Training with Radius is absolutely worth it. You won't need to read far for that answer.
But why?
Why spend 9 months receiving rigorous missionary training (nearly 12 months in total) before going to an unreached language group? I will start with some thoughts on training in general, then move to current trends, and finally discuss Radius.
Thoughts on Training
Better trained people do better. This isn’t controversial in the slightest. Everyone knows that better trained doctors are preferable to poorly trained ones. Pilots who have better training are the ones we all want when the weather is rough and the airport landing strip is short. Training matters, especially when lives are on the line. How much more so when eternal souls are at stake?
Yet when it comes to missions, there is a warped pneumatology (doctrine of the Holy Spirit) that sneaks in. Sound bites such as“He’s relying on the Spirit and nothing else”, or “She’s trusting that the Spirit will be sufficient” sound spiritually mature, but when it comes to missions a lack of preparation is quite disastrous to the missionary and the ministry. Paul relied on the Holy Spirit deeply, but that didn’t discourage him from hard work and preparation (1 Cor 15:10, 2 Timothy 4:2, 1 Cor 9:24-27). He did his research on the lifestyle of the people (Acts 17:16-23), he studied his Bible (Acts 17:2), he reasoned and taught with all his might (Colossians 1:28-29), and he left the results to God (1 Cor 3:6-7).
The great Welsh preacher Martyn Lloyd Jones, commenting on his early days of preparation, would say,
"You will always find that the men whom God has used signally have been those who have studied most, known their Scriptures best, and given time to preparation. The Spirit generally uses a man's best preparation. It is not the Spirit or preparation; it is preparation plus the unction and the anointing which the Holy Spirit alone can supply." [1]
Let's pray for what the Spirit alone can supply, and make sure we press our missionaries to get prepared. Both are needed.
Current Trends
The general trends in missions attrition, those who leave the mission field, should alarm both individuals that go (Goers) and individuals and churches that send (Senders).
Radius has done some general research on missionary attrition and found that nearly 60% of all long-term missionaries coming from the West don’t last longer than 5 years. But it turns out it is far worse. Earlier this year at CROSS conference, I sat in on a breakout session where Matt Schmucker shared some of findings from researchers on this topic. Matt had contacted some sending agencies and followed a sample case of 1,014 missionaries, and he found that the attrition rate after five years was close to 75%. Even more striking, out of the 1,014 missionaries in the study, only 40 of them were still on the field after just one year — a mere 4%! If that isn’t sobering, I don’t know what is.
Why is missionary attrition so high? In three words, lack of training. While some attrition is caused by factors beyond a missionary's control such as illness or family needs back home, the dominant factor consistently comes back to a lack of training.
Most aspiring missionaries don't know what they don't know. They likely don't know how hard it is to learn a language without specialized and serious training. They don't know which methods of church planting in the U.S. will carry over to the field and which won't. They don't know how to raise kids who can flex between two worlds. They don't know the stresses that their marriage or singleness will encounter. They don't know how to evaluate potential teammates for compatibility. And many have not developed a robust theology of suffering for when the waves come.
Someone can go to the field without knowing their Bible well and, most likely, only regret the things they taught before they knew their Bible better. But someone who goes to the field without preparation in language acquisition, cross-cultural church planting, parenting, and a theology of suffering well, likely won’t last long.
Radius
Radius was developed with both of these realities in mind, the value of good training and the heartbreaking reality of missions attrition. Consequently, it is difficult, stress-inducing, and thorough. Remember that good training is meant to mimic the real thing as closely as possible. Think of flight simulators, military exercises, and the practices of the best sports teams. Good training is meant to get as close to the reality of "game time" as possible, then pull back and dissect what went well and what needs further work.
Radius' classroom topics have been meticulously chosen for relevance to field realities. We are blessed to have over 400 graduates on the field sending back real-time information as to what is and was most helpful for them. Beyond the classroom, though, is where I believe good training goes to the next level. And this is where Radius shines.
One of the first things that happens when students arrive at Radius is they lose access to the internet. On day two of the program, apart from emails once a week to family and church, social media, ESPN, and all manner of digital engagement are cut off. This is a wonderful thing for young minds to experience! Rarely do they have such a concentrated period of development without those outside stimuli, and what it does for their thinking skills, reading skills, and social development shows them what they have been missing.
Students also participate in morning workouts every other day, which are helpful to stretch the whole person and bring physical health. Paul testifies that it does "have some value" (1 Timothy 4:8). On top of that, students take on chores, immerse themselves in the Tijuana community, teach ESL classes, live with a local family during a period called Homestay, host guests, and work as a team in many different environments. All of these have their right and good effect on the students. One of these exercises in isolation has little value, but the combined effect, with classes happening Mon–Fri, 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m., in a foreign city, with experienced staff, creates a highly honed training environment.
There are a variety of different kinds of missions and ministries that support good missions. But missions that seek to plant churches among the last unreached language groups is the hardest of all. We should not be surprised that harder jobs will face higher attrition. The solution, though, is to take those going to the hardest ofplaces, the hardest of languages, and train them adequately for the task.
Radius is not a silver bullet; it does not guarantee success. But with an attrition rate of less than 8% (92% who go to the field are still going), it is a rare bright spot in long-term missions today. So, yes, I think it's worth it, but more importantly, the sending churches of Radius grads and the graduates on the field would never trade theyear of preparation for a faster timeline. Training matters — ask those who see the finish line, not the starting line.
[1] Iain Murray, The Life of Marty Lloyd-Jones, Banner of Truth Publishing, 3 Murryfeld Rd. Edinburgh, UK. Pg. 102
