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Get Approved!
Fulfill Your Mission Agency's Pre-Field Requirements
Mission agencies offer experience that can help local churches send missionaries well. The training they require helps missionaries and their churches avoid wasting precious time and resources.
Let's examine what agencies typically require before giving you the green light to leave for the field. More info is available in the book: HERE to THERE
Biblical and theological training. Mission agencies have historically required 30 semester hours (essentially one year) taken in an accredited institution. Denominational agencies will require more. If your church has exposed you to solid biblical and theological teaching, obvious through your testing, your training requirement may be less, depending on the agency.
Language learning (or language acquisition training) is a key skill to gain before leaving for the field, especially if learning languages has been difficult for you. Some agencies may require a semester of linguistics (the Summer Institute of Linguistics, SIL International, http://www.sil.org ) or a language acquisition course (cf. COMPASS through Mission Training International, http://mti.org/programs/COMPASS ). If you can begin learning your future primary language before departure, it will accelerate your language learning and ministry goals upon arrival.
World Religions. You will likely be required to become familiar with the major world religion of your target people group (e.g. Islam, Buddhism, or Hinduism, as applicable).
Ministry experience. A strong relationship and ministry experience with your local church will probably fulfill most, if not all, of the agency's requirements for ministry experience.
Counseling. It is not uncommon for new appointees to have a prescribed number of personal or marriage counseling sessions, as appropriate and if needed.
Requirements unique to your particular field/team. Once you know the field team with which you'll be working, that team may require certain training before you can begin work with the team. Such requirements have often been developed after past new team members have encountered difficulty without such training in advance.
Support raising. If you’re expected to raise you own support, you may be required to take special training in support raising. See the next step, 7. Get a support team!: Present your vision and raise up partners for prayer and financial support for some pointers and resources that will get you going.
Support raising can be daunting! However, consider this:
All the skills required for support raising resemble skills required for church planting:
How long should training and support raising take?
After you've joined a mission agency, you will be expected to maintain a higher level of accountability and productivity with your time. Ideally the agency will provide a pre-field coach who will help you stay encouraged, motivated and accountable in your trek to the field. The agency's goal is to help you leave as soon as possible. More than likely your desire will be to leave even faster. It depends on your preparedness prior to application, the specific requirements of your agency, and the complexities of your prospective field assignment or work platform. If you and your church have done a great job in your training and affirming your call, the time needed to fulfill mission agency requirements will be greatly reduced.
Questions for reflection:
Check out more content in the book, HERE to THERE
Let's examine what agencies typically require before giving you the green light to leave for the field. More info is available in the book: HERE to THERE
Biblical and theological training. Mission agencies have historically required 30 semester hours (essentially one year) taken in an accredited institution. Denominational agencies will require more. If your church has exposed you to solid biblical and theological teaching, obvious through your testing, your training requirement may be less, depending on the agency.
Language learning (or language acquisition training) is a key skill to gain before leaving for the field, especially if learning languages has been difficult for you. Some agencies may require a semester of linguistics (the Summer Institute of Linguistics, SIL International, http://www.sil.org ) or a language acquisition course (cf. COMPASS through Mission Training International, http://mti.org/programs/COMPASS ). If you can begin learning your future primary language before departure, it will accelerate your language learning and ministry goals upon arrival.
World Religions. You will likely be required to become familiar with the major world religion of your target people group (e.g. Islam, Buddhism, or Hinduism, as applicable).
Ministry experience. A strong relationship and ministry experience with your local church will probably fulfill most, if not all, of the agency's requirements for ministry experience.
Counseling. It is not uncommon for new appointees to have a prescribed number of personal or marriage counseling sessions, as appropriate and if needed.
Requirements unique to your particular field/team. Once you know the field team with which you'll be working, that team may require certain training before you can begin work with the team. Such requirements have often been developed after past new team members have encountered difficulty without such training in advance.
Support raising. If you’re expected to raise you own support, you may be required to take special training in support raising. See the next step, 7. Get a support team!: Present your vision and raise up partners for prayer and financial support for some pointers and resources that will get you going.
Support raising can be daunting! However, consider this:
All the skills required for support raising resemble skills required for church planting:
- Communication of intangible truth and vision;
- Meeting with strangers who you pray will become new friends;
- Depending completely on God for results;
- Trusting God to work in and through others; and
- Pulling committed people together into a partnership for ministry.
How long should training and support raising take?
After you've joined a mission agency, you will be expected to maintain a higher level of accountability and productivity with your time. Ideally the agency will provide a pre-field coach who will help you stay encouraged, motivated and accountable in your trek to the field. The agency's goal is to help you leave as soon as possible. More than likely your desire will be to leave even faster. It depends on your preparedness prior to application, the specific requirements of your agency, and the complexities of your prospective field assignment or work platform. If you and your church have done a great job in your training and affirming your call, the time needed to fulfill mission agency requirements will be greatly reduced.
Questions for reflection:
- Sometimes missionaries feel that the choice of a mission agency is like a commitment to marriage: “till death do us part.” Is that a good way to think about it?
- What issues or events might cause you to leave a mission agency or to the mission field altogether?
- How do you relate to those who have authority in your life? Do you respond with grace? Submission? Questioning? Resistance? Respect?
Check out more content in the book, HERE to THERE