To better prepare the whole family as a unit, Global Frontier Missions offers a holistic training program in conjunction with Missionary Training School. Through our correlated curriculum, both children and parents will learn relevant topics and preventative care for cross-cultural life.

Parents are not the only ones in a family to make a big life adjustment in another country. GFM's holistic pre-field training program includes training and support to better prepare the entire family to live an incarnational life together. Our family program introduces concepts and vocabulary helpful for Third Culture Kids (TCKs) and their families as we cover elements of preventative care, address common challenges for children and families, build confidence in language and culture acquisition, and better prepare family units for long-term field service. Weekly children’s classes parallel the content that the adults learn in the Missionary Training School, which facilitates meaningful family discussions. We provide outlines of weekly topics for parents to discuss with their children, exploring ideas, and sharing what they learn and how it will affect their family as they move into a cross-cultural assignment. Families also receive resources that are available on the mission field.

Interested in learning more?

What is a "Third Culture Kid"?

A child who spends a significant part of their developmental years abroad because their parents are missionaries, diplomats, expats, or military is known as a Third Culture Kid (TCK). TCKs share common traits like ambiguous culture, uneven maturity due to processing multiple systems of life rather than growing up in a single environment, and higher frequency and extremity of change and transition. Often TCKs experience more grief before adulthood than most monocultural individuals do in a lifetime (Tanya Crossman, Misunderstood). Therefore, they and their parents need specialized training in order to thrive overseas.

The family program helped us to ask the right questions about ourselves and our children and become aware of the red flags and pitfalls, as well as the highlights and joys of family life and ministry overseas. Together as a family, we learned, grew, and were able to begin to apply, during our time at MTS, the principles learned from the program. We feel that the family program was one of the most important and impactful parts of our preparation as a family and we look forward to the continued fruit the Lord will bring from it in our family and in the longevity and impact of our ministry overseas.

Family Program Participant



Reach out to learn more!

MTS Overview | MTS Philosophy | MTS Curriculum | MTS Specializations | MTS FAQs | MTS Testimonials