Cross-cultural Training at Asbury Seminary

In July, we completed another training intensive for cross-cultural workers. This year, we held our 3-week training at Asbury Theological Seminary. TMS Global and Asbury have a long-standing partnership and it was a natural fit for us to work on the Asbury campus. (Some of you may recall the Asbury name from the recent awakening or revival that occurred on their campus earlier this year, bringing tens of thousands to their chapel from around the world and sparking renewed worship and service.)

This year, I led a team of 12 facilitators with a shared experience of 150+ years living and serving as cross-cultural workers. Our facilitators have lived in Kazakhstan, Peru, Jordan, India, UAE, Spain, Kosovo, Liberia, and Kenya, and they have served in too many countries to name! With that depth of experience in various cultures comes a depth of stories and real-life connections that only our training can give.

One of our trainees said, “It was a training like no other. I am leaving better than I was. This was an incredible time of learning and connection. When you get a room full of people who are passionate about Jesus, the transformation and learning comes naturally.”

Our cross-cultural worker (CCW) trainees this year were also diverse. We hosted trainees from the USA, Kenya, North Africa, France and other places I cannot specifically mention for security reasons. Some of our trainees are already working in their places of service, while others are preparing to launch to fields in Asia, USA, East Africa, North Africa, and Europe. All of this diversity in the room also means there are various cultures, worldviews, languages, religious backgrounds, and values represented. This always makes for an amazing opportunity for learning and growing together!

We have an intense curriculum that covers 75+ hours of sessions covering three threads: Cross-cultural ministry and skills, Spiritual Formation, Member Care / Personal Wellbeing.  We incorporate daily scripture engagement and worship. One of the things that makes our program unique is the fact that alongside our adult training program, we run a program for children and families who will be serving cross-culturally. The children’s program follows the adult program topics in age-appropriate curriculum sessions. When adults are learning about Serving on Cross-cultural Teams or about Conflict Management and Resolution, the children’s sessions are also touching those same topics.

A strong sense of community is a key factor in a comprehensive training program. While we are training individuals to go out and serve, we are also training people to live in community, to go out and be relational beings, as God created us, and to love their neighbors well. As we consider a strong training program, we also want to consider building a strong community of people who feel grounded and nurtured and supported, and who have the attitude of humble learners ready to learn from the community around them. “It was such a blessing to get a glimpse of the highs and lows of cross-cultural work. It’s a place where we formed community and a deeper understanding of God’s heart for us and for the nations,” said *Abraham.
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It is such a privilege and honor to have the opportunity to speak into the lives of cross-cultural workers serving around the world.
 

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“Humble learning was a very helpful concept to me.
When I started cross-cultural ministry work,
I was offended if people couldn't change
and be like me.
I went to the mission field thinking I knew it all, 
but I realized that I also have a lot to learn
from others.”