Level Two - Church Based Missionary Training

Level two mission service has the potential for being the most profitable, for both the national church as well as the intern missionary. Committing to a one or two year service shows a stronger sense of engagement in world missions than just a one or two week visionary trip. But, like all levels of cross-cultural ministry, pre-field training should be a part of equipping process.

Because the field assignment is longer, obviously the training should also be more focused as well as thorough. The subjects covered for short-term people, worldview, ethnocentrism, mission economics, x-cultural communication, interpersonal relationships, should certainly be taught, but in greater depth. In addition to these basic courses, the following should be a part their training program:

Cultural Anthropology - A missionary intern truly has an opportunity to learn while on the field. Though they will have ministry responsibilities, it would be ideal if they could use their time to learn about culture, not just experience it. Pre-field training in basic cultural anthropology provides tools for learning culture. People often say to me, “I’d like to study and learn culture, but I don’t know how.” One area of my teaching is helping students learn the questions of culture and helping them understand how to apply what they have learned in presenting the Gospel. I’m not objective on this issue. I believe the study of culture is absolutely imperative.

Working With National Leaders – Style of leadership is a popular topic in America. There are more books written about leadership in business and the church than most any other subject. The challenges of working with leadership across cultures can be even more demanding. I have known interns who after a year on the field completed their assignment with satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. I’ve also seen the other side of an internship that left both the intern and national host unhappy, bitter and negative. The study of cross-cultural leadership will insure that time on the field is a positive rather than a negative experience.

Learning Your Role - The sub-title of my book, The Journey of a Post-Modern Missionary is, Finding Ones Niche In Cross-Cultural Ministry. To me, job satisfaction is a key to whether a person or family will be effective in their service for Christ overseas. One of the advantages of a one/two year internship has is they can use that time to find out where they are gifted and how they can fit on the field. However, before they go on a field assignment they should be coached on the role of an intern. Assumptions are usually the cause of misunderstanding as well conflict. A good pre-field study of status and role will be invaluable before launching out to regions beyond.

Having a coach or mentor on the field to guide the intern would be ideal. Unfortunately, there are not many situations where there are people on the field who can or will take on the task of a teacher. This reality makes pre-field training even more essential.

Though the day of the career missionary is almost extinct, if someone goes to the field and remains over 10 years it is an accomplishment. I still believe the most effective cross-cultural worker are those who make a long term commitment, and for those people there needs to be training for the long haul, which will be the subject of the next post.