Hero Makers

Transcultural Leadership Rooted in Christ

The majority of missionaries are naturally placed in positions of leadership. But it’s more than that. We are not only leaders—we are transcultural leaders. Leaders who reflect the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This raises an important question: How can a missionary learn to be a good leader in different cultures while keeping the gospel as their primary focus?

Everyone arrives on the mission field with different ideas about what it means to be a good leader. These ideas, for the most part, come from our upbringing, our culture, and our family. And of course, many missionaries are already leaders in their own right, with unique strengths and abilities. But after a few years on the field, I realized that my own experiences were not enough to live out an effective ministry. I needed to learn to lead—not based on my own culture or personal experience—but to lead like Christ.

Developing Christlike Leaders Through Avant Ministries

This is where Avant Ministries’ Leadership Development Program comes into play.

This intensive program trains and equips veteran missionaries with the knowledge and tools not only to lead with excellence in the communities where they serve, but also to raise up other leaders around the world. The focus of the program is clear: each missionary should become a leader like Christ. The most beautiful part of grounding our goals, focus, and measures of success in Him is that His model transcends every culture and character. Leadership is no longer about imposing our own ideas on a culture different from ours, but about reflecting Christ in the way we serve and lead on the mission field.

During the Leadership Development Program, we engaged in conversations, collaborations, trainings, and leadership strategy development. We participated in roundtables discussing what transcultural leadership realistically looks like in various parts of the world. We studied how to recognize, value, and apply our cultural strengths and personal abilities while always keeping Christ as our example, model, and center.

From this comes what I consider the core focus of Avant Ministries in the personal and professional development of their missionaries: the commitment of leaders to form and raise up other leaders. Not seeking to be heroes, but hero makers.

That’s what Christ did. He came to serve and trained His disciples to continue His work after His mission was complete. As missionaries, we should share the same mentality. Our goal is not to command, much less to “save,” but to serve and empower others, strengthening our local brothers and sisters in God’s work.

Fellowship, Growth, and a Shared Mission

Another aspect of the program that was a great blessing was the fellowship with other missionaries in the cohort. I had the opportunity to get to know fellow missionaries serving in other parts of the world, listen to the wisdom of those with decades of experience, hear testimonies from those serving in countries where the gospel is restricted, learn from the perspective of Latino missionaries, and share experiences with others facing challenges similar to mine. We shared stories, prayed together, encouraged one another, and to this day remain in contact. How beautiful it was to meet my fellow soldiers who share the same mission, the same passion for ministry, and the same desire to learn and grow.

I am profoundly grateful for the Leadership Development Program, which demonstrates Avant Ministries’ commitment to the spiritual and professional growth of its missionaries. They choose to take time—a pause from the demands of ministry—to invest in our lives. Not to do things our way, but to learn to do them Christ’s way: becoming leaders who do not seek to dominate as the heroes of the story, but to raise up others; who do not seek personal glory, but the glory of our Lord.
This is the leadership that reflects Christ. This is the leadership we desire to live out and share to the ends of the earth, wherever He sends us.