Practical Living Questions to Ask and Observe on a Vision Trip | Ashley Magruder

When considering relocation to a different culture, many factors come into play. These questions are designed to help you consider day-to-day rhythms and adjustments necessary to thrive in a potential new culture. READ MORE

Building your R.A.F.T. | David Pollock

Are we building a boat? No, not literally. RAFT is an acronym that the late David C Pollock developed to help people transition. This process of moving can take up to six months or more. Below is the simple form of this model. If you have the opportunity to go to a seminar or workshop – GO! Seriously, it will change the way you do the move – and I’m not talking about a dance step. READ MORE

Mission Training International | COMPASS

Register here

COMPASS instills hope and confidence to a cross-cultural journey of unfamiliar terrain. Alumni consistently say, "I was heading overseas feeling apprehensive and fearful, but now I’m feeling optimistic that I can handle the hard realities." This training orients your character and attitudes in a direction that will have a lasting impact on your effectiveness, endurance and personal vitality. You will grapple with how team dynamics will likely affect you and how you will impact team dynamics. Staff have significant cross-cultural experience and are willing to be vulnerable about the paradoxes of cross-cultural ministry.

QUOTES FROM CMM WORKERS WHO HAVE ATTENDED MTI COMPASS

"This program is incredible. I feel prepared to encounter conflict (with team, culture, etc.), to seek understanding in new contexts, and how to establish healthy rhythms in my life."

"I have learned skills I will 100% need to thrive on the field. I feel so much better equipped for language learning and for cultural immersion and curiosity. I felt loved and encouraged by each of these people and that gave me so much hope and confidence."

"They provided a staff environment that MODELED for us what it looked like to embrace humility, embrace community, embrace grieving well, along with personally discipling us into doing those things well."

How to Find the Good in “Goodbye” | Zach Bradley

For the missionary, goodbyes are not a part of life: they are a way of life. Missionaries say goodbye to everything they’ve ever known, from the food they eat to the words they speak. And just about the time their new home becomes home, it’s time to say goodbye all over again.

It’s a life of non-stop goodbyes, but perhaps the worst part is goodbyes to loved ones. I remember as if it was yesterday, sitting forlorn after saying goodbye to my family at the airport. It killed my heart. It seemed to strip away all the idealistic glories of mission work.

For there are strong reasons not to go. “Don’t leave us,” “How can you take our grandchildren away?” and “There’s still so much work to be done here.” These pleas are legitimate and are often accompanied by sleepless nights. Going can sometimes leave others feeling forsaken, push relationships to their limit, and cause gaping holes in multiple spheres of life. Yet for all that is to be lamented, booed, and blasted about goodbyes, there is some good in them. And if you’re going to say such goodbyes, you’ll need every last drop of the good to carry you through the bye. KEEP READING

Mission Smart: 15 Critical Questions To Ask Before Launching Overseas | David Frazier

It costs a lot to train, send out, support and care for people in cross-cultural ministry; however, the costs are immeasurable when these workers don’t learn the language and culture well, fail to be effective and return home in trouble spiritually and emotionally. Mission Smart addresses serious gaps in the mission mobilization process and offers fresh solutions for seeing less missionary attrition. Mission Smart is for overseas ministry candidates, church leaders, and mission agency staff. The goal is to send the right people who know their callings, can thrive overseas and be effective in cross-cultural ministry.