Missionary Training

Field Interactive Training

In Field Interactive Training, we teach future missionaries to recognize and overcome the challenges inherent in cross-cultural ministry. This intensive full-immersion experience dramatically expands cultural perspective and catalyzes spiritual growth.

Over the course of three decades, we’ve watched countless missionaries rush out onto the mission field only to burn out in just a few months, hurting the very ministries they had come to help and damaging the very people they had come to serve. Concluding that many of these casualties could be prevented by a little cross-cultural training and personal discipleship, we held the first Field Interactive Training in Boca del Rio, a tiny fishing village in Sinaloa, Mexico just off the Sea of Cortez.

From the start, FIT was a hit. So we ran it again – and again. Today, dedicated, experienced FIT staff continue to partner with national families and local ministries to provide a cross-cultural learning opportunity that is extremely challenging, highly rewarding, and just about as authentic as it gets.

FIT is thirty days of adapting to a new culture, living with a host family and learning to eat their food, play their games, and work their way. FIT is thirty days of language acquisition, immersing in the day-to-day routines of the host community and learning to communicate and build relationships. FIT is thirty days of spiritual growth, participating in common prayer, small, discussion-oriented classes, and immediate hands-on experience.

“It was perfect for what we needed,” say Tony and Hilda, who participated in one of the first FIT cycles and went on to work with Safe Harbor International. “We used everything we learned there.”

“Cultural adaptation means incarnating,” says Lexi, who participated in a more recent cycle. “Not bringing your own culture with you. You have to become a learner.”

“Cultural adaptation is a vital ingredient to a successful mission,” says Jordan, another trainee. “It lays the foundation for building relationships with the people of the world we’re called to reach.”