Author: Bethany Reedy
Missio Nexus gathers mission leaders across North America. In September, they hosted a session on training for missionary retention. This topic matters because it touches the core of what sustains us in long-term cross-cultural work. Moreover, the discussion challenged me to think deeply about how we prepare and support workers for the long haul.
Three Predictors of Long-Term Sustainability
During the session, facilitator Elliot Stephens shared research that highlights three key predictors of sustainability for cross-cultural workers. First, spiritual vitality. Second, relational maturity. Third, ministry effectiveness.
1. Spiritual Vitality
This area involves dependence on God, love for Scripture and prayer, healthy humility, a deep grasp of grace, and a theology of suffering.
2. Relational Maturity
It includes genuine love in close friendships and marriages, healthy teams with redemptive conflict resolution, and the ability to form local friendships and feel at home in host communities.
3. Ministry Effectiveness
This area focuses… Read the whole post
Image by Tumisu from Pixabay
Online education and training have been around for a long time. But over this past year, many of us have had the opportunity and necessity to experience online training like never before. This is also true for the training of missionaries getting ready to head to the field. Facilitating an online training session is inherently different from facilitating a training module face-to-face. Since online instruction is likely here to stay, those of us involved in training missionaries should continue to sharpen our skills for facilitating online. Here are some things we have learned in the past year that help promote an effective online learning environment.
Use a variety of methods
A good principle of education is to use a variety of different teaching methods. Doing so connects with the various learning styles of your learners. This principle also holds true online. Asynchronous courses with forum discussions have existed in online learning for over 10 years. Some learners will thrive in this kind of setting, particularly if they like to carefully think through their answers before responding. In an asynchronous environment, they can read books, blog posts, and watch videos, reflect on them, and then respond when they are ready in writing through forum posts.
More recently, video conference platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams have become popular ways to facilitate. In this setting, other types of learners will thrive. They have a set time to connect and a more immediate response in the discussion.
So, when you design an online curriculum, seek to cater to as many personalities and learning styles as possible. Maybe your training course can include both asynchronous forum discussions and some live video conference sessions as well.
Break the ice
It may feel natural to introduce yourself to a fellow learner or a facilitator in a physical classroom setting when you first walk into the room or during a class break. But this can feel much more awkward in a virtual setting when you enter a virtual “room” that is already “full” of people, and no one is in closer physical proximity to you than anyone else.