From the EAPTC School of Mission, Nairobi, Kenya
See and download the lessons
Introducing the course
Basics of a missionary
On being called as a missionary
Steps to a commission
History of World Missions
Strengths and weaknesses of the African missionary
Biblical cultures of the world
Reaching the Muslims
Life and work of a missionary
Developing leadership skills
Cross-cultural communication
The promise of blessing
That you need to know
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Rev. Paul Lee, the Principal of the EAPTC School writes:
“Probably you are wondering how this manual came to be composed in the way you are looking at it now. Years ago when we opened our own missions training school in Nairobi, Kenya, it was a rare event which even stirred up ridicules among other pastors and missionaries around us. However, it seemed the Lord was pleased by our mere obedience and gave us some blessings and fruits in the years to follow. It was through the efforts of those missionary trainees that our work expanded into 40 Schools of Mission and 108 new churches in four African nations today.”
Concerning the uprising Third World missions movement, Larry D. Pate put it this way in his contributing article to Ralph Winter’s book ‘Perspectives on the World Christian Movement’:
“Global cooperation in missionary training is vital. The rapid growth of the Third World missions movement is creating an emergency need for adequate missionary training. While there are some excellent examples of Third World missionary training institutions, many missionaries are sent to the field with little or no training, while others must wait months or even years for a training opportunity. But sending a missionary without training is like commissioning a carpenter without tools! With the number of Third World missionaries promising to multiply three and one-half times during this decade, this is a priority issue for Western and non-Western missionary leaders alike.”
While running our training course, we charged no fees but applied a strict screening process to select our trainees. We tried to make sure that they had a proven missionary call. Also, we selected our missionary candidates from our School of Mission graduates. Should you decide to use this curriculum to train your own missionaries, we highly recommend you to do so alongside of the DCI School of Mission training. Its curriculum is available to download from the top left of this page.
We deliberately ran our classes in a small group setting to enhance better interactions with each and every candidate. For the next four years, many went through this course and a handful of African preachers were sent out by our organization for missionary works in other countries. It was still an unfamiliar event then for most Kenyan churches to send their own missionaries to foreign countries. And they did not go to other countries as some kind of semi-immigrants seeking for better life elsewhere nor for oversea studies to further their education. They were sent out solely for full-time missionary work.
To be frank with you, we had a little doubt in the beginning whether our African missionaries would do well on the fields simply because majority of the missionary force was still coming from the First World by then. However, after years of observation, we came to witness that the time for this new missionary force has fully emerged in the mission history. It was such a joyous experience to see how God is using our Third World missionaries to go and make disciples of all nations!
The lessons in this manual are the actual lessons we taught in the class in Africa. We trust these proven-effective lessons ought to work in other Third World nations as well. Please take a look into this manual. And feel free to use them if you find them helpful for preparing yourself or others for missionary service. While the lessons in this manual apply to all who are mission-interested, they will be of the most value to Third World missionary candidates who often find themselves limited with sound missions training opportunities around.
Go ahead and add your own illustrations to make the teaching more relevant to your local setting when you use this material to train others. And if you have further questions about the lessons, feel free to write to us by clicking here. We’ll be happy to provide you with more information so that you can successfully run this course yourself and equip someone to be a missionary.
Please keep in mind that this manual is a series of collected notes. It took a work of Edward Kinyanjui, the director of EAPTC Sudan, to compile a series of my casual lectures into a good binding. Edward himself applied principles of these lessons to his own missionary work in southern Sudan, and God blessed his uncompromised lifestyle to bear apparent fruits in the areas of church planting and Bible training ministry. So I owe him much.
Also, I cannot forget to thank Dr. Les Norman, the author of the DCI School of Mission in the U.K., who first suggested compiling of my notes into this manual. Besides that his generosity to provide his exceptional training program on the internet at no cost years ago actually inspired me now to follow in that succession. To this end, everything you see on this manual is offered to you at the free of charge, although it took us years of research, tests and mistakes to complete it.
I express my gratitude for Rev. Musa Aringo of EAPTC Malawi and Zambia who wrote the foreword for this manual. His missionary work is another classic example of how God can use a Third World missionary when he is totally committed to Him. The numerous disciples, Bible schools, nursery school and churches that have been raised through Musa Aringo in Central Africa prove that universal truth. Last but not the least, my highest appreciation goes to the Lord who has been using this training manual to bless my fellow missionaries and missionary candidates of the Third World. I have no doubt that they are God’s raised up army for the last world harvest.
Paul Sungro Lee,
Nairobi, Kenya.
November 2008