A new partnership for cross cultural training 

Redcliffe College and BMS World Mission have announced a training partnership to deliver the EQUIP programme from the BMS International Mission Centre (IMC) in Birmingham

Designed in consultation with many mission agencies and churches, EQUIP is a nine-month programme of training for Christians engaging in cross cultural ministry anywhere in the world.

IMC

It was launched by Redcliffe last year and already integrates with the successful IMC course which has been running for some years. The development of the IMC-­Redcliffe partnership will now allow for delivery of the course in "a dedicated mission centre with first class facilities", said a statement. 
 
With a weekly mission agency day for orientation, hands-on local ministry experience, input from experienced practitioners with extensive overseas mission experience, and a wide-ranging curriculum, the new partnership "will provide students with everything they need to survive and thrive in ministry around the world", the statement continued. 

Representatives of both organisations spoke of the impact of high quality training on international mission.  
 
Rob Hay, Principal of Redcliffe and author of Worth Keeping: Global Perspectives on Best Practice in Missionary Retention said: 'In a worldwide study on missionary effectiveness we learnt that ‘High retaining mission agencies expect on average two to three times as much formal missiological training, plus 50 per cent more practical pre-­field missionary training.’

'This partnership secures the future for this vital training that would otherwise be lost to the UK.'
 
David Kerrigan, General Director of BMS World Mission added, 'BMS has proved to itself, through the establishment of our International Mission Centre 15 years ago, that a year’s pre-field training equips workers for the challenge of international mission and dramatically reduces attrition amongst mission partners.

'We are delighted that this partnership will allow us to offer our joint resources more widely.”
 
In addition to BMS’ mission trainees, Redcliffe is now accepting students from September 2015 but only 15 places remain for the forthcoming year. Contact Lisa on study@redcliffe.org if you would like to secure one of those places.