Results of Missionary Training Survey
Over fifty people
responded to this survey. The
percentage of those who participated was 50% from missionaries, 49.6% from
pastors. However, I did not
include the question on their status until after a third of people responded so
I am guessing that it may lean slightly more toward pastors response. Others who answered survey were church
members or those who work for a mission agency. Thanks for your participation.
1. How important
do you believe pre-field missionary training is?
Very
important – 94%
Somewhat
important – 3.9%
Not
important – 2%
2. Do you
believe that Bible College/Seminary education is enough for cross-cultural
missionaries?
Yes
– 3.9%
No
– 96.1%
3. Rank the
training you believe is important.
(1)
Spiritual
formation – 66.7%
Cross-cultural
studies – 49%
Language acquisition – 44%
Specific religious studies – 22%
(2)
Specific
religious studies – 30%
Cross-cultural
studies – 27.5%
Language
acquisition – 20%
Spiritual
formation – 15.7%
(3) Other
suggestions for training:
- I'd add location relevant/contextualized vocational/professional training.-
- Finance
-Effective training on the field of choice.
- Interpersonal/problem solving skills with other missionaries.
- Missionaries are trained in tandem - both spouses together along with missionary teams.- Study of the book, "When Helping Hurts.’
- Working with adult ministries before going to the field.
- Cross-cultural leadership development: Leadership models, tools, strategies, & etc. Internships should be done in a cross cultural setting.
- How to raise support.
- Practical - eg: Auto repair.
- Ethics and some foundational business principles.
- Training in a profession for admission to a country where missionaries as such are not allowed, i.e. medical, dental, or nursing.
- Common sense.
5. How would you
support missionary training?
(a) Mandate that all missionaries we support go through
training. 54.2%
(b) Help finance training for missionaries we support.
66.7%
(c) Nothing beyond encouragement for training. 8.3%
6. How long do
you think a concentrated missionary training should be?
(a) 1 to 2 weeks. – 27%
(b) 2 to 3 weeks. – 24.3%
(c) 3 to 4 weeks. – 48.6%
Additional
comments:
* 6 months
* How can you possibly train someone
for a foreign culture in 4 weeks. At least 3 months with a year on the field;
*1year; At least 3 to 4 weeks. If
this person or group plans to be involved longer than a short term missions
trip, they should be required to go through 8-12 weeks of rigorous training.
* Less time for furlough missionaries
but a week would be good;
* Depends on the goals and content of
the material. There are already plenty of training opportunities in the USA.
Why create another wheel?
7. Who should
this cross-cultural training be for? (ranked)
(a) People who are interested in missions but not yet
appointed. 48.1%
(b) Appointed/Approved missionaries raising support. –
90.4%
(c) Furlough missionaries. – 53.8%
(d) Pastors – 48.1%
(e) Mission committee members. – 50%
Additional comments:
* Pastors
for in house training only. Not "on the field" training.
* I think everyone connected to
missions can benefit. Realistically, missionaries are the priority, others less
so.
* Entire churches in North America;
