Adult Programs
Equip to Flourish, Prepare to Serve
Overview
Studies show that the stress associated with cross-cultural entry and transition, ministry ambiguity, and conflict are major contributors to failure in cross-cultural ministry. Thatʼs the bad news.
The GOOD NEWS is that the CIT program is designed to prepare you to survive and succeed, whether you are moving to a new country, returning “home” after years overseas, or looking for support with any other cross-cultural transition.
I Want to Learn More About:
As mature Christians, we think we know the Bible (and ourselves) well enough to become cross-cultural workers. However, I found out how much I don’t know and understood the God-sized task that was ahead of me. We lived in community with each other in the beautiful setting of the North Carolina mountains as we attended our training- like the early church in Acts. I can’t imagine what a mess I’d have made of things if I had gone to the field without CIT’s help.
Course Values
Our programming strives to incorporate a wholistic approach to incorporating our values into every aspect of the participants’ learning experience.
Learn More:
Community Environment
- Character
- Vulnerability/Transparency
- Body Life
- Family Friendly
- Forgiveness
- Trust
- Cultural Understanding
- Contextualization
- Small Groups
- History Giving
- On-Campus Living
- Campus Mayor Responsibilities
Age-Appropriate Learning
- Age-Appropriate Learning Principles
- Sensitive to diverse personalities & learning styles
- Holistic Philosophy
- Cognitive
- Affective
- Volitional
- Psychomotor
- Reflective
- Social
- Family Sensitive
- Facilitator Style vs. Professor Style
Spiritual Formation
- Identity
- Self-Righteousness / Righteousness of God
- Self-Reliance/Reliance on God
- Self-Satisfaction/Satisfaction in God
- Humility/Servanthood
- Incarnational
- Counter Ethnocentrism
CIT Residential Courses
Equipping for Cross-Cultural Life & Ministry
Cross-cultural living and ministry create unique stresses on the individual cross-cultural worker and family in a variety of ways. We will address those issues and seek to prepare you to successfully navigate those critical areas. We will address the practical and theoretical tools needed for ministry in a cross-cultural context.
In this course, you will learn, among many other things, about yourself and the complexity of how to enter a new culture. Although you will gain new tools, the focus is on the skill of the Master Carpenter. Success in cross-cultural ministry is not what you can do, but what He can do through you.
Your tuition for the Equipping program includes access to our CIT 2.0 courses for workers arriving in their new country of service.
Learn cultural sensitivities, customs, practical survival skills, and joining a team. These courses are designed to use just-in-time learning to help you apply all that you learned while attending the equipping course.
Equip yourself to make a lasting impact and build meaningful connections in your field.
We will:
Explore the unique stresses of moving overseas and provide tools to help in the transition.
Identify how expectations play a role in cross-cultural adjustment.
Identify the special stresses affecting marriages and ways to maintain and improve a healthy marriage.
Discover the unique needs of Third Culture Kids (TCK’s) and learn how to help them develop into normal, healthy, productive adults.
Analyze the special needs of single workers and find ways to help singles and married couples relate well together.
Identify and discuss the strengths & weaknesses of the various educational options for families and their children.
Clarify the unique roles and needs of both men and women on the field with special emphasis on helping women find fulfillment and a sense of purpose.
Explore the phenomenon of culture shock, its causes, its effects on relationships, and ways to cope with the effects.
Introduce the basic theoretical perspectives and research tools for cross-cultural study.
Learn how to apply principles and data of social organization to formulating mission strategy.
Language Learning Accelerator Course
Language Learning Accelerator Course
In this course, you will learn a wide variety of practical skills for successful language learning including helping you understand your abilities and developing a practical strategy to be an effective communicator of the most important message.
This course introduces a wide variety of skills for successful language learning:
Learn principles of effective language learning, practice language learning activities, and train the ears to hear and the mouth to reproduce sounds in other languages.
Learn to become proactive in language learning and acquire resources to help master language learning.
Participants will practice language learning methods with native speakers and receive planning guidelines on how best to approach language learning when on the field.
Debrief Retreat
The issue, however, is not the change in and of itself, it is how we deal with change. Some of us ignore it and become outdated, others resent and oppose it and become hardened, and others, believe it or not, thrive on it.
You may be coming on Home Ministry, or you may be returning to retire, or to transition into a new phase of life and ministry here. Whatever the reason, many things will have changed: the people and places you knew, the customs you remember, the types of cereal you bought, the songs they sang in your church, and even you!
The debrief week is designed to give you time and opportunity to share your life and ministry and to think through the issues and challenges, but also the joys of change and transition.
Field Security Seminar
The course is taught by CCI’s experienced security experts and, like other CIT courses, utilizes adult learning techniques (a mixture of classroom instruction, discussion groups, real case studies, and live simulations) to help participants understand, evaluate, and appropriately respond to the types of security risks which may be encountered overseas.
During the Field Security Seminar participants will learn to:
- Think proactively about security risks
- Exercise leadership in field emergencies
- Develop situational and environmental awareness
- Understand best practices in avoiding a security incident
- Identify and counteract basic and advanced surveillance
- Manage and survive violent encounters and active shooters
- Manage interrogation
- Manage carjackings
- Survive a hostage event
- Avoid becoming the target of an attack
- Manage group travel security
- Manage checkpoints
- Survive vehicle ambushes
- Understand the dynamics of landmines and IEDs
If you are interested in attending a Field Security Seminar, please register with us directly. If you have any questions, contact us at citmail@cit-online.org.
Engage Retreat– 5 Day Spiritual Retreat
Through the Gospel we are invited to a life intertwined with the heart of God for the world, leading to an authentically missional life in which ministry flows out of being. Mesa Global, formerly UWM, desires this kind of life for all missionaries, staff, and for everyone we serve with around the world.
In cooperation with CIT, Mesa Global is offering a spiritual retreat designed to provide a biblically rich, Christ-centered process within an Evangelical framework that prepares servants for growing in Christ-likeness in the context of busy ministry. This retreat draws from some of the best Christian practices and teachings in Christian history.
The Retreat Includes:
- A guided process using “Rooted Deeply” by Chad Hollowell
- “7 Sins & Virtues Examen” by Chad Hollowell
- Short teachings on helpful spiritual disciplines and themes on spirituality
- Space for guided reflections and spiritual friendship.
Contact Paul Johnson with questions about the retreat: pjohnson@mesaglobal.co
Contact CIT with any questions about registration/housing: 800-877-1786 or citmail@cit-online.org
Transit Lounge– Young Adult TCK Re-Entry Retreat
We are pleased to partner with Interaction International this year to host a young adult TCK Re-Entry Retreat!
If you are returning to the U.S. in the present or in the future on a home assignment, to go to college, take a gap year, or work, this transition seminar is the perfect opportunity to learn more about yourself, how you grieve, make friends, and more.
Not only that, but you will also learn how Americans make friends, how to tell your story in a condensed manner, and learn practical things like how to fill out your taxes. Not to mention, the community you’ll be a part of is for life!
Date: July 9- 15, 2025
Ages: 18-21
Location: CIT- Union Mills, North Carolina
Cost: $840 ($520 with approved scholarship) plus a $50 application fee.
Come prepared to learn.
Teachings, activities, large and small group discussions will be led by our staff who have all lived and worked abroad with TCKs
Come prepared to play.
Our location has unique opportunities for exploring the outdoors, checking out the local attractions, and having fun. Playing and spending time with people who have lived a life similar to yours is invaluable. We want you to have that.
Come prepared to build community.
Every year community forms and continues beyond the week you spend with us. You don’t need to be alone in your transition. We want to help you enter into a safe space for those who travel the road across cultures and into a new adventure.
(Double click the schedule to zoom in)
