Ethnos360 Training

(Semester One, 16 hours, 1 credit)

The purpose of this class is to further ground the candidate in the basic foundation of and motivation for Christian living. These truths are set forth to help the candidate grow in the application of them in his/her daily walk with the Lord and with others. The understanding and application of these fundamental truths are seen as absolutely essential for carrying out an effective church planting ministry.

The Stewarding Relationships course is offered throughout the four-semester program regarding the Biblical exhortations, challenges, and teachings in the area of interpersonal relationships. This class will deal with the realities of ‘today’ (in the students’ daily lives and relationships) in light of the ‘tomorrow’ (church planting among the unreached peoples of the world). Students will aim to understand and practice a ministry philosophy that is Biblically rooted in a love for Christ and His bride and of functioning in a Spirit- controlled fashion in all of their relationships. The class will challenge the students to adopt the mindset of becoming a life-long learner who is continually adapting and growing in all areas of life (spiritually, emotionally, professionally and with life skills) to become effective servants to the unreached peoples of the world.

(Semester Two, 26 hours, 2 credits)

The Stewarding Relationships course is offered throughout the four-semester program regarding the Biblical exhortations, challenges, and teachings in the area of interpersonal relationships. This class will deal with the realities of ‘today’ (in the students’ daily lives and relationships) in light of the ‘tomorrow’ (church planting among the unreached peoples of the world). Students will aim to understand and practice a ministry philosophy that is Biblically rooted in a love for Christ and His bride and of functioning in a Spirit- controlled fashion in all of their relationships. The class will challenge the students to adopt the mindset of becoming a life-long learner who is continually adapting and growing in all areas of life (spiritually, emotionally, professionally and with life skills) to become effective servants to the unreached peoples of the world.

(Semester Two, 16 hours, 1 credit)

An effective ministry partnership development (MPD) team is crucial to your long-term success in your life, family, and ministry. This class provides philosophy, skills, and practice in preparing to do this.

The purpose of this class is to further ground the candidate in the basic foundation of and motivation for Christian living. These truths are set forth to help the candidate grow in the application of them in his/her daily walk with the Lord and with others. The understanding and application of these fundamental truths are seen as absolutely essential for carrying out an effective church planting ministry.

(Semester Two, 16 hours, 1 credit)

This course covers the topics of overseas educational options including schools and homeschooling; long-range educational planning; making transitions as a family and keeping children safe in an overseas context. There will be discussions with veteran missionaries that will include philosophical aspects and practical applications to give the student exposure to a broad range of perspectives on these topics.

(Semester Three, 16 hours, 1 credit)

The Stewarding Relationships course is offered throughout the four-semester program regarding the Biblical exhortations, challenges, and teachings in the area of interpersonal relationships. This class will deal with the realities of ‘today’ (in the students’ daily lives and relationships) in light of the ‘tomorrow’ (church planting among the unreached peoples of the world). Students will aim to understand and practice a ministry philosophy that is Biblically rooted in a love for Christ and His bride and of functioning in a Spirit- controlled fashion in all of their relationships. The class will challenge the students to adopt the mindset of becoming a life-long learner who is continually adapting and growing in all areas of life (spiritually, emotionally, professionally and with life skills) to become effective servants to the unreached peoples of the world.

As a missionary, it is vital to have a close relationship with God. This course will discuss 3 important topics in the life of a missionary, or any believer: 1—How we interact with God and how He interacts with us; 2—How to make decisions and know God’s will; 3—How the believer should handle sin in his/her life. Case studies will be presented to give the students opportunity to apply truth taught in class to real life situations.

(Semester Three, 4 hours, .33 credits)

This course introduces students to another component of church planting, Church & Community Care. We look at how to use the Ethnos360 church planting model and methods to target the quality-of-life issues people face as they grow to maturity. We will understand how to help people develop Biblical character and life skills and use community development-type activities to lead to improved quality of life and a stable, mature church.

(Semester four, 16 hours, 1 credit)

The purpose of this class is to further ground the candidate in the basic foundation of and motivation for Christian living from the text of Romans 12:1-16:27. These truths are set forth to help the candidate grow in the application of them in his/her daily walk with the Lord and with others. The understanding and application of these fundamental truths are seen as absolutely essential for carrying out an effective church planting ministry.

(Semester Four, 6 hours, .33 credits)

An effective ministry partnership development (MPD) team is crucial to your long-term success in your life, family, and ministry. This class further develops the philosophy and skills necessary for this part of the student’s ministry.

(Semester Four, 18 hours, 1 credit)

The Stewarding Relationships course is offered throughout the four-semester program regarding the Biblical exhortations, challenges, and teachings in the area of interpersonal relationships. This class will deal with the realities of ‘today’ (in the students’ daily lives and relationships) in light of the ‘tomorrow’ (church planting among the unreached peoples of the world). Students will aim to understand and practice a ministry philosophy that is Biblically rooted in a love for Christ and His bride and of functioning in a Spirit- controlled fashion in all of their relationships. The class will challenge the students to adopt the mindset of becoming a life-long learner who is continually adapting and growing in all areas of life (spiritually, emotionally, professionally and with life skills) to become effective servants to the unreached peoples of the world.

(Semester One, 55 hours, 3 credits)

This course addresses the rationale for the Building on Firm Foundations for evangelism and church maturation. This course also seeks to bring clarity of God's intentions for salvation through the Gospel.

(Semester One, 14 hours, 1 credit)

This course is part 1 of New Testament Church Principles in which students wrestle through deconstructing cultural concepts of church from that which is Biblical and establish an epistemological basis, from both Scripture and logic, for Ethnos360’s Mature Church Model.

(Semester Two, 16 hours, 1 credit)

This course presents general Biblical principles, gifts, and ordinances for assisting the maturation of New Testament churches in any cultural context.

This course will familiarize students with principles and tools that can be applied in a variety of unreached or least reached people contexts to assist them in developing effective church planting strategies, in terms of mindset, tasks and assessment, during the crucial Pre-Church stage of church planting.

(Semester Three, 20 hours, 1 credit)

This is Part Two of the Teaching Considerations Class which focuses on practical considerations, procedural tools and challenges of producing contextualized Foundational Bible Teaching Lessons (content) in cross-cultural church planting ministry.

(Semester Four, 28 hours, 2 credits)

This course addresses principles and methodologies that are used in the early stages of planting a mature church in animistic and folk religious contexts. These early stages include Evangelism (Phase 1), the Infant Church (Phase 2), and the Developing Church (Phase 3).

(Semester Four, 28 hours, 1 credit)

Building on Evangelism, the Infant Church, and the Developing Church, this module addresses church planting principles for bringing a church to maturity. The missionary candidate will learn, in principle, the why and the how of applying biblical principles to effectively establish mature churches that are situated in animistic and folk religious contexts.

(Semester One, 16 hours, 1 credit)

Twelve lessons on “Honor, Shame, and the Gospel” to give students the ability to understand ten honor-shame dynamics in the Bible, how these dynamics are present in collectivistic cultures, and how they overlap with the Gospel of Christ.

(Semester One, 18 hours, 1 credit)

Students will participate in lectures and small-group discussions and activities. Students will learn the nature and structure of culture and the impact it has on living and communicating with people of another worldview.

(Semester One, 32 hours, 2 credits)

This course addresses worldviews: (a) what they are, (b) how they form, develop and change, and (c) how they can be analyzed to guide effective ministry strategies for planting mature churches. Since God’s Word both accommodates culture through critical contextualization and confronts the worldview system of a people group, the missionary candidate will learn, in principle, the 'why' and 'how' of ministering cross-culturally at a worldview level. Throughout the course it is important to keep thinking in terms of principles.

(Semester Two, 50 hours, 3 credits)

In this course students will learn the more prominent sounds found in languages throughout the world. They will learn to say these sounds through oral mimicry and production. They will learn to recognize these sounds and associate them with the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet by hearing and transcribing utterances phonetically. Phonetic theory will be learned through lecture, small groups, and reading as well as through homework assignments.

(Semester Two, 28 hours, 2 credits)

This course exists to help each student become one who can effectively relate to and communicate with members of a specified group across linguistic and cultural barriers for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission. Students will become familiar with the overall CLA program in Ethnos360. They will learn the key principles underpinning it.

And they will have an opportunity to experience early-stage CLA with a fluent speaker of another language.

(Semester Two, 26 hours, 2 credits)

During a normal class day, the students will first be introduced to new grammatical theory and terminology. Then they will analyze foreign language words, phrases, and clauses that illustrate what they've just covered. One of the main goals is to prepare them for the fact that all languages are put together differently as they eventually learn one or more new languages. Approximately two thirds of the class is dedicated to practice.

(Semester Two, 16 hours, 1 credit)

This course examines the differences between formal and folk religions to aid in establishing a "religious grid" through which the teachings of three major religions can be applied in order to help predict some of the ministry challenges which could be encountered in these contexts, and to provide helps for presenting attractive Biblical truth among folk religious peoples.

Taking this course presupposes a good understanding of comprehensive strategies and worldview. Upon completion of this course the cross-cultural worker will be able to recognize animism and animistic people in a variety of contexts and will be equipped with the basic tools to effectively address this rival worldview.

(Semester Three, 18 hours, 1 credit)

This course builds upon Phonetics 1. In this course students will review the sounds they learned in Phonetics 1. Students will also be introduced to some of the less prominent sounds found in languages throughout the world.

(Semester Three, 114 hours, 7 credits)

This course provides instruction in the principles of Culture/Language Acquisition, as well as practice in applying those principles, and in implementing specific methodology with a focus on the later stages of CLA, including Values and Worldview summary and analysis - in the tribal/animistic context. It is done as a simulation where students interact with teachers who are role-playing, and where students are able to experience, to a small degree, the discovery process.

(Semester Three, 22 hours, 1 credit)

This course exists to give the students a practical, step-by-step overview of the translation process and allow them to experience some of the challenges faced by translators through hands-on, group activities.

(Semester Three, 12 hours, .67 credit)

The students will be introduced to the theory and terminology of Phonemics. They will also work through the basic procedures of Phonemics with sample language data. This will take place in the context of small groups of 8-10 students.

(Semester Three, 12 hours, .67 credit)

Literacy introduces candidates to the importance, theory, production and implementation of a literacy program for tribal people as it relates to church planting ministries, and it introduces the syllable method of teaching literacy. This course includes a practicum in which a few pages of a literacy primer are developed.

(Semester One, 35 hours, 2 credit course)

The Introduction to Global Partners class is a 35-hour introduction at the beginning of the first semester, to cover ministry philosophies of Ethnos360 employed in cross cultural contexts. There will also be periodic class periods throughout the four semesters to provide practical tips, reminders and conversations to help the student begin to incorporate the ministry philosophies into their daily ministry opportunities while enrolled at Ethnos360 Training.

(Semester One, 40 hours, 2 credits)

Safety Seminar is a personal safety and security course which affords the student an opportunity to learn about current global challenges regarding criminal activities and political instabilities. They will also acquire practical helps and the opportunity to utilize those helps in preparation for maintaining a ministry in spite of these hardships.

(Semester One, 8 hours, .67 credit)

This course is designed to give students tools to identify how they receive, process, and give back information. The impact of these individual learning style concepts will be examined on individual and interpersonal levels and show how they affect people working together as a team. Application will be made for students to discover their own learning style. Additionally, students will be given the opportunity to gain understanding of distinctives in learning differences and difficulties.

(Semester One, 10 hours, .67 credit)

This course will equip the student with useful information and tools which will aid in protecting children in any ministry context.

(Semester Two, 4 hours, non-credit course)

This course exists to equip students with the tools and philosophies that will, as much as possible, protect their identities online.

(Semester Two, 14 hours, 1 credit)

This course is designed to impact the personal health of each student and their families, towards wellness, now and on their future fields of service. The course will utilize direct instruction, small group discussions, case studies, and a practical skills module. Guest instructors will be included in their fields of expertise.

(Semester Two, 45 hours, 3 credits)

This course provides students with opportunities to gain insight and experience in various skills that are vital for life and ministry in the places where Ethnos360 ministers. The "Practical Skills Class" includes aspects of Simple Living, Scratch Cooking, Outdoor Living and Practical Skills.

(Semester Three, 16 hours, 1 credits)

This course is an introduction to foundational aspects of communication and includes two communication practicums which require the incorporation of information provided and knowledge gained via live presentations and their assessment by both instructor and peers. The focal points are the communication universals people communicate with rather than how well or what they communicate about.

(Semester Four, 36 hours, 2 credits)

Missionary Technology trains students to manage the physical aspects of living in remote areas so they can present the Gospel and see tribal people come to know the Lord. Specific topics include AC and DC electricity, multi-meter use, grounding, surge suppression and solar electric equipment selection, installation and maintenance. Applications include remote village, missionary centers, small towns and city living conditions.

(Semester One, 13 hours, non-credit course)

Orientation is intended to provide new students with a general overview of: 1. Ethnos360's purpose, ministry values, core values, history, doctrinal distinctives and challenges of church planting to reinforce the need for the cross-cultural church planting training Ethnos360 provides. 2. Ethnos360 Training. Students will have an opportunity to meet other students, faculty and staff, be introduced to Ethnos360 Training's various departments, receive course expectations and helpful information regarding staff and student's role and responsibilities and campus life. Orientation will help students get a sense of the campus culture. Orientation will include assignments, lectures, Ethnos360 Training department introductions, PowerPoints, case studies, large and small group discussions and activities.

(Every Semester, 87 hours, non-credit course)

Chapel occurs on Friday mornings throughout the student's time at Ethnos360 Training. It is intended to enhance the student's walk with the Lord through corporate worship and sharing from the Scriptures. Frequently there are guest speakers who have been serving on the mission field.

(Every Semester, 98 hours, non-credit course)

Hold the Ropes (HTR) is a prayer class with teaching and practice of prayer. There are student-led small group prayer times each Monday through Thursday morning, praying for requests and praises expressed in missionary communiques or hearing from and praying for visiting missionaries. Prayer Emphasis is a monthly two-hour class diverse from teaching on prayer, sharing, power points, visiting missionaries, and visual communication of God’s work around the world, which is subsequently prayed for in small groups.

(Every Semester, 124 hours, non-credit course)

The mentoring program exists to assist Ethnos360 Training students in their preparation for ministry by promoting growth in their spiritual lives, personal character, relational skills, and life skills.

This event occurs each fall. Representatives of the International Ministries Team and from various fields share their vision as well as the needs that exist in their region. This time is intended primarily to aid the students in beginning the process of choosing a field of service.