Serving Every Nation Training School (SENT I) is a three month school of missions held annually in Ghana each fall. It was founded by the Board and missionaries of Charity African Mission in response to the need to motivate and train our young people to go out into all the world. The school consists of thirteen weeks of intense teaching, interactive discipleship, and hands-on practical ministry opportunities.

This is the first phase of our missionary training opportunity; see SENT II to learn about the second phase – a two-year internship program.

Teaching

Approximately nine mission-related courses are offered at SENT I, all taught by either long-term missionaries, or mission Board members. Teaching style is in-depth (requiring note taking and with tests administered) while remaining inspirational and motivational. Textbooks and supplementary reading books, articles, and handouts are included in tuitions costs. Courses include:

• Language Acquisition – crash course on motivations for and methods of language learning
• Cross-Cultural Ministry – introductory course on culture and its ramifications in ministry
• History of Missions – overview and evaluation of various missionaries from Paul to present
• Church Planting Strategies – emphasis on indigenous churches, examples from tribal settings
• Encountering Islam – history, practice, misunderstandings, and strategies to reach Muslims
• The Role of Missions in the Local Church – taught by a pastor from the States
• Missions Geography – major world religions, unreached peoples, current hot spots
• The Glorious Story – overview of entire Bible from a missiological perspective
• Kingdom Finances – connecting a poured-out life with sacrificial financial principles

Discipleship

Every aspect of the living conditions and daily schedule at SENT has been strategically designed to afford the student with realistic missionary life experiences and opportunities for self-denial. Diet is nutritious, but very simple and non-Western. Living conditions are sparse by Western standards, but adequate and typical of our long-term missionaries’ own. Communication with home is limited both by practicality and to maintain focus. Group size is small, typically twenty students, so there is ample opportunity for interaction with missionaries both one-on-one and in group format. Every student participates in discussions, sharing, question and answer periods, and prayer times. A caring staff of Principal, Vice-Principal, and Matron along with the teachers actively pursue meaningful relationships with the students with a desire to mentor and direct them personally in Christ.

Ministry

Opportunities for ministry abound in the third-world setting of Ghana with its more than 70 ethnic groups! The school is based in Tamale, a city of 325,000 that is approximately 90 % Muslim, and is centrally located to large areas which are less than 1% Christian. All students will have an opportunity to spend several days with one of our missionary families, working alongside of them and observing them in ministry. Students are coached through ministering to Muslims in an excellent environment for beginners. And the entire student body travels and does programs in Ghana’s higher education institutes (High Schools and Colleges) including singing, testimonies, and preaching. The young men get to be involved in a cultural survey on their own in remote villages, and the young ladies spend a week under the tutorage of a missionary wife learning skills relating to life on the field.

Application

If you would like to enroll in SENT I 2011 or future teams, please request an application from the mission office. Contact us to request an application. You must apply if you wish to enroll!

You must be a born-again Christian who has a heart for missions, and must be at least 19 years of age.