U.S. Mission Group Hopes to Inspire Mexico's First Mission Movement
A church mission group in Connecticut plans to open a school to train Mexican missionaries in hopes to inspire the first missions movement to come out of Mexico.
The School of Missions Mobilization (SMM) will be built in the state of Chihuahua in a small town called Matachi, stated a report by Hillside Missions, the group responsible for the schools construction. The school is slated to open its doors in January 2007 to an initial 15 students and double its class size in October to the maximum capacity of 30 students.
The idea for a school that would train Latin Americans for missions mobilization is largely inspired by two things, wrote Susie Boyed of Hillside Missions Organization in an email on Monday.
Firstly, the realization of the need for Latin American missionaries, she stated. Boyed explained that there has not been a large missions movement emanating out of Mexico in the history of missions. However, the Mexican churches have grown greatly and Boyed believes there are many people who are ready and waiting to participate in Gods plan for the nations.
Secondly, the school was also inspired by The Radical Project, created under the umbrella of the World Horizons Missions Organization. The highly successful and innovative model trains missionaries as team members of a community for two years before sending them to unreached people groups. Members of the community administer all finances from a common fund and go out as a team rather than an individual. The school will model itself after this mobilization initiative and also train its Mexican students for a two year period.
Boyed explained that there are other schools in Mexico training for mission work in Mexico, but what is relatively unique about SMM is its purpose to train Mexican missionaries for work outside of Mexico.
Our dream is see Christian community developed in areas of the world where it does not exist, concluded Boyed. We hope that this school will raise up an army of passionate, prepared, and committed people who will preach the gospel to those who have not heard it.