Missionary Team Internship

The Missionary Team Internship is a six to nine-month full-time training program. In order to participate interns must raise full-time support, as well as a monthly working fund that is used to pay the costs for training. The Internship is held in Abilene, Texas, home of Continent of Great Cities. After undergoing a thorough screening and selection process, missionary candidates are accepted as members of a designated mission team and invited to attend the Missionary Team Internship.

At Continent, the staff is the curriculum. Every staff member at Continent has extensive experience in church establishment in the Portuguese or Hispanic world. Adjunct faculty members are also utilized for courses and seminars where their particular expertise is required. Our experienced staff, supplemented by the adjunct faculty, helps each team develop practical ministry skills while equipping them to establish a dynamic work. The primary objectives of Continent’s training are:

• Personal spiritual development
• Language study
• Team formation
• Completion of necessary fundraising
• Team training seminars
• Enhancement of practical ministry skills

The six core courses for the Missionary Team Internship are:

• Interpersonal Relationships Skills Workshop
• Team Missions
• Urban Evangelism and Church Establishment
• History and Culture of the Target City and Country
• Family and Women’s Issues
• Personal Evangelism

In addition to the six core courses offered during the Missionary Team Internship, team members have a daily language class taught by Dr. Robert Brown, professor of Spanish and Portuguese at Abilene Christian University.

Chapel occurs daily. Personal devotional time is built into the daily schedule. Other courses offered during the Internship are:

• Theology of the Church
• Leadership and Leadership Development
• A Seminar on Works of Churches of Christ in the Target Country - Conducted by a current or ex-missionary to the target country (whenever possible)
• Prayer and Ministry
• Spiritual Development Seminar

There is also a strong practical element in the Missionary Team Internship. Because of their research and studies, team members produce a written strategy document that will guide them in their work once they reach the field. It is understood that, as the work unfolds, this document will need revision. It is far superior, however, to arrive on the field with a clearly defined and agreed upon strategy that may need modification, than to arrive on the field with no agreed upon strategy for initiating and carrying out the work.

Interns are expected to spend three to four hours per day in ministry related activities such as teaching evangelistic Bible studies, visitation and working with service or benevolence ministries in Abilene. One night per week, the team meets in the home of Ron and Georgia Freitas to eat foods typical of their target country and learn more about the target country’s culture and customs in an informal setting.

Most team members come to the Internship still needing to raise a substantial amount of funds for the field. During the course of the Internship orientation and encouragement is given for this important task. The schedule of the Internship is flexible enough to allow for fundraising-related travel.

In addition, team members meet weekly with a mentor/coach who will help insure they are setting and meeting personal goals regarding ministry and fundraising. The mentor/coach will also monitor the spiritual well-being of the missionary trainee.

A highlight of every Internship is the team’s 17-day Research/Survey Trip to South America. Two members of CGC’s ministry staff accompany the team. Teams typically visit four cities in South America. These stops include a visit to a mission team that is in the initial phases of its work, a visit to a team that is four to five years into its work, a visit to a "mature" mission site and finally a one-week stay in the team’s target city. While in the target city, team members begin to familiarize themselves with their future home. In preparation for their upcoming move, they conduct needed research concerning housing, schooling, language learning opportunities, the local religious environment, etc.