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I can’t imagine what it would be like to go to the field without the training I received. Many missionaries tell me they wish their sending agency would have provided some of the training I received.”

Diet and plastic surgery ads abound with “before” and “after” pictures promoting the remarkable differences their products and services claim to make. The above comment is an actual “after” remark. But many missionaries sing a different “before” tune.

“I don’t need three months of training. I went to Bible College; I’ve been through ‘Perspectives,’ have been involved in four mission trips with my local church and had a three-week orientation with my mission-sending agency. I’m ready for the field, I don’t need more training.”

Convincing missionaries and mission agencies of the importance of prefield training is a continual uphill battle. Missionaries resist it and agencies are afraid to impose it, believing that it will hurt their recruitment and afraid that mandatory training is too heavy handed. “After all,” they argue, “Paul didn’t have prefield training and he did just fine.”

In spite of the resistance, the good news is that missionary training is slowing gaining acceptance. Mission training is a spiritual and an economic concern. Missionary attrition for first termers-who can consume half a million dollars getting to the field, with a percentage who do not return for a second term-has finally gotten the attention of the church. Seventy percent of the reasons missionaries leave the field are preventable. Broken and scarred families returning from the field is no longer acceptable.

One positive trend in missionary preparation is THE NEXT STEP: North American Partnership In Mission Training . With more than one hundred members from local churches, mission agencies, formal and non-formal trainers, The Next Step is collaborating to raise the awareness of missionary training and to set a standard for properly equipped missionaries. The most effective missionary training is:

FOCUSED: The most common comment I receive from missionaries when they arrive on the field is, “I’m not sure why I am here. I don’t know what my role is, or what I should be doing?” An eight to twelve week prefield course with an emphasis on strategic planning is key in helping people start strong in their mission careers. Programs provided through The Center for Intercultural Training , HEART Ministries and Paraclete can help people gain focus for a specific ministry.

ON THE FIELD: Web-Based Training (WBT) and instruction through CDs have been a part of the business world and universities for more than a decade. Most Christian universities and seminaries now provide distance-learning programs. Independent programs include “Break Through” and “Field Internship Training” .

ON-GOING: Smart agencies provide on-site training for their teams on a regular basis. Missionary coaches, people who understand cross-cultural ministry and know how to help teams develop a ministry strategy, are invaluable in keeping groups on track. Church Resource Ministries and Extension Management Inc. are two of many such non-formal training groups available for facilitating team ministry.

Preventative medicine will always be a harder sell than treating the disease. However, when it comes to the lives of God’s servants, churches and sending agencies are realizing that money invested in field preparation will give them a better shot at becoming more healthy, whole and productive missionaries. It’s the “after” that validates the importance of missionary training.

Dr. Richard Lewis is the International Training Director for United World Mission and President of The Next Step.

October 18, 2002