Christians who consider working in mission are often dissuaded by thoughts of giving up personal financial stability or having to raise funds to enter the field. But several organizations now offer the opportunity to try missionary work without making a long-term commitment to service.
Discipleship training programs are becoming increasingly popular among Christian youth who want to evangelize or help impoverished communities, but don’t necessarily want to go through years of training at a Bible college or university to gain the experience.
Like many people who opt for discipleship training, Natalie Neufeld decided to take a short mission program with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) after hearing about others who had traveled with the international Christian ministry, which serves in more than 149 countries. The organization offers discipleship training around the world for people of all ages who want to work in evangelism and mercy ministries.
“I happen to have a lot of friends that have gone through discipleship training school. I realized what a massive and successful program it is,” Neufeld says.
After spending most of her 20s studying English, economics and traveling, the 27-year-old from Warman, Saskatchewan decided to make mission her career goal.
“One of the things that held me back from doing it [before] was that I didn’t understand the purpose of the great commission. Jesus commands us to go out and make disciples of all nations. I wasn’t doing that,” she says, admitting that entering the mission field was “a scary move. “I’ve got three years of university debt and car payments, but that doesn’t matter in the eternalperspective.”
Neufeld is currently taking 12 weeks of YWAM’s classroom training before heading to the predominantly Muslim community of Timbuktu in Mali, West Africa, where she will work with two missionary women for another eight weeks.
Approximately 16,000 volunteer staff serve in more than 1,000 YWAM locations worldwide. YWAM is one of the largest interdenominational ministries, which works to make a difference in poverty- stricken communities.
“We have seen people develop a real heart for the nations. It is kind of a launching pad for mission,” says Scott Marble, communications director for YWAM in Turner Valley, Alberta.
YWAM has 14 bases in Canada, which send approximately 40 people to local and overseas mission fields every year.
Each YWAM location offers a slightly different focus, with Winnipeg and Vancouver centred on urban mission. A new location will be opening in the near future in Fort McMurray, Alberta, and it too will focus on working with local, underserved populations.
Marble says the majority of those who go through YWAM discipleship training are in their early 20s, and many later pursue more formal training through Bible colleges or other missionary organizations.
Break down stereotypes
The Centre for Student Missions (CSM) in Toronto is one of nine CSM urban ministry sites in North America. CSM Toronto offers one-week training in urban ministries, where students work in soup kitchens and shelters, on downtown streets and participate in prayer tours, among other outreach activities.
“Our aim is to break down stereotypes,” explains Jenn Reimer, city director. “We are open to anyone 12 years old and higher, but most groups are senior-high students.”
Individuals and groups come from across North America to work in the multi-denominational setting at Riverside Missionary Church on King Street. Students stay at the church for a week of training and urban outreach, at a cost of $85 per day.
“This is missions exposure as opposed to a missions trip,” Reimer says, adding she got involved in CSM Toronto after going on a CSM trip to Los Angeles.
“I was looking at different opportunities of getting out and doing more. It just captured me. If I had never done a week, I would not be here today,” she says, encouraging others to try it. “It gives you a small taste of missions.”
Those seeking more extensive training may be interested in the Mennonite Church of Canada’s (MC Canada) Witness International Volunteer one- to three-year program, or the Mission Interns program, which runs anywhere from four to 12 months.
The type of work can include teaching English, working in orphanages, or working in health care, and a host of other diverse tasks. “Placements are matched with skills needed,” explains Tim Froese, executive director of International Ministries.
Like other discipleship training programs, MC Canada’s mission trips tend to attract youth and young couples that have been inspired by friends and acquaintances working in missions. “The service is a rewarding and fulfilling way to serve the world and to get to know the world,” Froese says, adding Israel, China, and Africa are just some of MC Canada’s mission destinations.
Many of the discipleship training programs, including those at YWAM and MC Canada, require participants to raise their own funds for their mission trips.
Intensive study
Meanwhile, Capernwray Missionary Fellowship of Torchbearers offers a one-year intensive study of the Bible, which can lead students to the mission field, but it is not a requirement of the program. Unlike other Bible colleges, Capernwray resists the whole concept of grading students on their studies because it interferes with the focus on learning the Scripture.
“Capernwray is not a university. It is deliberately not built around credits or a degree. It is built around the content of what people are learning,” explains Charles Price, former international director for Capernwray. “The only textbook we use is the Bible. We offer an opportunity to get to know the Bible and to get to know God better.”
The Torchbearers started as a week-long camp in England in 1945, and it has since evolved to a Bible school with 25 locations worldwide, two of them in Canada—one on Thetis Island, B.C. and the other in Quebec, about an hour north of Montreal.
Part of the program is to get people involved in evangelism through local outreach initiatives. “We try to encourage students to develop a relationship with God that is fruitful,” Price says.
While the Bible school is open to all ages, most students are between 18 and 25, many coming straight out high school. All of Capernwray’s Missionary Fellowships are situated on beautiful acreages that attract students from around the world.
“The idea of traveling is part of the attraction as well,” Price says.
Marble says people who study at discipleship training schools are typically “radical youth.”
“They tend to be very visionary, and they are people who are willing to do anything for the Lord,” he says, adding discipleship training programs are “a good vehicle for people to see if missions is their thing.”
