I’ve now heard about this training center probably three times in the last month. Have you trained there? Do you know someone who did?
https://radiusinternational.org/
We wonder how it is different from CIT, MTI, or TRAIN International? Could you tell us what distinguished it in your mind and what was your experience? I guess they’ve only done a half dozen or so trainings so far, so they’re still pretty new, but what was your experience? Just click “Comment” following this item on the web. Thanks for any input you can give.
I shared there in a trip coordinated with Perspectives in San Diego. Their Tijuana campus is really nice, and I was impressed by their staff and students. Seemed like serious missionaries in training.
Thru Baton Rouge Perspectives, we have invited the Radius founder, Brad Buser, to teach the lesson on Pioneering church planting as he was a New Tribes experienced missionary. I have attended the Radius Missiology Conference as well as visited their training center in Tijuana. My church considered Radius as one of the few training centers approved for our long-term missionaries sent by us.
In a culture where rapid church planting strategies abound, this training center focuses on training workers to live cross-culturally for as long as it takes for a vibrant indigenous church to be in place among an unreached and unengaged people group in the hardest places of the world. If I were 30 years younger, I would apply to be trained at this training center. I have not attended any of the other training centers you have mentioned in your post, but have sent people to MTI thru my own ministry work – Radius is a 10 month full immersion training in Culture and Language Acquisition training. MTI is in a completely different category of debriefing and counseling.
Radius is “young” in the sense that their graduates are still in the early stages of language acquisition in their new countries. Secondly, unless a candidate is willing to commit to pioneer missions for the LONG term, this training will not be a good fit. Finally, Radius depends upon the sending church doing their role in raising up people equipped and resilient to serve overseas.
My husband and I have supported pioneer missionaries, from many agencies, serving in many places of the world. There is certainly a place for Radius to raise up more workers for the Unengaged and Unreached to not only bring the Gospel in their heart language but to help these believers build New Testament churches that make disciples who make disciples.
I am more than open to dialogue with anyone who would like to hear more about my personal experiences with this training center.
Hope these thoughts help with the dialogue!
I would disagree that their graduates only fit long term with Pioneers. We have had several of those trained by Radius join Christar. They are top notch trained and seriously committed to the work of missions. We are so glad to have them in our Christar family.
It seems to me that this is comparing apples to oranges.CIT, MTI, and TRAIN are shorter programs (4-6 weeks) based in America. Radius is a 9 month program in Mexico. Radius seems focused on church planting and even some Bible translation, where the other three train for a broader range of international ministries. Radius would have one group of missionaries a year while CIT and MTI would have 5-8 groups a year.
Those are all great differentiating factors, Karen. Thanks. (Keep in mind — whether we think their subject contents or time commitments are similar or not, some are still comparing/contrasting them. Thus the question.)
I don’t know much about Radius, but the “Doing What Jesus Did Seminar” and Ministry Masterclass at ministrytraining.org is top notch. I’ve participated in Oregon, Uganda, and India and have witnessed a massive Kingdom advance as a result!