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 and at least one book, (some have two books) to read for each module for a total of 23 books that you will read throughout the entire program.
Students work at their own pace and are encouraged to work through each module in chronological order. A part-time student working at a normal, average pace will complete one module each month and complete the whole program in about a year and a half. A full-time student could complete the whole program in six months. We encourage students to complete each module within one to two months.
Each student will be assigned a Facilitator to 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: a certificate or degree program. 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 certificate program for those that are seeking additional training in cross-cultural ministry, taking this course for their own spiritual growth or do not need a degree to meet their future plans. The certificate route takes about 20 hours per module to complete, while the degree route averages about 25 hours per module. All students are required to fulfill 12-15 ministry hours each module in their local context, preferably doing cross-cultural work among unreached people groups.
Coursework:
Certificate seeking students must complete all short answer responses to videos and submit a one page response paper on the book or books for each module. All certificate students must also complete and submit the answers to “100 Questions” for each book in each module. These are open book exams, so students can use their books to answer the multiple choice questions.
Degree seeking students must complete all short answer responses to videos and submit a three page response paper for Associate and Bachelor degree students, a five page response paper for Masters’ degree students and an eight page response paper for Doctorate degree students for each module. All degree students must also complete and submit the answers to “100 Questions” for each book in each module. These are open book exams, so students can use their books to answer the multiple choice questions.
Both certificate and degree students must complete 12-15 ministry hours per module locally and submit a report concerning their time spent in cross-cultural ministry. We encourage students to look for areas in which they can serve their community, especially to another culture. Ministry hours are meant to stretch our students outside their comfort zone and look for ways to serve people from a different culture. Ministry hours can be serving in your local church, community, schools, outreach events, home groups, or time investing in getting to know people from another culture to develop relationships. These hours can be a combination of time with individuals or groups, informal and formal. For example, a student could join a group at church that speaks a different language, participate in outreach events, visit local stores and eateries from other cultures and engage in conversations with the staff or patrons to build relationships, tutor students from other cultures, etc….