College Church
Missionary Preparation Program Handbook
Table of Contents
Introduction
1)Welcome Letter
2)Summary
3)Our Philosophy
4)Recruitment
5)Equipping
6)Chart of the MPP Pathway
The Five Dimensions of Missionary Growth
1)A Growing Maturity: Spiritually, Emotionally & Relationally
2)A Growing Commitment to the Life and Ministry of College Church
3)A Growing Knowledge of God’s Word
4)A Growing Application of God's Word through Ministry
5)AGrowing Relationship with Senders & Understanding of Missions
Accountability Partner
1)Summary
2)Background
3)Process
4)Accountability Action Points
Go! Meetings
1)Summary
2)Format
3)Curriculum
Final Remarks
Dear Friend,
Welcome to the Missionary Preparation Program at College Church! We are delighted to be a part of God’s work in your life and are excited about what He has in store for you.
You are part of the most formidable and awe-inspiring movement in the world! Think about the organization: God Himself gave specific gifts to each member of the body and planned the ways in which we would serve Him (Ephesians 2:10). Or think about the power behind world evangelism, the same power that raised Jesus Himself from the dead is alive and at work in you as a believer, as the Spirit moves in and through you. And how about your coworkers: God promised Abraham that his children would be as numerous as the sands on the seashore and the stars in the sky; they come from every nation on earth, every language and culture. And our message is the eternal power and reconciling love of God working through the cross and the empty tomb. (II Corinthians 5:21)
So you are part of the most formidable, eternal, and breathtaking movement on this earth. The gates of Hell will not prevail against it.
We want to prepare you as well as possible for this great task. Gospel ministry in a cross-cultural setting is difficult. Not only will you face the challenges of normal Gospel ministry, but you will also face the cross-cultural challenges of working in another language and culture, the relational challenges of working with new expat and national colleagues, the emotional challenges of living far from family, and possibly the physical challenges of living in a less-developed country. We are committed to helping you thoroughly prepare so that you can thrive in cross-cultural ministry.
Please familiarize yourself with this handbook before your orientation meeting with either me or the MPP Associate. In addition to this book, please complete the Enrollment Handbook and explore the Resource Handbook.
God bless you! And may you know His special favor upon every dimension of your life as you prepare for cross-cultural service.
Warmly in Christ,
Bruce Wilson
Missions Pastor
Missionary Preparation Program
At any time, at any age and at any stage in life, this program takes those seeking to grow as world Christians and provides them a plan, a process and the practice to enhance their cross-cultural ministry. It exists especially, but not exclusively, for those considering short or long term missions and demands significant investment into College Church.
Our Philosophy
At College Church, we realize the church’s responsibility to recruit and equip our best people to serve as missionaries worldwide. Our goal is to develop people prepared to humbly serve the global church, clearly articulate the Gospel message, joyfully persevere through challenges, and consistently model Christ-like character.
Recruitment
Jesus commands his church to “ask the Lord of the harvest ... to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:38).Therefore, College Church is to pray that God will raise up local missionaries and workers from our midst.
The Individual and Corporate Dimensions
Individual‑ God communicates his will to praying and biblically saturated individuals in a variety of ways:from a God‑given desire arising in a person’s heart and mind (Philippians 2:13); to a persuasive appeal from a godly person (Acts 11: 25,26); to a clearly perceived vision (Acts16: 9,10); as well as other ways.
Corporate ‑ The leaders of College Church (whether lay or ordained) should take the initiative to approach individuals with unusual potential for vocational Christian ministry and encourage them to seriously consider such ministry (Acts 11:25,26; 16:3).God confirms his will for an individual through the consensus of a local church (Acts 13:3).The church must agree that he or she is indeed called and equipped for a specific mission before they can lay hands on the individual and send him or her out.
Thus, College Church should play an essential role in the recruitment of vocational Christian workers through prayer, personal appeals by lay and ordained leadership, and corporate confirmation of an individual’s call to ministry.
Equipping
According to Ephesians 4:11, the leadership of the church is responsible to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.College Church’s Missionary Preparation Program constitutes what training we deem important for the missionaries wesend. This program is not meant to take the place of training programs of mission agencies.Instead, we hope that this program will provide these mission agencies with God‑centered, compassionate, well‑prepared and highly motivated candidates. To that end, we cultivate a candidate’s development according the following framework:
The Five Dimensions of Missionary Growth
1)Maturity — Spiritually, Emotionally, and Relationally
2)Commitment — to the Life and Ministry of College Church
3)Knowledge — of God’s Word
4)Application — of God’s Word through Ministry
5)Relationship— with Senders
Each dimension includes its corresponding set of action points. The Board of Missions prefers that candidates demonstrate significant participation in College Church's local ministries and have completed, or are in the process of completing, the action points outlined in this program prior to considering the candidate for support.Equivalents of the necessary action points will be considered by the Missions Pastor and the Personnel Committee upon evaluating a participant’s successful completion of the program.
DIMENSION 1
A Growing Maturity: Spiritually, Emotionally & Relationally
By far the most important dimension of preparation for the mission field entails one’s relationship with God and conformity to the character of Christ.Above all, we want our missionary candidates to be men and women of the Word and of prayer.We aim to encourage them toward a regular and satisfying devotional life of prayer, Bible study, and memorization.Our great hope is that the missionaries sent by College Church are gripped with a biblical vision of God - a God who is sovereign over the universe and who is intimately concerned for the deep and lasting joy of the individual.
God has placed His treasure in earthen vessels “to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).None of us will be perfect in this age, but God wills for us to grow in conformity to his Son. We believe that missionaries should substantially meet the qualifications for leaders mentioned in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 and that their lives should be marked by humility, love, faith and perseverance.
Action Points
1. Regular devotional life, prayer, Bible study and memorization.
2. Read Basic Christianity by John Stott.
3. Read Jesus Driven Ministry by Ajith Fernando.
4. Complete the Gifted to Serve seminar (Adult Community core class)
DIMENSION 2
A Growing Commitment to the Life and Ministry of College Church
Mission agencies recognize that the local church is the seedbed for missions.That’s why one of the first questions on the reference form they send to the Missions Pastor has to do with whether or not the missionary candidate is a fruitful member of the body of Christ.This makes sense when one considers that the aim of missions is to plant the church of Jesus Christ where it doesn’t exist or to strengthen it where it cannot yet thrive on its own.How do we know what we are trying to plant or strengthen if we have not experienced it for ourselves?Consequently, it is our desire that the missionaries we send out from College Church have a positive and fruitful ministry with the local church.
Our philosophy is for our missionaries to serve in the mainstream of the life of the church as much as possible.Though we want camaraderie among the missionary candidates, we don't intend for them to be cloistered.Instead, we want them plugged into the body life of the church, on both the giving and the receiving end.We want our missionaries‑in‑training to disseminate a missions’ vision throughout the congregation and to developrelationships with those who will stay behind as the sending base.
Essentially, what we ask of our missionary candidates is not that much more than what we ask of any ordinary church member.We expect all of our ablebodied members, including our missionary candidates, to participate in the following five ways:
- Commitment to our large, corporate worship gathering.
- Commitment to regular participation in one smaller gathering.
- Commitment to at least one area of service in the church (discipleship).
- Commitment to at least one outreach beyond the church (evangelism).
- Commitment to supporting the church through prayer and giving.
Action Points
- Complete the Membership Class and the College Church membership process
- Regular attendance at College Church’s corporate worship services.
- Regular involvement in a small group and/or an Adult Community.
- Regular Attendance of GO! Meetings.
DIMENSION 3
A Growing Knowledge of God’s Word
At College Church, we highly value a clear understanding of biblical truth. Our desire is that each of us will joyfully obey the biblical admonition in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
Missionaries face subtle, complex questions as they minister God’s Word cross-culturally. How close may new converts stay to their old way of life as Muslims? What are the essential characteristics of a church and how does it fit in this culture? How do I share Christ with a post-modern college student? These and a myriad of other questions require a thorough knowledge of God’s Word. Not all mission agencies have the same requirements when it comes to formal Bible training.A few do not require formal training but simply a demonstration that you have a good grasp of Scripture.Many, however, do require varying degrees of formal Bible training.
Recognizing the Bible, the Word of God, as foundational to life, work, and ministry, the Board of Missions requires that all career missionary applicants, regardless of the type of mission work they intend to perform, have a solid grounding in Bible.The Board therefore requires that candidates complete 30 college credit hours or the equivalent of formal Bible study, which may include biblical language study.Satisfaction of this requirement is reviewed and determined by the Missions Pastor.Candidates who have not met this requirement must submit to the Board of Missions an acceptable plan of how many of these courses will be pursued during their first term of service.Progress and fulfillment of this requirement will be monitored by the Missions Pastor.Candidates who do not meet the Bible education requirement should understand that their acceptance for support stands for only one term of service.Support for subsequent terms of service will be contingent on satisfactory progress toward completing the requirement.
Action Points
- Completion of the Adult Community core class, How to Study and Teach the Bible.
- Completion of the Adult Community core class, The Storyline of the Bible or completion of the book, God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible.
- Completion of a New Testament survey course.
- Completion of an Old Testament survey course.
- Read Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper or The Mission of God by Chris Wright.
- Completion of a minimum 30 credit hours of formal training in Bible & Theology.
DIMENSION 4
A Growing Application of God's Word through Ministry
There is an old adage which says, “If you're not doing it here, what makes you think you’ll do it over there?”This is a probing question.Mission agencies ask it all the time.They insist that missionary candidates have demonstrated a significant degree of effort and effectiveness in ministry here, which will constitute relevant experience for wherever the candidate is going.
The Board of Missions at College Church also encourages missionary candidates toward regular involvement in local ministries that will provide relevant ministry experience for the mission field.We realize that there are significant methodological differences, for example, between evangelism in Wheaton and evangelism among the Muslims in Northern Africa.But the similaritiesare also significant.Both situations supply the experience of depending on God to empower you to move out of your comfort zone and communicate the gospel in terms which can be understood by a particular culture.
We want our candidates to go to the field armed with experiences of God working through them, fully confident that he will continue to do so in the future wherever they go.
We ask you to be regularly involved in ministry on two fronts:ministry directed toward building up believers and sustaining the church (discipleship), and ministry directed toward building redemptive bridges to unbelievers (evangelism).During your time of preparation for the field, we encourage you to take advantage of both classroom and “on‑the‑job” training for a wide variety of ministries, with a special focus on ministry to the poor, local cross‑cultural ministries, evangelism and discipleship.
Action Points
- Regular involvement in ministry directed toward building up believers and sustaining the church (discipleship).
- Regular involvement in ministry directed toward building redemptive bridges with unbelievers (evangelism).
- Involvement in cross-cultural ministry through: a short term missions trip with an agency or with STAMP or World Impact; outreach to international students, refugees or immigrants; involvement in an ethnic church or involvement at Outreach Community Center.
DIMENSION 5
AGrowing Relationship with Senders & Understanding of Missions
A “sender” is anyone who helps a missionary on his or her way “in a manner worthy of God ... so that we may work together for the truth” (3 John 5-8; Titus 3:13).We want all of our missionaries to have significant and healthy relationships with a network of senders. These senders are to help the missionary during his or her time of preparation, ministry on the field, and home ministry assignment.
Our Six Categories of Senders
1)Accountability Partner
Every missionary candidate upon entry into the Missionary Preparation Program must have an “Accountability Partner”. The candidate will meet with his or her Accountability Partner once a month to report on progress in the program, establish goals for the coming month and pray together.
2)The Board of Missions (BOM)
The BOM is deeply committed to helping you thrive as a missionary. These men and women are the ones who make the crucial decisions about policies in general, and about you in particular— including whether or not to undertake financial support. But they are not only decision makers, they are also “under-shepherds”, helping College Church become more effective in their ministry of sending, and helping you thrive in your missionary experience — from your first inklings of a call to missions until you have finished the race God set for you and he calls you home to glory.
Action Points of BOM Relationship
- Missionary Preparation Program — Involvement in this program puts you on the BOM’s radar screen. In particular, the Personnel Committee is involved in overseeing and guiding you through this time.
- Career Application Process — Once a missionary candidate is appointed by an approved mission agency, the candidate will submit an application for support to the BOM. This process includes an interview by the Personnel Committee.
- Strategy / Policy Formation — The BOM establishes and revisespolicies which guide missions at College Church, and it evaluates missionaries who seek financial support. They decidewho to recommend for support and at what level.
- Correspondence — Once on the field, the missionary will correspond with the BOM at least quarterly, keeping the Board abreast of how things are going and how they can be praying. The BOM also makes sure that missionaries receive monthly mailings from the church, including the Connections newsletter, and other church-wide news.
- Debriefing Interview — When a missionary returns from the field for home ministry assignment (furlough), he or she will meet with the BOM for a time of prayer and reporting.
3)The Missions Agency
Anagency works in partnership with the sending church. We regard mission agencies as the experts who will have the most immediate oversight of missionaries in the last stages of their preparation and subsequent fieldwork.
Action Points of Agency Relationship
- Exploration — We encourage our missionary candidates to begin exploring various mission agencies immediately. This is a time-consuming process, so the earlier you get started, the better. Also, the earlier you settle on a mission agency, the more efficient and directed your preparation.
- Application and Screening — Application to a mission agency is also a time-consuming process. When you consider what is at stake, this makes sense. Usually there is an initial application that gets the ball rolling, and then an extensive application which includes the writing of your personal testimony, your ministry experience, a doctrinal statement, and numerous references.
- Candidate / Orientation School — Usually the last stage before being officially appointed by a mission agency and beginning the deputation (support raising) process is the orientation school. Here you meet with agency officials, get thoroughly acquainted with their history, policies and strategy, discuss the particular field and ministry you may be assigned to, and go through a regiment of psychological evaluations. At this point many mission agencies will require you to go to a place like Missionary Internship for intensive training in language and culture acquisition.
- On-going Accountability and Direction — Each agency has its own means of on-going accountability and training.
4)The Missionary Support Team