Here at Global Frontier Missions, our heartbeat is to see the gospel of Jesus Christ put within reach of every unreached people group, and we see our specific niche in the Great Commission to be training and equipping the next wave of cross-cultural missionaries. The 5-month Missionary Training School (MTS) that we offer in Clarkston, GA is an incredible experience, blending thorough classroom training with life-on-life discipleship and invaluable hands-on work within the diverse area we’re working in. MTS is very immersive and holistic, and it’s proven to be a solid launching pad for those who desire to serve cross-culturally in a long-term capacity -- whether Stateside among immigrants, refugees, and international students or overseas in the 10/40 Window.

Missionary Training School (MTS)

AT A GLANCE

While we are very excited about the training we provide and passionate about the impact it has on missionary longevity and retention, we are not the only organization that focuses on pre-field training. Over the last year and a half, we have had the chance to visit three other US-based pre-field training programs and catch a glimpse of the cross-cultural preparation and equipping that they offer. We’re excited to be able to highlight them for you here in the hopes that you’ll find the pre-field training that is best for you and your particular situation.

Center for Intercultural Training (CIT)

AT A GLANCE

In an unsuspecting place called Union Mills, about an hour and a half northwest of Charlotte, North Carolina, you’ll find a very well established hub of missions training. CIT was started by and has very close ties with United World Mission, and their team is made up of experienced, veteran missionaries and cross-cultural workers who have come back to the States and desire to pass on what they learned to the next generation of laborers. The wisdom and experience of their facilitators is remarkably valuable! They have a great campus with housing readily available for their students during the duration of their training, which is incredibly convenient and enables students to live in close proximity to one another and share life outside of class. (If you get the chance to visit or attend, definitely ask for the full story behind their campus! It’s fascinating.)

CIT runs several four-week sessions each year called Equipping for Cross-Cultural Life & Ministry , which covers topics such as cultural awareness, spiritual warfare, team dynamics, conflict resolution, marriage and singleness in missions, contextualization, multi-cultural teams, and families on mission to name a few. Each one of these sessions is followed by an additional two-week Language Learning Accelerator course (optional) that takes students through the basics of language acquisition. In addition to the adult classes, CIT also offers childcare with some age-specific Third Culture Kid (TCK) training for children. Throughout all of their training, there is a heavy emphasis on spiritual formation, and students indicated that this was a highly impactful aspect of their time at CIT. Due to the rural location, however, there is a lack of cultural diversity in the area and very little opportunity to engage cross-culturally during the program or to begin implementing things learned in the classroom.

CIT has some exciting things coming down the pike in terms of “just-in-time training” that can continue virtually when their graduates are on the field. This will be a huge asset to CIT alumni who desire to experience regular and continued equipping after their transition to the field, and will no doubt add immense value to the teams that they join. 

Studio Internships

AT A GLANCE

If you already have a sending organization that you’re connected with and you’re planning to go to the Muslim world, Studio Internships should absolutely be on your short-list in terms of pre-field training options. This intentionally intense training is in the highly diverse community of El Cajon outside of San Diego (read: amazing weather!) , which provides students with invaluable opportunities to both live incarnationally among Muslim peoples as well as to engage cross-culturally throughout the duration of their training. Students (both married and single) will be housed together and given a very real-life chance to experientially explore the joys and challenges of team dynamics by living in close proximity. 

Training begins several weeks before arriving in El Cajon with some requisite homework, reading, and preparation to do virtually. Once the three-month in-person portion of the training begins, students are immersed in an equipping experience that holistically engages them through times of mentoring and corporate worship and prayer, robust classroom lectures and discussions, and facilitating gospel-centered relationships with foreign-born neighbors. Childcare is provided during the classroom portions of this internship, and there is an increasing effort to offer age-appropriate Third Culture Kid (TCK) training for families with children. 

Some of the topics explored in Studio Internships include orality and storytelling, church planting movements using Disciple Making Movements, prayer and spiritual formation, raising children cross-culturally, self-awareness and personal character, theology of risk and suffering, resilience and thriving overseas, and evangelism and discipleship tools. The Studio staff is a small, tight-knit group of experienced missionaries who have spent years living and working in the Muslim world, and they wholeheartedly pour themselves into each student who comes through their internship. Students will be not only be mentored and taught by the Studio family, but they will also apprentice under them in highly practical ways as they learn to love and serve their Muslim neighbors together. This holistic mentorship is an invaluable asset to any students of Studio, and no doubt sets up graduates incredibly well for their transition to the field. 

Since Studio is located outside of San Diego, the cost of this training is high simply due to the cost of living in that area. The focus on training cross-cultural workers who seek to serve specifically among Muslim peoples and the requirement that each student already be appointed with a sending agency gears Studio toward serving a much smaller, niche group of people than other training programs we’ve seen. But we would wholeheartedly recommend their program to anyone who fits that demographic! With their holistic approach to pre-field training, we feel that they are true kindred spirits with GFM and we celebrate the work they’re doing to equip the next generation of cross-cultural workers to be bold witnesses of the goodness of Jesus.

Mission Training International (MTI)

AT A GLANCE

MTI has a long, rich history of faithfulness and effectiveness in the realm of training and equipping missionaries for the field. Their beautiful training facility is situated on a mountainside outside of Colorado Springs, and the thorough missionary training and debriefing they offer for the entire family are well known throughout the missions world. The operations at MTI seem to run like a well oiled machine, and the staff love what they do (and you can tell)! 

* Retention and Onboarding (EMQ, October-December 2019, Volume 55 Issue 4, Elliot D. Stephens)