Missions on Point

MoP098 Church-Based Missionary Training - 11 of 14 Commissioning and Decommissioning

So, your missionary is fully prepared and qualified. Now what!  Celebrate! Give God glory publicly! Invite friends and family and all those supporting your missionary. Send him/her/them well.
Also, be aware that de-commissioning is no light matter. Learn how to navigate those reefs and help your missionary, if necessary, understand the gravity and significance of leaving the field. Help them re-acclimate and re-integrate to the home side.

MoP097 Church-Based Missionary Training - 10 of 14 Giving Up Personal Rights

Though it is a challenging topic, it must be discussed with your prospective missionary. It's a good thing for every Christian to think about! Missionaries, though they say they are willing to sacrifice and to suffer for Christ on the mission field, have a very hard time putting into practice the humility and servant spirit required to life in another culture. We all fight against giving up our personal autonomy and independence. Yet, we must do so, under the Lordship of Christ and the constraints of the host culture, for the sake of the Gospel.

MoP096 Church-Based Missionary Training - 9 of 14 Practical Studies and Research

It's not all classroom work! Missionary candidates need to embrace and be self-motivated to do some research on their target group before they leave for the field. They need to lay a foundation of practical understanding of the Bible, theology, culture, history, language, and more! You can facilitate and encourage them to dig deep. Lastly, the field or vision trip to the target area is a significant capstone of their studies.

MoP095 Church-Based Missionary Training - 8 of 14 The Training Curriculum

Let's take the mystery out of a training sequence for your candidate. This episode gives an overview of a 40-week curriculum which includes most of the content and experiences you will want to build in to your own curriculum. You won't be able to do all of it in-house; plan on outsourcing or bringing experts in to fill out the course. The capstone is a field visit that exposes your candidate/s to real life on the field.

MoP094 Church-Based Missionary Training - 7 of 14 Mentoring and Accountability

Starting the training and development process, we encourage assigning a mentor, or a series of mentors, to the missionary candidate. Begin with an inventory of personal spiritual disciples, discussing in-depth and candidly the major areas of life in which they may need attention, help, counsel, and qualification. The purpose is not to disqualify them. Rather, the intention is to identify areas and concerns in which the mentor and the church can come alongside them to help them qualify for missionary ministry. It will take time and some intense effort. Everyone will be pleased in the end with the results!

MoP093 Church-Based Missionary Training - 6 of 14 Steps of HERE TO THERE

Every missionary candidate has a similar sequence of steps in preparation that must be taken to get from HERE, at home, to THERE, on their target field. Every church should know those steps and walk that pathway with them, guiding them along the way. This little book, available on Propempo.com and Amazon, is a great little primer of practical priorities, counsel, and resources to help all those involved.

MoP092 Church-Based Missionary Training - 5 of 14 Defining the Missionary Call

Let's demystify the "missionary call." This thing involves both a subjective inner compulsion but also requires the external validation of the local church. How do you go about evaluating it? Take your time. Get to know your candidate well. Remove the most common and obvious barriers to missionary qualification. Walk with them through the preparation process. In the end, it should be apparent to the whole congregation that God has His hand in leading and equipping on them to to the work of missions.

MoP091 Church-Based Missionary Training - 4 of 14 Defining Character

The most important biblical qualification for a missionary is character. The scope of character includes integrity and reputation. Biblical qualifications for church leadership apply to missionaries, as well! It takes time and conscious effort to observe, mentor, examine and evaluate a missionary candidate's character. Don't take short-cuts! These qualifications are great goals for any mature Christian. We can all learn and grow in the process.