Receive invitations to live communal gatherings for learning and prayer.
How does it
How does it
The process might look a little different for everyone, but there are some common steps to leaving home and starting life on the field. Discover more about the process from those who have gone through it themselves.
Room For Everyone On The Way
Whether you’re a young adult just starting out, in the middle of your career, or near retirement, there’s a place on the way for you and your skills.
Construction
International businesses have opportunities for architects, designers, and construction management talent.
Education
International schools engage teachers, language specialists, child advocates, and other personnel.
Sports
Fitness gyms and youth clubs seek coaches, trainers, and wellness professionals.
Foodservice
Entrepreneurs, baristas, and customer service personnel are needed to build and scale cafes and coffee shops.
Agribusiness
Farmers, horticulturalists, and engineers are needed to build and sustain food production businesses.
Creative Marketers
Designers, writers, and media experts can join various business platforms to launch and expand their offerings.
Technology
Developers, engineers, and IT technicians are needed across businesses to implement and maintain platforms.
Healthcare
Mental health professionals, counselors, and therapists provide care to international teams and the communities they serve.
Entrepreneurs
People with passion to build new things may find their reward is great in bringing them to life cross-culturally.
Travel & Adventure
Planners and adventurists are needed to scale tourism businesses in cross-cultural marketplaces.
Administrators
Project management, administrative leaders, and support personnel are always valuable in cross-cultural work.
Don't See Your Field Here?
These are just a few of the examples of the skills needed. Diversity is key, and all the gifts are necessary! Take the quiz to begin the process of finding your fit.
People On The Way
See what journeys can look like for cross-cultural workers.
No two stories are the same!
Professor & Coach
Foodservice & Education
Marketing
Tourism & Arts
Technology
Professor & Coach
Foodservice & Education
Marketing
Tourism & Arts
Technology
*Names and identities have been modified to protect privacy.
What Happens Next?
Maybe you felt connected to a voice you heard on the podcast. Maybe a face in a video touched your heart. Maybe you’ve felt led through prayer to take the next faithful step.
But maybe you’re not sure what that next step should be. We’ve developed this quiz to support you, and to help you evaluate some of the questions you may have encountered in your early days on the way. It takes just a few minutes to complete.
Ajani* has developed his career as a biology professor and soccer coach. His work with youth, developing soccer (and life) skills on the field, began years ago in his home in Nigeria. He migrated to the U.S. six years ago to complete his advanced degree and begin his career in higher education. There is a significant Indian population in the city of Baltimore, where he has been working with college students. He’s learned a fair amount about their culture and loves the food his friends share with him when it’s their turn to cook.
Anjani has been sensing God’s call to go into the Hindu world to continue building cross-cultural connections. Currently, he’s looking at opportunities with two teams working in the far east. He expects to be fully funded by early next year and is excited to continue building friendships around the world.
*Names and identities have been modified to protect privacy.
Brian and Megan* met while in university, where they both participated in the Chi Alpha chapter on campus. They’ve been married now for nine years and have welcomed two sons into their growing family. A few years ago, they felt God calling them to cross-cultural work. Because their local church, in urban Minneapolis, was near a Buddhist temple, the couple had many Buddhist adherents in their neighborhood. Megan loved to host, opening their home for playdates and family gatherings with their neighbors. Learning about other cultures appealed to their shared sense of adventure, and the couple formed authentic friendships with the Buddhists in their community.
When their second son was born, they felt God calling them to cross-cultural work. This began as a growing desire to not only befriend, but also to serve among unreached people. Through prayer, and with the support of their local church, Brian and Megan began the process of raising funds to be sent to the Buddhist world. They’ve been working with their pipeline coordinator for nearly 14 months now; although the wait has felt trying at times, they know that God is ordering everything in perfect timing. Brian expects to apply his accounting skills to a growing foodservice business in Thailand, while Megan will focus on building community through an ESL group in their new city.
*Names and identities have been modified to protect privacy.
Andi* is graduating from Southwestern University next year. As an active member of Chi Alpha, she will be investing one year in Asia Pacific while she discerns God’s call to a career in cross-cultural ministry. Andi loves design and plans to join a field team in Vietnam that has been praying for new team members with marketing skills to help them grow their business platform.
Growing up in the rural south, Andi was nurtured in a community where everyone knew her name. She feels supported through the love and prayer of her sending church, but knows that she will need to learn to build a network to provide ongoing financial support for her life on the field. For now, she couldn’t be more thrilled to be on her way!
*Names and identities have been modified to protect privacy.
Luis and Ana* have known each other since their childhood school days in southern California. She says he proposed once on the playground in sixth grade, and he’s not arguing that point. They married after college, his degree in parks and recreation, hers in the photographic arts. They’ve been blessed to build their family through the miracle of adoption, and their boys are growing up surrounded by family and a tight-knit community.
Luis was the first to hear about opportunities to serve in overseas missions, when a worker attended a men’s conference at their local church. Overwhelmed by the idea at first, Ana has become more enthusiastic as their discernment process has led them to a team serving in the Himalayas. God has revealed an amazing opportunity to join a tourism business that will benefit from their diverse vocational interests—in a nation that will provide an amazing educational opportunity for their sons. Their local church has rallied significant support for their calling, asking them to lead the way for a band that will be sent over the next five years.
*Names and identities have been modified to protect privacy.
Amrita’s* family immigrated to the U.S. when she was very young. Growing up Indian American, she experienced cross-cultural living firsthand. Her local church, set within a diverse community of suburban Chicago, equipped its congregants for cross-cultural service through its global mindedness. After graduating from the engineering program at the University of Chicago, Amrita felt a desire to move overseas and experience life in the high-tech city of Mumbai.
Moving as a single woman, Amrita has found great support through the field team she will join. Their practice of gathering to do life together has been a source of comfort and encouragement as she pursues her God-given dream. With help from the pipeline coordinator for India, Amrita identified a business opportunity with a software service provider. She'll be part of an expansion into other cities across the nation, positioning the team to build community with new people groups.
*Names and identities have been modified to protect privacy.