Immersion Ministry (Foreign and Urban)

THE PROGRAM:

The Great Plains Baptist Divinity School Immersion in Ministry Program offers exposure trips and volunteer opportunities as a way of introducing degree candidates to a mission, to cross-cultural engagement, and to the realities of s specific mission environment.

For the post-graduate candidate this is an experience of engagement with the native/local people. For the undergraduate and graduate candidate this is a formative and transformative experience of missionary work alongside a seasoned missionary as a mentor serving with the native/local people. The experience will consist of a six-week to one-year mission immersion doing volunteer service.

Great Plains Baptist Divinity School will give credit to candidates serving under seasoned missionaries as a their mentor that reflect our doctrinal position, values and gospel/church planting position. Acceptance into the program, and credit worth, will be determined according to the mission sites, talents and investments candidates put into the work.

FOREIGN IMMERSION:

Foreign immersion experiences are short-term or long-term trips where candidates travel to the countries of our missionaries partnering with this project to learn, be present among, and serve with our missionary in their mission works.

Trips are open to degree candidates. Credit may be granted to a candidate as a member of a church group or on an individual basis.

URBAN IMMERSION:

Why not impact a city? There are inner-city missionaries who would gladly offer training to a candidate who could come as a volunteer to serve as a Mission Immersion student.

Urban Immersion will expand your view of city missions and church planting, and give you a greater understanding of the city. You will minister cross-culturally, making you more effective back on campus. In the inner city you can share the gospel with the homeless, tutor children, counsel teenagers, rebuild broken buildings and broken lives... demonstrating Christ's love to lost individuals.

The candidate will minister to people who live in an urban context. They will mentor youth, use their professional skills in computers, administration, music, graphic design, or another language to reach people with the gospel. There may be a resourcing focus in a support role as project designer, administrator, curriculum writer, computer networker, recreation planner Ñ if that is their area of specialty. It is possible that they will spend time in direct ministry with at-risk children or adults.

MISSION IMMERSION CREDIT:

Credit is awarded to candidates in this program for turning in an acceptable thesis of a minimum of fifteen (15) pages. The thesis is typically preceeded by a certain amount of preparatory reading, therefore the candidate needs to list all reading they have done that is pertinent to the mission of their immersion.

The body of this thesis is to cover the express labors of the missionary in this field to evangelize and plant a church. The body needs to share what are the problems, challenges, oppositions, legal/political issues, etc. to establishing  and continuing a mission in this field. This thesis shall be presented as a professional draft of what could become a full dissertation.