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Spiritual Formation in Theological Education for Cross-Cultural Missionaries

Spiritual Formation in Theological Education for Cross-Cultural Missionaries

Maynor Clara CHENG

Academic courses for the tasks of training missionaries in theological education are well developed today. Nevertheless, these curricula are unbalanced as the training of missionaries' personal wholeness is still underdeveloped. This could result in a traumatic experience for the missionaries when they cross culture and may also damage the effectiveness of their ministries.

This article addresses the issue. Spiritual formation in theological education for cross-cultural missionaries should be a deliberate effort that seeks to enhance the potential missionary's emotional, social and spiritual wholeness. The key to emotional wholeness is a biblically based self-esteem; intimacy with God is the key to spiritual wholeness. A hardy and resilient personality should be the main feature of a missionary's spirit. The key to a cross-cultural social wholeness is awareness of one's own national character and the application of emotional and spiritual wholeness.

The task of spiritual formation for cross-cultural missionaries is to identify the issues faced by missionaries that are significant in missionary wholeness. It prepares the missionary students to be aware of the stresses encountered in cross-cultural life and ministries. It also helps the students identify emotional, social and spiritual vulnerability in their personality. It facilitates the healing of the students' damaged emotions through counseling and inner-healing ministry. Spiritual formation for cross-cultural missionaries also trains the students to identify and evaluate the characteristics of their own national character. This facilitates smoother cultural adjustments when new missionaries reach their foreign destinations. The enhancement of the students' spiritual discipline and intimacy with God help to develop a hardy and resilient spirit.

Spiritual formation trainers perform many roles. They are the mentors and, ideally, the counselors of their students. They should also be able to discern when to refer the students to professional psychotherapists that the institution has prearranged. The trainers also act as their students' priests in that they intercede for the students' growth as well as the healing of their emotional, spiritual and social lives.

Therefore, the trainers should be knowledgeable in the disciplines of psychology, counseling, inner healing, cultural and psychological anthropology, spiritual formation, mentoring and teaching. They should also be seasoned in cross-cultural experiences. Above all, they must have a heart for intercession.

I recommend that theological institutions invest in the development of their faculty in these disciplines. They should also advocate and facilitate more researches on the conditions of the missionaries from their own country with respect to missionary wholeness. The above training must be considered mandatory in the early stages of missionary training in theological education.

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