Ask a Missionary - Catch The Fire

Q:
What perspective should I take
toward mission training?
A: Ask God for his specific plan for you.
Satan has always tried to bring a wedge between those in the
mission world who strongly emphasize on-the-job training and those
who advocate academic training. Surely it’s not either/or but both/
and. Some people are gifted in learning as they work in missions,
while others find this almost impossible and need the discipline that
a good academic environment gives.
Let’s remember that even those who are highly trained professionals
can make huge blunders on the mission field. Because we
tend to overreact to a mistake (I know I have), we all too quickly
communicate that the mistake would not have happened if the
person had more training, or more teaching, or better doctrine, or
some other oversimplification.
Over the years, thousands who have worked in OM’s shortterm
program, often for a specific purpose such as working in the
engine room on a ship, have later ended up in Bible college or
similar training to further prepare for a different ministry. Surely, God
leads different people in different ways, just as he uses people in
different ways.
Answer from George Verwer, who started Operation Mobilization (OM) and
has worked in missions for over fifty years.
78 | Ask a Missionary