Who We Are

  • To see cross-cultural messengers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ experience effectiveness, endurance, and personal vitality. 

  • To serve churches and sending agencies by developing and equipping their long-term cross-cultural messengers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

    • Relational vitality with Jesus

    • Team

    • Integrity

    • Quality and Excellence

  • We believe:

    • The Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.

    • That there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

    • In the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.

    • That for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.

    • In the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a Godly life.

    • In the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.

    • In the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

    • That Christ commanded the church to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, baptizing and teaching those who believe.

Life-sharing Community

Our programs are immersive — participants come and live in a community with other cross-cultural workers for the duration of their program. One of the major make-or-break issues for cross-cultural workers can be unhealthy relationships, or unresolved conflict, within their team or family. MTI’s interactive and community-enhanced programming focuses on creating strong team relationships and shapes each person individually.

Helping Missionaries Thrive

Missionaries are invited to receive advice to help them live out God's calling in their lives. At MTI, we focus on providing practical support and helping missionaries to serve with effectiveness, endurance, and personal vitality on the field.  

Our experienced facilitators and teachers are ready to assist you in moving forward with your story - recognizing the successes and challenges, while inviting God into them. The resources we offer in all our programs have been created to help participants shift their perspectives and navigate the path ahead. Our goal is to equip each participant with the tools necessary to move forward in their journey. 

Heart-healing Process

We do not simply provide skills, we deal with heart issues. How do you deal with conflict? How do you react when things do not go as planned? Have you developed healthy attitudes and behaviors personally and within your family? These questions, and many others like them, must be addressed to succeed long-term. We help our participants embrace brokenness and find healing in a safe place, inviting them into an ongoing process of formation and freedom. This allows them to truly live the message of hope and transformation found in Christ, which will lead to effectiveness and thriving in ministry.

These three dimensions of our programs work together in powerful ways to prepare you to fulfill your calling and thrive in long-term ministry.

The Foundation of Mission Training International

Mission Training International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that began in the hearts of Phil Armstrong, R.E. Thompson, and Clyde Taylor and was incorporated as Missionary Internship in Michigan in 1954. The ministry focused on preparing applicants for ministry work in new cultures. The goal was to introduce them to skills that would help produce effectiveness, endurance, and personal vitality as they prepared to serve cross-culturally.

Today, MTI partners with more than 100 agencies and has served over 50,000 cross-cultural workers. We continue to focus on preparing and caring for individuals, couples, and families for healthy cross-cultural service. We are thankful for the role that we have in carrying the Gospel around the world and excited to serve those the Lord brings to us in the future!

To read a little bit more about our history, please head to our blog!

  • 1950s

    • 1952: The first 7-month Missionary Internship (MI) program was conducted under the founder (R.E. Thompson) in Minneapolis with 15 participants. MI relocated to Detroit, Michigan.

    • 1954: Churches in the Detroit area began providing housing for interns to serve in their churches under the pastor for a school year. MI classes met every Monday.

    1960s

    • 1961: God provided a beautiful 26-acre wooded site in Farmington, Michigan. This property included residences for staff and participants, a dining hall, nursery, and classrooms. Internship participants (now between 60-75) were divided into three groups and came to the training site for one week per month (Monday to Friday).

    • 1965: MTI hits 1,000 missionaries served.

    1970s

    • 1973: MI began a 3-week Pre-Field Orientation program in response to the beginning of what was called the Short-Term Missionary Movement (a commitment to two years of service).

    • 1975: MI began a 2-week Program in Language Acquisition Techniques (PILAT) to train missionaries in learner-initiated language learning skills and techniques.

    1980s

    • 1985: MI discontinued the church-based Internship Program.

    • 1985: MI began the Urban-Ethnic Internship - a 9-week program (June-August) in the inner city of Detroit (from 1985-93).

    1990s

    • 1991: MI relocated to Colorado Springs and conducted most programs at Pine Crest Lodge near Florissant, CO.

    • 1994: MI began hosting the International Congress on Language Learning (ICLL), a gathering about language acquisition.

    • 1995: MI began doing business as Mission Training International (MTI).

    • 1996: All training for Missionary Kids (MKs) and Third Culture Kids (TCKs) at MTI adopted the name Children’s Intercultural Programs (CHIPs).

    • 1998: DAR grew to include debriefing for MKs and TCKs.

    • 1998: MTI began hosting Mental Health and Missions (MHM), a conference for the professional development and collaboration of Mental Health Professionals working with cross-cultural workers for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

    2000s

    • 2002: MTI began programs at its newly completed 10-acre facility in Palmer Lake, CO. This remains our current location.

    2010s

    • 2013: MTI combined its 5-week PILAT &  Pre-Field Orientation (SPLICE—Spiritual, Personal, Interpersonal, Cultural, Endurance/Enjoyment Paradox) into a 4-week program called Compass.

    • 2016: Kids in Family Consultation on Debrief & Renewal (KnF CODAR) was launched with a focus on the development and equipping of debriefers for MKs/TCKs.

    • 2018: Partner Retreat (now called Partner Connect) was launched for the collaboration of MTI and its partnering sending agencies and churches.

    2020s

    • 2021: The International Congress on Language Learning (ICLL) was held in an online format for the first time.

    • 2024: MTI celebrates 70 years of ministry.

Portraits of the Missionary Internship Staff, featuring six individuals with their names and titles: Rev. Fred Renich - Director, Mr. Gordon Donaldson - Assistant Director, Rev. Kenneth Downing - Consultant/Instructor, Dr. Raymond Buker - Consultant/Instructor, Rev. Oscar Cloninger - Business Manager, and Miss Helen Kornfield - Instructor.