missionary training

One-Year In-Person Training

A 1-year Cross-Cultural Church Planting certificate program

Discipleship-Oriented Training

At To Every Tribe, our training is intentionally discipleship-oriented. We believe that faithful cross-cultural church planting flows from a life shaped by Jesus, anchored in Scripture, and lived out in patient, gospel-centered engagement with people. Our aim is not simply to prepare missionaries to start churches, but to form disciple-makers who can endure, adapt, and remain faithful until healthy, locally led churches are established. We take the Great Commission seriously: Make disciples of all nations!

Everything in our training points toward a clear outcome: healthy, indigenous, reproducing churches formed under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We integrate biblical theology, missiology, and lived practice so that missionaries are not only equipped with knowledge, but shaped in character and skill for long-term ministry. Training is rigorous, relational, and grounded in the realities of cross-cultural life and service.

  • Formed: Character shaped by the gospel and life in the local church
  • Grounded: Biblical clarity and missiological wisdom for cross-cultural ministry
  • Sent: Practices for engaging communities and forming indigenous churches
    In Ministry, for Ministry

    Training at To Every Tribe happens in ministry, for ministry. We believe missionaries are best formed not in isolation from real service, but through faithful participation in the life of the church and active engagement in cross-cultural  contexts. For that reason, our training is intentionally woven into ongoing ministry rather than separated from it.

    From the beginning, trainees are placed in real ministry environments where learning, formation, and practice occur together. We don’t train in a compound, but in a local church engaging the cultures around us. Training is demanding, expectations are clear, and growth is shaped by the daily realities of ministry life. Classroom instruction is consistently connected to lived experience through reflection, coaching, and guided practice.

    Through this in ministry, for ministry model, trainees experience:

    • Real-time cross-cultural ministry
    • Communication development through interacting with people
    • Formation within the life of the local church

      Learning to Engage and Belong

      At To Every Tribe, we train missionaries to enter cross-cultural contexts not as outsiders imposing a message, nor as insiders who lose their distinctiveness, but as faithful participants in community life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Belonging is not assimilation at the expense of the gospel; it is learning how to live among people with humility, patience, and clarity while remaining anchored in biblical truth.

      This approach is captured in our TEAMS framework, which shapes how missionaries are trained to live and serve cross-culturally:

      Training in a cross-cultural context

      Missionaries learn within real cultural settings, developing discernment through experience, reflection, and coaching rather than abstract study alone.

      Engaging a community

      Missionaries learn how to enter communities relationally, build trust, and identify natural pathways for gospel conversations and discipleship.

      Assimilating into a culture

      Missionaries are trained to adapt to local customs, rhythms, and social norms with humility and respect, while maintaining clear gospel convictions.

      Making Disciples

      Discipleship remains central. Missionaries learn to walk patiently with people who may have little or no biblical background, forming disciples who can grow into leaders within their own cultural context.

      Submitting to authority

      Missionaries are formed to serve under spiritual and cultural authority, learning accountability, cooperation, and humility within the local church and ministry structures.

      The Details

      Our one-year training program takes place in the Chicagoland area, one of the most strategic environments in North America for preparing missionaries for cross-cultural ministry.

      More than 350,000 people from unreached people groups live in Chicago and its surrounding communities, including approximately 300,000 Muslims, 126,000 Hindus, 95,000 Buddhists, along with many others from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds.

      Remarkably, 4% of the world’s 100 most unreached people groups are represented in the greater Chicago area. Throughout the training year, participants regularly engage with people from these communities, gaining real-world experience in cross-cultural relationships, gospel witness, and disciple-making.

      Program Term:

      September-July

      Costs:

      $6,100 for singles ($6,600 for couples)*

      Upon Completion:

      Certificate in Cross-Cultural Church Planting (able to be used as credit for some Bible and Mission Programs in various seminaries and Bible Schools)

      *Does not include housing, living expenses, or the cross-cultural mission trip

      One Year In-Person Training Schedule

      September: Establishing Churches

      Classes

      • Fundamentals of Cross-Cultural Church Planting

      Mission Experience: Religious Survey of DuPage County

      October: Expositing Scripture

      Classes

      • Exposition Training
      • Exposition Gospel
      • Exposition Epistle
      • Exposition Old Testament Wisdom

      Mission Experience: Phase 1: Find a coffee shop or any proximity space and meet people

      November: Exposition Culture

      Classes

      • Missional Exposition Culture
      • Ethno-Arts in Cross-Cultural Church Planting
      • Gospel and Culture

      Mission Experience: Phase 2: Attend a religious gathering and identify different forms of religious expression

      December: Engaging People

      Classes

      • Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally
      • Theology of Risk
      • Worldview Apologetics
      • How Orals Learn

      Mission Experience: Phase 3: As you continue to engage in your proximity space, look for opportunities to have spiritual conversations

      January: Evangelizing The Lost

      Classes

      • Oral Bible-Storying
      • Gospel Theology
      • Exegeting Idols
      • Theological Foundations

      Mission Experience: Phase 4: Participate in a Hub Church outreach activity

      February: Equipping New Converts

      Classes

      • Helping Others Discover Their Gifts
      • How to Train Others
      • Training Families

      Mission Experience: Phase 5: Work with the Hub Church to help develop a discipleship pathway for a ministry in the church

      March: Developing a Pioneer Plan

      Classes

      • Developing a Pioneer Plan
      • 4 Selves/Enduring in Ministry
      • Spiritual Warfare

      Mission Experience: Phase 6: Shadow a biblical counselor

      April: Field Experience Prep

      Classes

      • Traits Training
      • Building Teams
      • Practical Living

      Mission Experience: Phase 7: Observe the Ministry Training Academy of the Hub Church – noting ways that leaders are trained and developed

      May: Field Experience Prep

      Classes

      • On-Field Training

      Mission Experience: TET Missionary Training Field

      June: Field Debrief & Application

      Classes

      • Enduring as a 21st Century Missionary
      • Missio vs Ekklesoa

      Mission Experience: Phase 8: Do a deep-dive study of the work of the pastors at the hub-church noting what character and skills it takes to shepherd the sheep of God

      July: Sending Agency Processing

      Classes

      • Meet with To Every Tribe’s Sending Department for Field Specific Conversations and Preparation

      Mission Experience: Write an overview of the type of ministry you believe the Lord has and is preparing you for

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