Every year in May, Mission of Christ Network hosts New Mission Partner Training (NMPT) – a weeklong training focused on equipping new mission partners and specialists for their time of service in the foreign mission field. Training topics range from ‘Barriers to the Gospel’ to ‘Culture Shock’ to ‘Insurance’ and everything in-between.
Hear from Mission Partners (L to R below) Katherine Moser (Taiwan); Seth & Kirstie Skogerboe (Central Europe) and Mission Partner Specialist Chris Schwanz (Africa) about their experience at NMPT:
What’s one thing you learned at NMPT that you will take with you onto the field?
Katherine: One thing I learned while at NMPT is that the only certainty God desires in our lives is that we be certain of Him. It is a hope and an encouragement to know God is the one that creates faith in others, not us, and He continually directs our steps when we seek to do His will.
Seth: Considering the implications of honor/shame or fear/power paradigms for one’s understanding (and presentations) of the Gospel isn’t just helpful for relating to Christian brothers and sisters in other cultural contexts; it allows for crucial perspective on the full wealth of God’s gift to us in Jesus’ death for our life. We are not only innocent of our sins by Jesus’ blood—although we are that!—but freed from their eternal hold on us, and honored and glorified in Him.
Kirstie: Something that will stick with me from the sessions on partner care is the importance of building elements into a healthy routine now that we can translate onto the mission field later. While I think I’ve developed healthy rhythms of self- and family-care, I realized many of them are dependent on living where we do right now. I’ve already started adding in some new wellness routines that I am confident will make the transition with me!
Chris: The opportunity to break out of the worldview which I have been limited by and be opened to how incredibly large God is when seen through the worldview of another culture.
What’s one way you feel more ready to enter the foreign mission field after NMPT?
Katherine: One way I feel more ready to enter the foreign mission field after NMPT is having the reassurance that it is by God’s grace that we are privileged to take part in planting and watering seeds. We don’t always get to see the outcome, but that’s not the point. God simply asks us to be present with people, prayerfully and fervently seeking opportunities to intentionally proclaim the Gospel.
Seth: All of the logistical work we did with our field lead figuring out financial details and discussing our psychological and interpersonal profiles was a huge relief to me. We trust God to lead us into and through the dark, but it’s so helpful to go into this trip with our eyes open!
Kirstie: My greatest anxiety in going on the mission field has been leaving family and disrupting our own immediate family’s sense of stability. But one of John Mehl’s sessions, where he shared several deeply moving stories from his own family’s experience sharing Christ in Russia, re-contextualized my concerns in light of the immeasurable worth of knowing Christ and helping other people to know him. I have more courage now.
Chris: The time we spent together in God’s Word, prayer, and meditation affirmed what I have been feeling and thinking about taking the next step into cross-cultural Gospel proclamation.
What were you encouraged by at NMPT?
Katherine: I was encouraged by the fact that God wants our hearts, not for us to just “go through the motions.” It’s as we go about our day-to-day lives that we are called to be His disciples, and God calls imperfect people to be His witnesses and to point others to Him. Thus, He asks us to simply trust Him and to always be ready to give a reason for why we have the hope that is in us.
Seth: Knowing that the friends we made at this training will be praying and in the Word along with us as we serve in our respective fields was a real encouragement.
Kirstie: Primarily the staff members, who were not only interested in our commitment to missions, but in our life stories—not just in our evangelistic “success” but in our family’s health, stamina, and faithfulness to God’s calling—and not just in our comfort, but in our dependence on Christ and love for His mission. My husband and I were also profoundly encouraged by the stories of our fellow missionaries-in-training and how God has led each of them to their respective ministries.
Chris: For me it was the “who” I was encouraged by at NMPT. The collegiality of those who were new and not new was refreshing, inspiring, positive, and supportive. After spending the week together, I would partner with any one of them to wherever God would call us.