Additional Onboarding for Staff of SEND International’s Sending Offices

SEND’s international leadership believes that it is vital that all SEND staff need to thoroughly understand the organization’s values, mission and overall strategies. This applies to all – those who serve cross-culturally and those who work in our sending offices; those who are SEND members and those who are employed as paid staff. In order for us all to become passionately committed to mobilizing God’s people and engaging the unreached to establish reproducing churches, we all need to understand why we do what we do and some fundamental principles of how we go about accomplishing our mission.

The primary way that SEND International facilitates gaining this understanding is through our Member Orientation Program (MOP). One of the three purposes of MOP is to deepen the participant’s understanding of SEND values, mission statement and strategies in ministry. Those who join SEND’s covenant community as a member are expected to go through SEND’s Member Orientation Program, regardless of whether they serve cross-culturally in a receiving area or serve as part of the sending office. SEND’s MOP training includes 15 sessions aimed at developing a better understanding of and commitment to the “SEND Core”. See what is included in the SEND Core below.

However, those who are employed as staff in the sending offices or in the International Office do not typically go through MOP, although they would always be welcome to do so. Each of the SEND sending offices have onboarding programs for new staff. In our Asian offices, this onboarding is primarily the pre-field COP (Candidate Orientation Program) run by the sending offices for all new appointees. Our Canadian and US offices have onboarding programs that are more specifically tailored to new staff and do not require that all staff go through COP.

Realizing the central role of staff within SEND, international leadership would like to see a deeper shared understanding of our mission statement, structure and strategies within the Sending offices and International Office.

For this reason, SEND U created SEND Core, a set of additional onboarding materials specifically designed for new sending office personnel.

• All new full-time staff working in the SEND sending offices would be required to go through the SEND Core within the first year of employment, preferably within the first 3 months.
• Those who have started working with SEND in one of the sending offices or the International Office in the past 5 years would be encouraged to go through the SEND Core (on paid time) but the decision to require them to go through it would be the decision of their employer.
• Mobilizers and member care coaches would be strongly encouraged to go through the entire 2-week MOP onsite together with regular MOPers within the first year after employment begins.
• Those who have gone through MOP or are planning to do so would be exempt from going through the SEND Core (but would be welcome to do so).
• Those who work in the sending offices of our partner organizations would also be welcome to join this training.

SEND Core (missiontools.org)

This course is a collection of lectures prepared by SEND Member Orientation Program (MOP) trainers. The material has been compiled and formatted by SEND U staff. Contributors include:

• Warren Janzen, SEND International Director
• Ken Guenther, SEND U Director
• Barry Rempel, SEND International Global Collaboration Director
• Craig G., SEND International Co-Director of Strategic and Transformational Presence
• Emily Quint, Assistant to the Director of Corporate Security
• Brad McIlwain, Solertiae President and IT Consultant
• Richard Ramirez, SEND Director of Corporate Security

SEND Core is a set of core onboarding materials specifically designed for new sending office personnel. It represents the Core of SEND’s cross-cultural training. This training material is designed as an online, self-paced, independent learning course. The course is presented in five parts.

• Welcome Greeting
• Update your profile
• SEND Core Syllabus

• SEND’s Organizational Structure
• SEND Mission Statement: Mobilize, Engage and Establish (MEE)
• SEND Values
• SEND’s commitment to Lifelong Learning and SEND U.

• SEND’s commitment to Teaming.
• SEND’s commitment to Intercultural Teaming.
• SEND’s commitment to Working with the National Church.
• SEND’s Church Planting philosophy.
• SEND’s Disciple-Making philosophy.

• SEND’s commitment to Data Security.
• SEND’ commitment and policies related to Safety & Security.
• SEND’s Child Protection Policy.

Each section contains a combination of videos, readings, quizzes and reflections. Each module contains easy-to-follow instructions and can be done at the user’s pace. All material is in English, and it is estimated that a native English speaker can complete all material in approximately 20 hours or less. Most modules also contain extra resources with pdfs of the PowerPoints used and summary documents that can be used for reference and review.

At the end of this course, the participant should have a thorough understanding of the following SEND International values, mission and overall strategies:

• SEND Values
• SEND’s Organizational Structure
• SEND Mission Statement: Mobilize, Engage and Establish (MEE)
• SEND’s commitment to Working with the National Church.
• SEND’s commitment to Teaming.
• SEND’s commitment to Intercultural Teaming.
• SEND’s commitment to Lifelong Learning and SEND U.
• SEND’s commitment to Data Security.
• SEND’ commitment and policies related to Safety & Security.
• SEND’s Child Protection Policy.
• SEND’s Church Planting philosophy.
• SEND’s Disciple-Making philosophy.

All videos and reading materials will be provided as part of the course.

Each of the core modules under Foundations, Ministry Strategies, and Safety and Security contain their own quizzes or reflections. The participant will be asked to complete each reflection and pass each quiz to satisfactorily complete the course.

Please note that materials available through this course are the intellectual property of SEND U and may further be copyright protected by third parties. They are provided here solely for use by the participants enrolled in this course. Please do not distribute, post, or publish any materials in this course without the express permission of the copyright holders.