license you have for the pictures you downloaded. You alone are responsible to know and understand those changes and new restrictions.
- Creative Common licenses –
- Creative Common licenses come with conditions. There are at least 4 different Creative Common licenses. You are responsible to meet all of the conditions of the license you have selected.
- Creative Common licenses are frequently revoked and when that happens the picture is no longer available for “free” use. You understand that you will not be notified when that happens, but you will be held legally liable for that change.
- Fair Use of photos is not valid for photos posted on MissionGuide.global because such usage is legally considered to be “commercial usage” even though both MissionWorks and the User’s Organization are nonprofits.
- Public Domain Photos are acceptable if properly attributed and sufficiently documented.
- MissionWorks and the MissionGuide.global staff reserve the right to block pictures that are suggestive, pornographic, in poor taste, or otherwise unacceptable for posting with mission trips.
- By accepting these terms, you acknowledge that you understand them, that your organization assumes responsibility for any usage fees, fines and legal costs due to pictures your staff and interns upload and that you are authorized by your organization to make such a financial commitment. If you are not sure whether you have the required authority, ask your supervisor.
- To better understand the issues involved with pictures and photos, we recommend reading “ DMCA Policy Cautions About Stock Photos, Cautions about Internet Photos
E. Responding Promptly to Inquiries
By using the Service, you agree to:
- Respond to inquiries received through MissionGuide.global in a timely manner, including inquiries from outside the US and Canada. We realize that you will receive inquiries from countries in other parts of the world even though people who reside in those areas of the world rarely are able to join in the opportunities you have posted. We recommend that you create a couple gracious replies explaining that you are not able to include residents from other countries due to legal, financial, or training requirements.
- Respond to notices from MissionGuide.global staff in a timely manner.
F. User Conduct
By using the Service you agree to:
Assume all responsibility for all activity that occurs through your account. Please notify customer service immediately if you detect any irregularities in your account or control panel. You should never share your account information with others or use another’s account information. Your account administrator may use your contact and account information to manage your use of the Services.
You agree to use the provided Service in a professional and ethical manner. For example,
- You will not post trips of another organization to your account without permission.
- You will not use the content on the Service to construct or fill any kind of database.
- You will not circumvent any of the restrictions put in place to prevent certain uses of the Service.
- You will not infringe upon the intellectual property of other users of the Service.
- You will not upload any content that is unlawful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, vulgar, etc.
- You will not impersonate another person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation with a person or organization.
- You will not attempt to distort or manipulate the search results of the Service, enter misleading information nor attempt to impair or damage the Service.
- You will not attempt to disrupt or interfere with another organization’s use of the Service.
G. Modification of the Service and Terms of Service
MissionWorks reserves the right to modify the Service at any time. We will attempt to give reasonable notice if this will affect the Users. In the case of maintenance and dealing with problems that may arise, that is not always possible.
MissionWorks may, at any time and without special notice, make changes to the Terms of Service. The revised terms of service will be posted on MissionGuide.global. The organization’s continued use of the service constitutes their acceptance and agreement to the modified Terms of Service.
H. Fees and Payments
Payment is due within 30 days, for the full amount shown on the invoice sent to you after signing up.
I. Screening of Content
MissionWorks actively monitors and exercises editorial control over the content created or accessible over the websites services. MissionGuide.global reserves the right to remove any materials that, in MissionWorks’s sole discretion, are potentially illegal, subject MissionWorks to liability, are misleading, are not in agreement with the website’s doctrinal statement, or violate this policy.
In addition we may need to access and view your content in order to 1) respond to service requests, 2) detect and prevent security and technical issues and 3) to enforce the terms of service.
J. Termination
Termination of service by you may be done at any time. No refund will be given should you cancel your service.
This Agreement may be terminated by MissionWorks, without cause, by giving the User thirty days of notice via email or mail. In such event, MissionWorks will be required to pay to the other party an amount equal to the unused and prorated portion of service excluding any setup charges.
The Service may at any time terminate your account if:
- You violate the terms of service.
- You fail to make timely payments of the subscription fees.
- We are required to do so by law.
- We elect to discontinue offering the service, in part or in whole.
- There has been an extended period of inactivity in your account and you have not responded to repeated attempts to reach you.
K. Limited Liability
- The User expressly agrees that use of MissionWorks’s Service is at the organization’s sole risk. Neither MissionWorks, its employees, agents, volunteers, board members, or the like, warrant that the service will not be interrupted or be error free; nor do they make any warranty as to the results that might be obtained from the use of the service or as to the accuracy, or reliability of any information service or merchandise contained in or provided through the service, unless otherwise expressly stated in this Agreement.
- Under no circumstances, shall MissionWorks, its officers, agents or anyone else involved in creating, or distributing the service be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages that result from the use of or inability to use the service; or that results from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files, errors, defects, delays in operation, or transmission or any failure of performance, whether or not limited to acts of God, communication failure, theft, destruction or unauthorized access to the website’s records, programs or services.
L. Disputes
The parties shall try to resolve all disputes that might arise out of this agreement in a spirit of cooperation and Biblical integrity without formal procedures. Any dispute which cannot be so resolved shall be subject to arbitration upon written demand of either party. Arbitration shall take place in Vancouver, Washington or at a different location if the parties so agree. The arbitration will take place before an arbitration panel chosen as follows: The parties shall each choose an arbitrator, and the two arbitrators shall choose a third arbitrator and determine the third arbitrator’s pay. Each party shall have one veto over the choice of the third arbitrator. The three arbitrators shall schedule an informal proceeding, hear the arguments, and decide the matter by secret majority vote. Unless the arbitrators decide otherwise, each party shall pay the costs of its own arbitrator, and shall pay half of the other costs of the arbitration proceeding. Each party shall have the right to have the proceedings transcribed. The arbitrators will not have the authority to award punitive damages or any other form of relief not contemplated in the contract. The majority of arbitrators shall render a written opinion setting forth the basis on which they arrived at the decision regarding each issue submitted to arbitration; the dissenting arbitrator, if any, shall not issue a dissenting opinion. Regarding each issue submitted to arbitration, the decision will be final and binding only to the extent it is accompanied by a written explanation of the basis upon which it was arrived at. Judgment upon the award, if any, rendered by the arbitrators may be entered in any court having jurisdiction.
Updated 10/11/2022