When Devin Flewell first heard about CrossTraining, he knew it was something he really wanted to do. “It was described as experiential learning, which was way better than sitting in a classroom all day!” says Flewell, 21, a student at Rocky Mountain College in Calgary.
CrossTraining is a mission training program integrating hands-on experience, academic study and mentorship that started in Calgary in 2004. It will start in Toronto in September 2006. Besides Rocky Mountain College, Prairie Bible College, Emmanuel and Heritage Bible College and Heritage Seminary are also partnering with CrossTraining.
Flewell got all the experiential learning he could handle during the seven-month program. Only half of the program is spent in Canada. CrossTrainers live overseas from January to April. Flewell knew he was going to Kenya so he did his three-and-a -half month practicum at a predominantly East African church called Revival Christian Church in Calgary.
During this time, James Karanja, the pastor of Revival Christian Church, formally mentored Flewell. He also did four one-week academic modules, a weekly Perspectives course, a number of weekend seminars and every Monday met with his CrossTraining cohort.
Flewell’ says his favourite part of the curriculum was, not surprisingly, the practicum. His mentor’s home became his second home. He enjoyed all the modules, but especially appreciated Cross-Cultural Communication as the course required him to find a “bridge” person into the Kenyan culture he would soon be living in.
Robert Cousins, director of Mission Prep and CrossTraining Toronto, is excited and sees Toronto’s cultural diversity opening up new opportunities for CrossTrainers. “We have an opportunity to match as closely to the culture they are going to as possible as well as empowering local churches, especially culturally specific ones, to be part of the training,” says Cousins.
Another strength of CrossTraining is the cohort experience. “It was great seeing the students develop community and support each other,” says Dave Roberts, a SIM missionary who served in Zambia and is a mission mentor at Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto.
CrossTraining isn’t just for university-age students but for students of any age, whether at the end of a degree or a career, who want to learn about crossing cultures. It can now be taken as credit towards a MTS or MDiv from Heritage Seminary.
For information, visit www.crosstrainingtoronto.ca.
