Discerning and pursuing your calling can be a confusing process.
It may be long or short. However our hope is that, by the time you leave, both you and your support team will be prepared to keep you there for the long haul!
Calling
If you feel any kind of calling to work cross-culturally, we suggest seeking early endorsement from the leadership in your local church. Our calling mini-course will help you!
Confirming
Take time to process and test the calling. Don’t do this alone! Look to your church, loved ones, and other trusted voices.
Equipping
Practically prepare for the road ahead. We strongly advise taking cross-cultural training. Our own Crossing Cultures 101 courses will give you key foundations.
Resourcing
Commissioning
Leaving is a process, not a single event. How are you preparing for a smooth transition? We’d advise building a RAFT and ensuring everything practical is ticked off.
On-Field
A Sender’s Role
Any fieldworker needs a great team of friends, family and colleagues supporting them. You have a huge part to play in ensuring their success. Check out what you can do to ensure your fieldworkers thrive!
- A church should establish a discernment process for anybody who may feel a call to work cross-culturally.
- The call needs to be tested, and the candidate’s maturity and readiness need to be assessed
- The church’s role is critical – sadly many missionaries who end up leaving prematurely for preventable reasons should never have gone in the first place!
- Give opportunities for the candidate to learn by serving and leading in the church.
- Ensure good mentoring is in place for the candidate. Make use of people with prior cross-cultural or mission experience.
- Consider mentoring for practical skills such as financial management or pastoral care.
- This is a season of practically preparing for the road ahead
- Choices need to be made about an agency or a process for training and equipping. Ideally, the church leaders would walk alongside the candidate through this.
- We strongly recommend the raising of personal support teams by the candidate and the church’s backing in that endeavour would be important.
- If the church endorses, hopefully they will also partner with the pre-field missionary in the matter of financial support.
- Clarify the level of support required with the field worker and consider how the church can support through the process of fundraising beyond providing money.
- Remember it is much easier for others, particularly those in authority in the church, to advocate for their financial support than for the candidate to do that on their own behalf!
- Read Acts 13. You will see that this is more than just a rousing send-off, with a ‘goodbye’, at the end. The sense of still belonging, even when serving at the other end of the world, is so important.
- Maintaining that connection through thick and thin might make all the difference between success and failure.
- Encourage the field worker to maintain the connection to the church – and make sure you do too!
- See our on-field resources for more details on what is next.
Start Your Journey
Here are some useful materials for you
Calling – Who? What? Why?
In the church, there exists a widespread misconception that only “exceptional Christians” receive a “proper” calling from God. The truth,…
Growing in Cultural Intelligence
The Antioch Factor
Ross Paterson presents a stark choice that no Christian or church can avoid making – whether we become a Jerusalem…
Caring for Third Culture Kids
Currently in development, this exciting new course is created by our Dean of Studies, Ben Gilbert. British by birth, raised in India, with time living in Sri Lanka and the Middle East – the TCK experience is familiar to Ben, who is excited to share personal experiences, research and helpful insights for both TCKs, and those caring for them to thrive across cultures. Sign up to be notified when the course is released!
Thriving Across Borders
This course covers the major transitions that someone will make when crossing cultures. We delve into the typical transition points…
Building a Support Ecosystem
In this course, we examine the different dimensions of support that are needed for a successful cross-cultural experience or lifestyle….
Cross-cultural marriage
Know Thyself
This course explores the concept of understanding ourselves within the context of our own cultures. Before delving into how we…
Joseph #7: Blessing or Obedience or Both?
The final in this 7-part series on Joesph, Ross looks at the important balance between God’s sovereign grace and empowerment…
Get Ready to be Shaken
Ross looks at what the Bible says about the end of the world, and how the Bible tells us to…
Interview with Christine Paterson
Christine Paterson Interview Co-founder Christine Paterson tells us about her life on the mission field from her childhood in Africa…
The 4 Questions
Transcript (Summarized) The 4 Questions English Today, I am going to share from John’s Gospel chapters 5 to 7, and…
Deported from China with Greg and Lisa
For security reasons, we can’t show you Greg and Lisa’s faces. But they have a story that is well-worth hearing….
Transforming Slums with Nicola Neal
When Nicola and husband Simon were called out of a comfortable life into the poorest communities, they had no idea…
Unwrapping the TCK Experience
It was fantastic to welcome a good crowd from around the globe to launch our latest course, Caring for TCKs….
Miracles and Mission with David and Joyce Lamb
We were privileged to interview two legends in the Kingdom—David and Joyce Lamb. Their stories of divine provision, angelic encounters,…
Equipping Servants with David & Vicki Frazier
After a season of cross-cultural preparation and discernment, David and Vicki worked as missionaries for 20 years in Turkey before…
Missionary to the UK: Reuben Inwe
Our interview with Reuben Inwe is a fascinating one. His own story of encountering the Lord on a bus in…
Vision of FieldPartner International
The vision of FieldPartner International is a simple one. It is to serve the church and individual believers in matters…
Philip – The Model Missionary
Having looked recently at cross-cultural missionaries from the pages of the New Testament, it struck me that I couldn’t do…
Anne van der Bijl (Brother Andrew, God’s Smuggler)
Anne van der Bijl (Brother Andrew, 1928-2022) was a Dutch Christian known for smuggling Bibles and other Christian literature into…
Preparing for Cross Cultural Missions
1. How is your walk with the Lord? how are you doing with the Lord? Often I think of a…
The Beauty of Collaboration
I recently received an update from a soon-to-be partner and found that they were starting to offer online options for…
J. O. Fraser – Leading, Listening – or Both?
The successful missionary, for example J.O. Fraser, balances a strong personality with an equally strong ability to listen and learn,…
J. O. Fraser – Fraser Was A Spy?
At this point accusations spread that Fraser was a spy working for the British government. The accusations hindered his…
The Divine Exchange – Easter Week Pt 5
This is part of our Easter week series from Ross Paterson’s daily devotional Facebook post. Like our page to keep…
Announcing New Course: Crossing Cultures 101
We have just launched our most recent course Crossing Cultures 101! It’s free to complete and consists of 3 online modules…
C.T. Studd – From Sports Star to China Missionary
C.T. Studd once said: “Let us not glide through this world and then slip quietly into heaven, without having blown…