The SENT II vision was born out of a burden to train young people who have a desire to give their lives for the cause of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in foreign missions. Our vision for training continues to grow as we see the need arising. The youth in our home churches need a vision of new heights to gain. The fields are white unto harvest. The opportunities in the Ghana GES program are wide open for many youth to go and teach English in the village schools. We believe our youth will rise to the challenge of missions if someone will train and send them. This is an opportunity for sister/daughter churches to send their youth to be trained by able missionaries. We also see a great need for the churches to prepare to send people and learn how to set up an effective mission program in the local church.

For many years we have sent six week teams to Ghana as a means of preparation for mission life. But with the grueling challenges of living in the villages of Northern Ghana, we realize that a six week trip does not do justice to the stringent discipline required to “make it” in a foreign field. So in 2004 we implemented the GES program. We made an offer to the Ghana Education Service (GES) to provide youth to teach English in the village schools in the Northern Regions if they would grant the visas. This program has opened the way to send youth to serve for two years as English teachers in village schools. These youth were placed in villages with the missionaries, or in a neighboring village. In this way the missionaries were able to help them adjust to the culture and food and give practical training for future missions. These youth had many opportunities to assist the missionaries in church planting work such as preaching and teaching in numerous villages.

Then in 2007 we took the next step and started the SENT School (Serving Every Nation Training). The SENT School opened the way to train twenty youth for three months in Northern Ghana. The missionaries on the field did this training. It included many hours of teaching, disciplined schedules, eating local foods, and village experiences. This school was specifically designed to test and try the character of the youth and to impart visions in their hearts for the Kingdom of God.

Now in 2008 our vision has grown to include married couples in the two year GES program. This will be SENT II and is an extension of SENT. Here students will be trained in more of the actual living as a missionary with oversight by a veteran missionary. This would include singles and young couples. The program will be directed by Daniel Kenaston and family. They plan to live in a large compound in Tamale and have times when the students all come from their villages and spend several weeks, several times a year, plus occasional weekends at this compound for training and teaching as a group. Furthermore, Daniel would help them get started in the villages and schools and give continual oversight as needed.

Application Requirements:

Students must apply. Applications can be attained from the mission office by email or telephone. Applications will be thoroughly reviewed, generally on a first come, first accepted basis. Applications will include forms for the applicant’s pastor, which must be filled out in detail and honesty of character evaluation. For the pilot term (the first two years), we will plan for five couples and ten single students. Because of Spartan conditions and heavy study life, we are accepting singles and newly marriage couples only. The board will consider whether or not to allow couples with one child. Applicants must be strongly considering a life of foreign missions. We also recommend that you have attended SENT School, but this is not required. Applicants must be twenty years of age or older. This program is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2009.

Our desire is to train young people who have a clear calling or strong desire for long term service on the mission field somewhere, sometime. This is not just a nice thing to do, but is a training opportunity for serious minded people whom the church recognizes are called to missions. We desire to help young people through the first few years on the field by giving them oversight during the most crucial years of missions, which are the first two years on the field. Our hopes are that they would be able to receive training for two years and then go back home to their congregations and be sent by them into some distant land.

We are suggesting that the tuition for this program comes equally from three places: (a) the student, (b) the student’s church, and (c) the student’s family and friends. We believe this will help each party to become owners of the work. Our goal is for the student to have his own heart fully involved as well as the home church and the circle of friends. Each student should begin to build his support base from his circle of friends and family and the home church, as well as an investment from his own account. Our purpose for this is so that each part takes ownership of it, which we feel is very important.

Conclusion

We hope this gives you some idea of what we are planning. We are very excited about this and believe it will be a very integral part of training youth for the Kingdom of God. We are confident that our youth are teachable and willing to be guided. But the real challenge will be for the church to find personnel who are focused enough to get thoroughly involved in foreign missions, while living in busy and affluent America.

-the Charity Mission Board