Seminar: Help! We're Going on a Short-Term Trip! • Atlanta, GA • Jan 2024

SEMINAR OVERVIEW

CULTURELink seminars and resources are designed to equip you to make disciples of those who will make disciples of all nations. CULTURELink partners with mission organizations and churches to train them in the “how-to’s” of team development while preparing them for cross-cultural challenges. This class allows team leaders the opportunity to experience being part of a team themselves prior to assuming their leadership roles.

While simulating the process of equipping a short-term team, our seminars are informative, interactive, and highly relational. Each participant receives a Team Leader’s Manual complete with lesson plans for training sessions, step-by-step guidelines for discipling team members, and directives for planning the logistics of a short-term mission trip. Participants also receive a Team Member’s Manual filled with a collection of articles, devotions, and worksheets that cover all aspects to develop effective cross-cultural servants.

Whether providing disaster relief, correcting social injustices, meeting physical needs, or expanding and developing Christian ministries, CULTURELink's practical training and resources prepare teams to successfully integrate into new cultural environments.

SEMINAR INSTRUCTOR

Led by an experienced CULTURELink instructor, seminar participants are guided through ten training sessions that equip them to prepare their teams before, during, and after their cross-cultural experience.

This seminar will be taught by Larry Ragan, founder of CULTURELink. Larry brings experience from over 50 countries. He has led professional exchanges, English language classes, outreaches, prayer teams, building projects, disaster relief teams, and more. He has led or overseen more than 250 teams.

Additionally, Larry teaches for Perspectives on the World Christian Movement courses. He previously served as a Missions Pastor and Teaching Pastor at two different churches. Larry and his wife, Karen, also served as missionaries in Budapest, Hungary. They live in Atlanta and have two kids, a dog, three cats, one fish, and one frog…the animal count changes daily.

*On occasion, the class instructor changes due to scheduling conflicts.

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

CULTURELink is an approved Resource Provider of MissionExcellence (previously known as the Standards of Excellence, or SOE). To learn more and read about the Seven Standards, visit missionexcellence.global/7-standards.

I have experienced the damage, locally and globally, that short-term teams can cause to the work that took long-term missionaries years to build because of a lack of training. Having now received numerous teams trained by CULTURELink, our local and global ministries have been blessed. This training helps to deploy servants that build up our work and partner with us for the long haul.

~ Adili Kea • Liaison, Royal Kids School (Kenya); COO, SERV International

I remember the first time I attended a “Help! We’re Going on a Short-Term Trip!” seminar years ago. Ever since, we have used CULTURELink’s curriculum at COD and require our leaders to attend a training seminar before they take a team. The focus on ministry trips as a disciple-making and spiritual process adds incredible value to our team members, missionaries, and national partners. Larry’s knowledge in local church missions-related areas is an encouragement and resource to me. Thank you for your partnership!

~ Don Delp • Outreach Coordinator, Church of the Open Door (York, PA)

SEMINAR SCHEDULE

FRIDAY • JANUARY 19

8:30 - 9:00AM: Registration

9:00AM - 12:30PM

• Short-term Missions Training Philosophy
• Session 1: Getting Started
• Session 2: Cultural Research

12:30 - 1:00PM: Lunch

1:00 - 5:30PM

• Session 3: Becoming Cross-Cultural
• Session 4: Ministry Preparation
• Session 5: Team Building

SATURDAY • JANUARY 20

8:30 - 9:00AM: Continental Breakfast

9:00AM - 12:00PM

• The Seven-Step Process
• Session 6: Travel, Packing, and Health
• Session 7: Final Countdown

12:00 - 12:30PM: Lunch

12:30 - 3:00PM

• Session 8: Living the Experience
• Session 9: Debriefing and Re-entry
• Session 10: Home and Looking Forward