History of the Missions Training Institute in Mexico
Mission Bases Home
by Seth Barnes
In 1998, we graduated our first class of 34 from a school of missions
for Mexican nationals established at the Gateway near Matamoros, Mexico.
These students went through a year of intensive study and ministry,
preparing to become missionaries to their own countrymen. For about
$2,000 per student, we were able to feed, house, and train them. The
story of how this training center was established is remarkable because
it happened so quickly and with so few resources. Here is how it happened:
On a project to Mexico in 1997,
I felt God strongly saying that we were to begin training Mexican young
people of college age. Training should be a year in length and geared
toward missions with an emphasis on hands-on ministry. I excitedly shared
this with staff members whom I felt would be involved in implementing
the idea. Still, I was bothered by a gaping hole in the plan. Where would
these young people come from.
Our last night of the project,
we wanted to throw a party at the Gateway for the Mexicans at the womenıs
shelter and the orphanage at which we had been working. That evening,
they arrived at the Gateway and were seated at tables to be fed. Entering
the room, I noticed a table of young Mexican men. They seemed to be exactly
the kind of young men that I felt God was leading us to train.
"Where did these young men come from?" I asked.
"They are being trained at the orphanage where our groups have been working." I was told.
My mind raced. Perhaps these
people could tell us more about how to train Mexican nationals. Other
questions came as well: What were the subjects in which they were being
trained? Who currently did the training? Would they be interested in moving
to our Gateway facility? What did they want to do with their lives after
completing their training? How long did it last?
I introduced myself to the
orphanage director and began asking questions. The answers were enlightening:
They are trained in the mornings and in the afternoons do ministry: street
evangelism, feeding the poor, and work around the orphanage. On Saturdays
they go out and evangelize. At the conclusion of their training, they
are sent out, much as Jesusı disciples, by twos, without any support to
start a ministry. In fact, the entire ministry is run with very little
support. Because of this, the orphanage director was immediately receptive
to the idea of a partnership. They would love to have us help with the
training. Currently, he and his wife are burning the candle at both ends
running the orphanage and teaching two classes each.
When we sat down to talk at
greater length, we were amazed at how God seemed to be orchestrating a
partnership. The same morning that I felt God speaking to me, he had awakened
from a dream. In the dream God showed him that his students were to be
missionaries. That morning, he announced what he felt God was saying to
his students.
Afterwards, our staff fasted
and prayed about it. A particular concern was that we not spoil what God
is doing with these Mexican young people through our sometimes overly-American
approach. We have much to learn from them. They are truly practicing the
radical discipleship to which we aspire. Many of these students have come
from the streets. They donıt have money for tuition, but they believe
in a big God. They give what little they do have to those who are poorer
than themselves. They trust God to supply their needs, and He does. The
students are required to raise a small amount to help cover costs. Ismael
has some contacts for support, but he is relying on AIM to furnish more
contacts. The biggest ongoing expense is food.
In comparison, we in the U.S.
see our own sometimes compromised approach to discipleship and aspire
to an even more complete abandon to ministry. There are eight basic classes
and five technical classes that are taught each week in the mornings.
Courses include Pastoral counseling, Praise and Worship, Hermeneutics,
Old Testament and New Testament, and Spiritual Warfare.
We housed the 34 students who
enrolled in the first class in our existing facilities. At the same time,
we worked overtime to complete a building capable of handling double or
triple that number in this next year.
The first year was a tremendous
success. Students fasted twice a week, prayed three hours a day, followed
up on many new converts from our short-term teams, planted new churches,
and led thousands of people to Christ. After graduating, they planted
new works in cities and villages around Mexico.
The Institute has become a
pilot project. Building on this success, we eventually, we hope to establish
a network of training centers around the world.
How Can You Help?
- Consider supporting an individual student. For $2,000, we can
train, feed, and house a national missionary for a year. After
that, the graduate is sent to the field to plant a new church,
orphanage, or training center.
- Consider supporting our Mission Training Institute staff. Our
staff continues to grow at the school and they need to raise their
own support. We have a multi-national staff who want to make a
difference by training church leaders. Sometimes new staff do
not have the established relationships necessary to raise support.
They depend on people, like you, who desire to see the ministry
of Adventures In Missions make a long term impact.
- We want to invite U.S. churches and our individual financial
partners to come down to the Rio Grande valley and join God in
what He is doing there. Come for a weekend, come for a week, or
even longer. Come alongside these future missionaries from Mexico
as they build a center which be a unique model for cross-cultural
partnership. We believe that because of the urgency of the task
and its potential for long-term impact, that this opportunity
to help advance the Lordıs kingdom is worth careful consideration.
Your contributions are tax-deductible. Checks should be made out to
Adventures In Missions.
Send to:
Adventures In Missions
6000 Wellspring Trail
Gainesville, GA 30506
*Contact Deryck
Livingston at (800) 881-2461 for more information on supporting
the Missions Training Institute, its staff or students.
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