Missionary Boot Camp
Judi Chow

I am in the middle of a Cross-Cultural Training for Chinese missionary candidates in Macau. This is a very intensive program; that’s why I call it missionary boot camp. I have never joined the army before, but I know every soldier has to go through boot camp before they can go to war. Boot camp is a training ground to test and see if they have what it takes to fight for their country. This training could make a difference between the life or death of a soldier, that’s why the drill sergeant is so hard on the cadets. Many drop out because they cannot handle the physical demand or the mental stress placed upon them. Those who make it through boot camp go on to war and many survive because they’re physically fit and mentally prepared to face the enemy.

What about soldiers of Christ? Missionaries often get sent out unprepared to fight in spiritual battles. After all, the needs are so great; the heathen shouldn’t have to wait any longer; it takes too much time and money to go through more trainings. Besides, missionaries have Bible education already, some have years of pastoral experience, others even acquired language and cultural studies, and a few might have attended seminars on interpersonal communication skills. What else is there? What else is needed to ensure not only the survival of God’s soldiers, but their victory as promised by Christ? You see, if all we needed were knowledge and ministry skills, then that might be adequate. It is easy to impart knowledge and skills come with practice, but the character of a person can only be developed with a humble mind, an obedient heart, and with the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. How can we look for spiritual maturity in missionary candidates that enables them to make Godly decisions in strenuous circumstances?

The most important element in equipping a missionary is the formation of a person’s character. This is what Dr. Titus Loong refers to as missionary formation. It is the holistic approach to a missionary’s development in every stage of that person’s life from having the desire to serve overseas, to responding to God’s call, to preparation, to commissioning, to serving in the field, to furlough, to retirement. The focus should be on the missionary’s character development in each life stage. How can missionary formation be actualized? This is a life-long learning process. With pre-field training, it can be done through missionary boot camp where a learning environment is created through a simulation of a missions field. A small group of missionary candidates are enlisted to live in a community context where experiential learning occurs. Trainers ensure and assist each trainee in allowing God to touch and equip them to grow holistically in terms of being, knowing, and doing. This is the reason the ideal ratio for trainer to trainees is 1 to 3. 

This learning by doing, knowing by interacting, and being by living together is modeled after Jesus’ holistic training of His disciples. How long can people hide behind their facades if they live together twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week? After a few weeks when the excitement settles, the true self will eventually surface. Sometimes their actions and reactions might surprise everyone, including themselves. That’s when trainers remind them to live out Jesus’ command to love one another. Trainers facilitate a safe community where trust, acceptance, mutual encouragement, supports, and building up of each other can be cultivated among trainees. Each missionary boot camp’s outcome might be different due to the trainees’ make-up, yet trainers need to be sensitive to the guiding of the Spirit so that each trainee can receive the optimum holistic growth outcome. Sometimes the effect of the training might linger until years later when the missionary faces hardship in the frontline.

Missionary boot camp is expensive in terms of human resources. It can never be replaced with mere intellectual seminars or practical skills workshops. It demands sacrifices and transparency from the trainers as well as the trainees, but there is no greater joy than seeing God-caused changes and growth in the lives of missionary candidates. There is no greater honor than partnering with God to equip missionaries to fight in a spiritual battle that has been declared victorious!