Get ready for missions
If you are curious about your readiness for missions, consider these questions:
- What has given you the greatest feeling of accomplishment in your ministry? How was that effort initiated and what obstacles did you overcome?
- What contacts do you have who are non-Christian?
- When was the last time you shared the gospel with someone and how did you do it?
- How have you discipled someone one on one?
- What experiences have challenged your faith and how did you work through them?
- What is your devotional life like individually and as a family?
- How do you and your spouse make major decisions or deal with conflict?
- How do you and your spouse use your gifts and talents to complement each other?
To get training and experience for missions right where you are, consider these options:
- Attend a Perspectives training. It offers an excellent missions education, possibly at a location near you.
- Get involved with your church’s missions program.
- Be missional in your community, looking for opportunities to meet people’s needs and share the gospel.
- Talk with a SEND missions coach.
Education Requirements
SEND’s education requirements for long-term missionaries differ based on the field and the assignment. Most opportunities require a Bachelor’s degree and SEND would like to see about 30 hours of Bible training. But there are exceptions—SEND takes into account a candidate’s experience and age and may also accept candidates before they complete their training.
If you have questions or concerns about whether you would qualify, don’t rule yourself out! Instead, talk to us about your interests and background. We’re here to help.
Additional Posts
When God First Widened My World: Remembering Urbana 1996 I still remember the winter air. It was December 1996, and I was a junior at Oakland University in Rochester Michigan, serving as a small group leader with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship—the ministry that had profoundly shaped my faith since my freshman year. I was growing spiritually, serving faithfully in my local church, and stepping into leadership on campus. Attending Urbana felt like the natural next step. Urbana only happened every three years, and I knew that once I graduated, I might miss the chance altogether. My church believed in that moment enough to cover the cost. They entrusted me—and my campus minister—with a van full of college students, driving from Detroit to Champaign-Urbana during the quiet days between Christmas and New Year’s. I had heard the stories: thousands of students, passionate worship, a clear call to live fully for Jesus. What I encountered exceeded every expectation. A Campus Taken Over by the Kingdom Buses poured in from every direction, unloading students onto a snow- covered campus. Dorm rooms filled. Cafeterias buzzed. The entire university seemed overtaken—not by noise or spectacle, but by a quiet, collective hunger for God. For the first time in my life, I met students from places far beyond Michigan— Harvard, Loyola, Wheaton. My world was expanding in real time. I don’t remember every speaker or session. What I do remember is the unmistakable clarity of the invitation. God was bigger than I had ever imagined. Not just personal. Not just local. He was King of the nations. And there were people—millions of them—who had never heard His name. The question was simple, but it felt weighty: Would I commit my life, in whatever way God asked, to the Great Commission? Explore God’s leading toward the nations with a SEND missions coach.
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