[SUBMITTED BY GUEST BLOGGER – REV. BARNABAS MOON]
When Rev. Barnabas Moon formed WITHEE Mission International in 1977, he realized that the backbone of such organization would be a training school that would provide a strong curriculum for current and future leaders ministering to diaspora communities. In order to sustain a long-term training program, WITHEE opened the Migrant Mission Training School (MMTS). A strong curriculum was developed, experienced and qualified lecturers were invited, and the program was launched in March 1997.
MMTS offers a 16-week curriculum for church leaders and Christian migrants to become experts in engaging the diasporas within the context of Christian mission. The program includes lectures, projects, class presentations, ministry site visits, fieldwork, and internships. Lecturers are competent in their area of specialization. Participants learn the theology and praxis of diaspora missions, current status of migration in South Korea and the world, challenges and opportunities for diaspora missions, and other relevant issues in multiculturalism and interracial family. After 11 sessions, MMTS has graduated about 120 participants; these are pastors, missionaries, and church leaders who do actual fieldwork after completing their studies on diaspora missiology. The sixteen-week curriculum is divided into three major categories: Understanding, Targets and Methods, and Achievements. A regular curriculum offers the following courses:
- Global Mission and Its Flow
- Mission Theology
- History and Status of Migrant Mission in Korea
- Policy and Law of the Government
- Mission on Migrant Workers
- International Students Mission
- Ministry on Migrant Families and Kids
- Mission among the Refugees
- Establishing Migrants Mission
- Quality and Leadership of Migrant Mission Ministers
- Mission Operations and Network in Each Level
- Mission Field Report
Since its establishment, MMTS has already trained and graduated over 120 leaders. Most of the participants are pastors, missionaries, and church leaders who do actual fieldwork after completing their studies on diaspora missiology. After finishing the 16-week studies, participants receive a certificate of completion. MMTS holds its 11th training program in 2015. Echoing the approaches set forth by the Lausanne Diaspora Leadership Team during the Third Lausanne Congress in Cape Town, South Africa in October 2010, MMTS operates with the following slogan: For the Migrants, through the Migrants, Beyond the Migrants.
