God is doing incredible things in our world. He is working through people and events to bring about his purpose in powerful ways. Churches and many organizations are called by God to participate in the work he is doing in the world. They often do this through sponsoring workers, partnering with organizations, sending short-term teams to the field, and more.
However, engaging in God’s work around the world can be challenging. Navigating cultural differences, developing missions strategies, and preparing short-term workers is a lot of work. And more than being a lot of work, it is a lot of work that needs to be done well.
That is why I am excited to introduce CultureX, an on-demand learning and resource platform equipping churches and organizations for effective and responsible global engagement.
THE NEED
The CultureX platform was developed because of the need for an accessible, simple-yet-robust, flexible, and affordable tool for missional, cross-culturally engaged churches and organizations that want to strengthen their global outreach strategy and better prepare workers to serve across cultures.
Churches often have missions committees or teams who meet to decide the direction of missions for their church including new partnerships, financial allocation, organizing trips, and more. Much of the time the members of these committees are lay people who have some experience in missions. However, because missions education is almost exclusively found in academic institutions or long-term sending agencies, outside of self-education, these members may not have access to affordable, flexible, and quality missions learning. Additionally, churches and organizations often send short-term teams without much or any preparation for entering a new culture.
THE BEGINNING
I began to formulate the idea for CultureX based on a combination of the PhD research I am doing and my exposure to many tools for expatriate education and training in my job as a global relocation consultant. In my PhD research I have interviewed many churches and nonprofit organizations to learn about their approach to missions and how they understand culture in their missions work. One of the most salient takeaways from my research is that most churches and organizations in my sample do not have a tool for educating and training their leaders and members in cross-cultural engagement. In the world of Christian resources, we have tools and curriculums for youth ministry, children’s ministry, pastoral care, counseling, leadership training, and more. CultureX can help fill the gap in missions resources where there is none.
My professional experience in the global relocation industry exposed me to various tools and resources that businesses use to equip their employees for cross-cultural work. However, I realized that Christian organizations working cross-culturally lack similar resources. This, continued with reflecting on my personal experience in missions as well as many observations I have made over the years led me to begin mapping out what this product might look like. After months of planning, coordinating, research, and implementation, CultureX is live today.
THE PLATFORM
We are launching with two core features:
- Learning Content: 27+ topics covering spiritual formation, strategy, culture, preparation and more. All content is self-paced. Learning paths are available for specific groups such as leaders, trip participants, students, and nonprofits.
- Country Profiles: Comprehensive country and culture information on 170+ countries.
THE AUDIENCE
- Church leadership teams who need direction on more effective and responsible missions strategy.
- Trip leaders who need a pre-packaged spiritual and cross-cultural preparation onboarding tool for their groups.
- University and student ministries serving globally who need to prepare leaders and students.
- Individuals who want to learn more about missions strategy or prepare themselves to enter a new culture.
- See our page Who is CultureX for? for detailed case studies and how CultureX can help your church or organization.
CultureX is the solution for churches and organizations that need more education but lack the time and resources. The platform is designed to be used year-round, with ongoing uses such as:
- Onboarding new leadership/mission team members.
- Preparing adults and students to go on short-term trips.
- Researching and vetting new partnership opportunities.
- Using the Country Profiles to stay educated on countries you are working in, have prospective partnerships in, or explore just for fun.
- Refresh current team members.
- Using as general missions education curriculum in your congregation.
- Accessing new content as it is released.
THE CALL TO ACTION
Join us and start equipping your church or organization with the tools and knowledge necessary to engage effectively and responsibly in the world.
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