Reflections of North Americans on Their Training and Equipping for Cross-Cultural Missions in Asia

Abstract

This study uses a qualitative, case study approach to understand the reflections of North American missionaries in Asia regarding their training and equipping for cross-cultural missions. For this study, seventy-five long-term missionaries from over twenty-five sending organizations were interviewed regarding their experiences and reflections on training. The interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using inductive analysis and pattern recognition with the aid of a CAQDAS software package. The write-up follows a four-part framework, which includes participant comments on valuable training received, training formats, prescriptive advice, and applications. Application is made through extracting training principles and considerations from participant data rather than specifics. These training principles were also compared and validated by their occurrence in others missions’ and secular training literature. This study concludes that while there are considerable differences in cross-cultural missionaries, experiential, relationship-based missionary training is superior to classroom- or workshop-based training for most of them.