Nearly a full year before our mission trip, we had to attend an MIT "Boot Camp".   That's where we got to learn teamwork and experience some of what things would be like on the field, which helped each of us decide whether a mission trip the following summer was where God wanted us.  That year boot camps were held in Illinois, Texas, and California (new boot camps are held each year).  The one I went to was held near Houston, Texas during August of 2000.  Several of the friends I made there ended up being my teammates in Zimbabwe, while others went on various other mission trips.