Our Mission Vision

Our mission-vision is to praise and glorify God by first being disciples, then making disciples of all the nations and to recruit, train and mentor missionaries and mission teams to plant, mature, and reproduce the Lord’s church throughout the world.

How About Missions?

With more than a century of mission work experience, the faculty at Sunset is eager to make available that wealth of knowledge to you no matter where you plan to do mission work. Each of the instructors in the Sunset School of Missions has on-field experience and has trained others who now are serving as missionaries around the world. This six-month program will train you by:

• Preparing you for team ministry.
• Assigning you in-depth studies of your intended mission field.
• Helping you to develop partners and raise funds.
• Aiding you in the development of a strategy for fruitful cross-cultural evangelism.
• Offering personal, family, and team assessments to enhance team cohesion and effectiveness.

The instructors who teach in the School of Missions have spent many years on mission fields in several parts of the world including Peru, India, Mexico, Brazil, Ukraine, and many countries in Africa just to mention a few. Courses taught in the School of Missions are taught by those who have been there and they can get you there – prepared! If you have the desire to go to another nation or culture and share the gospel, let us help you get there.

Contact the Dean of Missions, David Henniger, for more information.

Curriculum

Evangelism on the Mission Field

For any work to succeed, plans need to be made and executed. This course will assist the students in understanding the value of mission strategy as well as guide the students in developing a comprehensive practical mission strategy for evangelism that can be implemented as soon as they reach the field. How to plant churches, how to mature churches, etc. will be considered. Students will also examine various approaches to planning and executing their mission outreach from the ground up.

Holistic Ministry

This course is designed to help missionaries build a Holistic Ministry. Students will be guided in a deeper understanding of how to use Natural Church Development as a tool in evaluating one's ministry. This course will also focus on the development of holistic small groups as an essential part of mission outreach as it was in the New Testament church.

Mission Partnership / Fund-Raising

Mission partnership is vital to the overall success of one's mission outreach, and today there are many opportunities for such partnerships. Biblical foundations and principles for mission partnership will be examined, and opportunities for partnership will be identified and analyzed as to how best they might fit into a mission outreach. Students will then deal with the practical applications for interacting and cooperating with mission partners. Successful fund-raising is also an important part of one's mission outreach. This aspect of missions will be discussed and practical suggestions for effective methods of fund-raising will be presented.

Doctrinal Encounter

Missionaries will definitely encounter various religious beliefs, and they must be in a position to respond appropriately. In this course, several major religious beliefs will be presented, examined, and discussed. Students will learn how to effectively deal with Catholicism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and various other belief systems.

Cross-Cultural Preaching

The challenge of this class is to help missionaries communicate more effectively in a foreign culture setting. Students will present lessons with and without an interpreter. Lessons will be evaluated and suggestions will be given on how to improve one's skills in communicating effectively in a different culture.

Developing Teams and Resolving Conflict

The development of teams, team covenants, and team dynamics is not easy, but it is extremely important for successful teams. This course is designed to make the process as simple and as practical as possible. Students will explore several significant areas that are essential to good team dynamics and conflict resolution.

Gospel and Culture

A good understanding of world cultures is vital in taking the gospel to the whole world. The better one understands cultural differences and similarities, the more effective one will be in sharing the gospel. In this course, students will not only expand their world view, but they will also explore world cultures and how best to share the gospel in any given culture.

History of Missions and Application

History is a great teacher – if used properly – and there is much to be learned from past and present mission efforts. This course will help students increase their understanding of past efforts in world evangelism, build an awareness of what has worked and what has not, and help them identify what will work best in their particular mission field.

Missionary Prayer

Prayer is essential to every ministry and missions is no exception. This time together will not only be informative but will also be a time to pray for specific aspects of one's ministry.

Developing Leadership on the Mission Field

The development of leadership on the mission field is absolutely essential to the future success of any outreach. Jesus selected and trained His future leaders, and missionaries must do the same, and they must do it well! This course is designed to help students see the crucial need for training leaders who will in turn train others. Students will develop a strategy and lessons that will assist them in building good leadership in their mission outreach.

Mental Health on the Mission Field

Maintaining one's mental health for self and family on the mission field is a crucial part of successful mission work. In this course, students will learn how to recognize the danger signs of mental burnout and how to respond effectively. What kind of help, where to find it, and how to counsel others will be part of this study. Students will also be involved in various other aspects of evaluation via testing and pre-mission counseling.

Mission Administration

This is the "paperwork" of maintaining one's ministry. Administrative details involving the church, government agencies, bookkeeping, correspondence, etc. will be discussed. This will assure that your work proceeds smoothly and effectively.

Missionary Issues

Missionaries face many and various issues, and this course will address many of those issues and various other questions the student might have. This includes the support of nationals, security, and safety, raising children on the mission field, visas and paperwork, theological discussions, etc. Various SIBI staff will be involved in these discussions.