2.  Who: Team-Based Ministry

We believe in the importance of close-knit teams, who have a variety of gifts, personalities and experience. These are your primary relationships, not only for ministry, but also for fellowship, and so your training and preparation as a team is critical. A typical Enterprise team consists of two or more families, and one or two single adults. Most teams have members serving anywhere from six months to long-term. Some members have theological training and others do not. Despite the diversity, all Enterprise teams are working towards the same goal of seeing the national church develop.

The other important team you’ll be working with is a partnership of PCA churches that are committed to your area and team members. More and more churches want to focus on a few key sites, where they can have on-going participation through such things as short-term projects, training, communication, prayer, and recruitment. Some of the churches may have a parallel ministry to the same people group in their own city, and you might help equip them. These churches will coordinate their efforts with the field team and other churches in a partnership that will help you feel more connected to God’s people around the world.

3.  Where: Relationship-Based Placement

If you are exploring whether God is calling you to serve with Enterprise, you will follow the same path as all other MTW candidates. The unique needs and opportunities of Muslim ministry, however, necessitate that we provide training and development that ensures you are placed with the right team in the right place at the right time. Thus, recruitment and field assignment are more of a process than an event, a process that is highly tailored to your individual skills, knowledge and experience. In that regard, we ask candidates to adopt the following two commitments:

• Commitment to matching your preparation with your placement

One of the biggest hurdles some people have when considering Muslim ministry is whether they’re fully equipped to serve in every imaginable context. What these and other candidates are asking for is an assurance that their own preparation will determine their placement, rather than a need to fill a position. We completely agree. Thus, rather than immediately assigning you to a team, we will work closely with you along every stage of development to ensure the best combination of your experience, training, personality, team dynamics, and site. Over time and in the context of relationship, we will discern together where God may be leading you.

This process begins the moment you apply and continues right up to your departure. The heart of this training and development takes place during the pre-field training for Enterprise workers. Here you will sharpen your skills in team dynamics, language acquisition, cross-cultural understanding, Islamics, and field ministry among immigrants in Europe. As you process your learning experiences, you, your peers and your mentors will have a greater insight into how you respond in various contexts. That insight will help determine whether you’re equipped to serve immediately in a Muslim country, whether you need additional development in Europe, or you’re best suited towards long-term ministry in the West. No matter where you serve, you will be making a valuable contribution to both local and global ministry.

• Commitment to a people rather than a location

This apprenticeship process makes most sense if you develop a primary affinity for a particular people group instead of a piece of real estate. In that way, you can serve among that group in a variety of places, as determined by your own preparation.

For example, you may feel called to serve in a certain country in the Arab World. Until we together sense otherwise, we will consider that your “target field” and work with you to get you there. Rather than set your sights on getting to that particular country, however, we prefer you to focus on the “target region” of the Arab World, and you can immediately begin cultural training, including language. Depending on your preparation and field needs, though, you may join a team in that country shortly after completing your pre-field training, join a team elsewhere in the Arab World, or you may work with Arabs in Europe for several months or longer.

We ask people to identify a primary interest in a region rather than a particular country for two reasons:

First, if you are receiving additional training in the West, we do not want you to feel you are “biding your time” until you get to your final destination. Not only will there be more open opportunities for ministry in the US or Europe, but this ministry will be connected along family and relational lines back into their country of origin. Thus, ministry in the West may not only connect to existing teams in your target region, it may establish a foundation for your own.

Second, doors open and close in the Muslim world, and so some degree of flexibility is necessary. New sites are likely to open up between the time of your initial application and your ultimate departure. Thus, it may be that the Lord is calling you to be part of a new team, and so it would be premature to be locked into a site too early. Conversely, sites do close for various reasons. If you primarily feel called to a piece of geography and then are not able to serve there, you may feel you are at the end of the road. However, if you are called to a certain people group, then relocation to work with that people group elsewhere is simply a bend in the road.