The online missionary training school was developed to equip people that want to serve cross-culturally among unreached people groups. UPGs may live across the street while others live across the globe! We have networked with the best churches, missions organizations, and Bible schools out there to come up with the most strategic materials we could find to equip laborers to make disciples among all nations.
The online missionary training school is broken up into 20 courses/modules, each covering a different topic such as evangelism, church planting movements, spiritual warfare, orality/storytelling, etc. You can see an brief description of each module by looking at the full curriculum. Each course will include several videos that the student will need to watch as well as a few Bible studies relevant to that module. Students will record responses to the videos and findings from their studies in the online system. The videos are taught by some of the most world renowned authors/speakers in the Christian world as well as missionaries who have plenty of cross-cultural experience and insight. There are also several articles plus one book to read for each module making approximately 20-25 books that you will read throughout the entire program.
Students can work at their own pace but must finish each of the 20 modules in less than three months. A part-time student working at a normal, average pace will complete one module each month allowing them to finish the whole program in about a year and a half whereas someone who dedicated themselves full-time to this school could finish in around six months. We will check in with students via email and skype to see how they are progressing and provide coaching along the way.
There are basically two online missionary training school programs: the degree or non-degree. We recommend the Bible degree for those that are wanting to further their higher education or thinking about joining a missions organization that may require a certain amount of Bible credits before serving with them. We recommend the non-degree program for those that are just looking at getting additional training in cross-cultural ministry and taking this course for their own spiritual growth. The non-degree route takes about 15-20 hours per module to complete while the degree route averages about 25-30 hours per module. Each module also requires 12-15 ministry hours in your local context preferably doing cross-cultural work among unreached people groups.
The main difference between the non-degree and degree program is the workload. For example, the non-degree program requires a 1 page book report while the associate’s and bachelor’s degree require a 3 page book report and the master’s level requires a 5 page book report for each module. Degree program students will also have to answer 100 open book multiple choice questions that go along with the reading for that module. Check out our sample course here to get a good feel for the work load.
Upon completion of all 20 modules, majority world leaders (students from developing nations) and non-degree students will be awarded a certificate of completion from Global Frontier Missions and people from non-Western countries can earn their associates, bachelors, and masters diploma of ministry in intercultural studies from Covenant Theological Seminary.