Our Teaching is Practical

“I joined the Board of Elijah Company, Inc. because I saw in the organization a new, fresh, and exciting alternative to the traditional ways of preparing people for the field. It's hands-on and people-focused.” Elijah Company Board Member 

• Identifying Ungodly beliefs is a major part of our program. Many are healed and set free from lifetime strongholds during our training. This is important because most of the difficulties faced on the mission field come about as a result of undetected spiritual strongholds. Personal knowledge of Christ' provision needs to go beyond a superficiality. It needs to live in our hearts. Identifying false beliefs is a major part of our program.

• Cross-cultural training (anthropology) is a lifetime pursuit about which many volumes are written. It is as profound as God's creation of man. Our succinct training aims to heighten cultural sensitivity and to teach culturally general principles enabling a graceful adjustment into a new culture with the ability to avoid undue difficulties. We compare it to physically landing in a new place. Make a smooth landing and avoid the potholes.

• Loving one another is the great challenge. Most church splits and mission team failures are a result of poor or broken relationships. Understanding people differences is helpful in giving and receiving communication. It helps us bear the weaknesses of others and recognize our own. We teach the four basic temperaments but add to it principles for reordering attitudes that can break down teamwork. A special inclusion is how personalities relate to culture. But at the core of all relationships is the willingness to be broken of our own self will and seek and to esteem the desires of others. (See Philippians 2).

• Our training is practical, inspirational and spiritually imparted. Preaching the good news of the Gospel by life and word is so important. This was the work Jesus did and that which He ordained us to do. It is reasonable to believe that a prospective missionary should also be experienced in sharing Jesus with others at home. A recent trainee led someone to the Lord on the bus ride home. This was a first for him.

• Prayer is the primary means of accomplishing God's work. Anyone not seriously involved in prayer should not go to the mission field. As a sailboat cannot make it to shore without wind, we cannot achieve God's purposes without prayer. Our aim is to heighten the need for prayer and fasting by every prospective missionary and to lay down principles and give resources for developing a better prayer life.

• We teach about realities and wrong expectations. Most of the missionary presentations in churches shine the light on the positive side of missions. Few of us hear of the heartache, struggle, pain, loss and sometimes failure that take place in missions. It is anything but a walk in the park on a sunny day. It is, in the strictest sense, a battle for life and death. We try to be honest in communicating this to trainees so that they can better count the cost.

• We teach principles of developing a support team. A strong challenge is to believe that funding will come in. There is a great chasm to cross as one leaves employment with guaranteed income to living by faith. How does one take the first steps? More important than finances is the need for a prayer team that really prays. We also focus on this important aspect.

• We provide a Certification Program. We realized that a doctor, nurse, pilot, technician, etc., all need to be certified but there are few, if any, such programs for missionaries. Certification is not a test, but it allows a candidate to demonstrate that they can really do what they are called to do. There will always be more things to learn, but certain basics need to be in place before a person proceeds in a missionary call. There are ten areas crucial for missionary life. Before a person is sent on the field, they should be able to perform to a good degree in these areas. 

Is the Elijah Company different from other missions training? In many ways it is. There are many good programs out there. Like most of programs, we will not claim that a person will get everything they need from Elijah Company, but they will get a solid preparation. 

What We Do 

• We model the life of prayer and faith. 

• We offer counsel regarding steps to take. 

• We help provide practical, scriptural understanding, and mentoring relationships to guide on a trail toward world evangelization. We offer enlightenment as ones who have been in missions.

• We teach from personal experience that which God has taught us.

• We defer to other parts of the body of Christ those things we are not equipped to do. 

• We exalt in Jesus Christ, seeking to live in a fuller measure of the Holy Spirit and delighting ourselves in the Father heart of God.

• We seek to be an example in presenting Christ on every occasion when presented with the opportunity.