Pre-field Cross-Cultural Training

What Is Pre-Field Training?

Pre-field training is a 4–6 week residential program designed for cross-cultural workers. It covers essential topics like:

• Language acquisition
• Culture shock
• Team dynamics
• Healthy transitions
• Stress management
• Grief and loss
• Cultural identity
• Conflict resolution

For families, there’s parallel training for children and teens that mirrors the adult curriculum, giving families a shared language for navigating hard topics together.

Want to Know more --> Read Pre-Field Preparation

Why Is It So Important?

It Invests in the Goers - Preparing to go overseas is overwhelming. Many are still working, raising support, selling belongings, finalizing paperwork, and soaking up time with loved ones—all while carrying the emotional weight of goodbyes. Pre-field training offers a pause. It’s a chance to step away from the chaos and be poured into by people who’ve walked this road. It says to Goers: You matter more than what you can do or how fast you can do it.

It invests in Families - Lauren Wells says it well in her book Raising Up a Generation of Healthy TCKS - "It has been amazing to see the transformation of kids when they realize they too can have a toolbox of ways to learn culture and language when they move overseas. They feel a sense of purpose instead of feeling like they are just tagging along with their parents, and they have a foundational knowledge of the TCK life that they are entering into. Pre-field training is a great starting place for preventative care." (pg. 22)

It Covers What Discipleship May Miss - Cross-cultural ministry brings unique challenges. Even seasoned believers may never have learned how to grieve the loss of everything familiar or manage the stress of living in a foreign context. This work requires not just spiritual maturity, but practical resilience. A worker’s ability to navigate daily life overseas can make or break their incarnational witness.

It Normalizes the Struggles - Pre-field training helps Goers set realistic expectations for the emotional and psychological challenges they’ll face—especially in the first two years. Recognizing a struggle as normal and having tools to address it can be the difference between thriving and burning out.

It Helps Avoid Costly Mistakes - Consider the quote from a pre-field trainer “Everyone will make a million mistakes. We’re here to help you avoid the 10,000-point ones.” Cultural blunders are inevitable (and often make great stories), but major relational or ministry-damaging missteps can often be prevented with basic awareness and preparation.

It Benefits the Receiving Team - We recommend pre-field training as one of the final steps before launch. By then, Goers have likely moved out of their homes and said many goodbyes. Training gives space to grieve, reflect, and arrive on the field filled up—not depleted. It equips them with tools for culture, stress, and conflict—tools that will make the transition smoother for both the worker and existing team members.

Common Objections

We understand that there may be multiple reasons why you don't want to attend pre-field training. You are not the first! Here are some of the common reasons people want to opt-out. Please take some time to read through these if you have similar concerns.

Training Partners

Reliant partners with two training facilities, which serve agencies and sending churches across the United States. It is the expectation that all international workers who are newly launching to the field for 1+ years attend one of these programs. Exceptions are considered when alternate training is provided, whether before launching or as part of an overseas training program.