What is the Future of Cross Training?

(Bobby Thompson Jr., Bobby Thompson Sr., Dean Corbett,
Jim Phillips, & Caleb Padgett)

 When asked if, as the new youth pastor, Pastor Brock will continue the Cross Training program, he said he will keep pretty close to the program Pastor Bobby created.

“A lot of the kids have already done it. I want to keep the same scope and sequence. That will stay the same. I may change it a little bit, but that part will remain the same.”

One change may be greater use of the video lecture series that comes with the book Pastor Bobby used. Pastor Pete will use the video for variety, but “not every week,” he says, “because it would get redundant.”

The next Cross Training class will start in the fall for a six-week period. “We set that by which kids are going to be taking it and what works best for them,” explains Pastor Brock. “We try for six consecutive weeks; that doesn’t always happen.” Since the previous three-year cycle has ended, Pastor Pete says they’ll be starting back at the beginning with class 101, which is “The Christian Disciplines” and Scripture memory.

Like Pastor Bobby, Pastor Pete sees the program’s greatest strength/benefit as what it does for “kids who want to be serious about understanding Bible doctrine.” He explains that the Wednesday night youth program doesn’t provide enough time for in-depth study and has a different emphasis. He says:

“Cross Training amounts to a classroom-type situation. You can ask questions. It’s a much more in-depth doctrinal study than what would be possible to do otherwise. And it has worked out very well.”

Pastor Brock is looking forward to carrying on the Cross Training program:

“I’ve not had a chance to teach it because Bobby has done it. I’m looking forward to that opportunity to do that and to be with the kids—to become part of it and help the kids continue through the process.”

Related Posts:

• What is Cross Training?
• The Climax of Cross Training – A Missions Trip
• A Missionary Responds to Cross Training
• What is the Future of Cross Training

A Missionary Responds to Cross Training

(Anora, Trey, Ereina, Zoe, & Dave Totman)

Hopefully, by now, you have read about Cross Training and also about Dean Corbett and Caleb Padgett's recent Mission Trip.  Dean and Caleb went to help Faith's 100 Missionaries Dave & Anora Totman.  They serve at Sahel Academy in Niger, West Africa.  Today, we are going to share some of Dave's thoughts regarding the Cross Training program.

First of all, Dave, tell us a little about what Dean and Caleb were able to accomplish during their trip.

Dean and Caleb were incredible helps to us during their stay in Niger. We tackled a huge list of projects at Sahel Academy (the international school where we serve), and they pitched in without complaining each and every day.

We are in the process of moving the school’s shop/maintenance area to a new part of campus, we are building a new administration and classroom building, and we are trying to upgrade the school’s security infrastructure. Dean and Caleb were able to help with parts of all of these projects (They helped move and sort shop equipment; they helped install new electrical, communication and water lines; they helped install outlets; they mowed lawns; they helped install security lights and speed bumps.). They also were able to help with installing cabinets at another building project on the other side of Niamey (with Chris & Diane Marine).

The thing that impressed me the most was their quick response to any request I had. “Would you be willing to carry this 300 pound light pole over there?” The response to any request such as this was always, “Anyway we can help you!” They were exactly that—great helps! Thank you for sending them; they were a fantastic testimony to their families, Faith Baptist, and to our God!

When were you first contacted about Dean and Caleb coming for a mission trip?

Pastor Bobby first wrote me about Dean and Caleb visiting on Feb. 28, 2011.

What is your opinion of the Cross-Training program?

It was a huge blessing to have the guys here. They couldn’t have expressed better work ethics or servant’s hearts. I don’t know how much of that was Pastor Bobby or Cross-Training or good parenting, but they were appreciated.

What do you see as the benefits of the Cross-Training program?

I think a longer-term discipleship program such as Cross-Training has many benefits. Discipleship takes time and takes rubbing shoulders in a variety of circumstances. So, a major benefit to a program like this is Pastor Bobby having the opportunity to spend time with his disciples over several years. Another benefit is taking a longer missions trip such as the one Caleb and Dean took to Niger. That is a different look at missions than a 5 day trip. Shorter trips have benefits too, but they had an opportunity to see a variety of things and process the cross-cultural experience over a longer period of time. I think that in and of itself has a lot of rewards.

Learn more about the Totmans at their website http://totmansinafrica.wordpress.com/.

Related Posts:

• What is Cross Training?
• The Climax of Cross Training – A Missions Trip
• A Missionary Responds to Cross Training
• What is the Future of Cross Training?

The Climax of Cross Training - A Missions Trip

(Caleb, Dave Totman, & Dean)

When you learned that FBC was going to help pay for Caleb Padgett and Dean Corbett to go to Niger on a missions trip, it may have sounded like a relatively short event—a few months to raise money, get passports, be inoculated, and make plans, followed by three weeks on the ground in Niamey. But the reality is, Caleb and Dean’s missions trip was three years in the making.

Dean and Caleb probably would never have gone to Niger—at least not as a two-man team—if it hadn’t been for the Cross Training program. Cross Training is a three-year program with the goal of providing “the training, tools, and encouragement necessary for teens to ground themselves in Bible doctrine and practice.”  Learn more about Cross Training in Monday's post.

Read below as Dean & Caleb share their thoughts on their trip to Niger.

Dean Corbett:

We spent 25 days in Niger. We chose to go to the Totmans because they are fully supported by our church. I remember being only seven or eight years old and praying for them every night. The gradual history made the missions trip even more fulfilling. Before the missions trip, the Totmans were good acquaintances; now, after the trip, I would call the Totmans good friends. We spent a lot of time getting to know their family.

(the new administration building)

 We spent the trip helping Pastor Dave with his day-to-day tasks. During the school year, his main ministry is the students at Sahel Academy. He is their youth pastor. However, the students are gone during the summer, so Pastor Dave works on a variety of maintenance projects, as well as administrative and security duties. On the trip we helped put a roof on the new administration building and install speed bumps and light poles.

(working on the speed bumps)

For me, the highlight of the trip was getting to know the Totmans. Mrs Anora was very hospitable. I enjoyed the opportunity to see what they do every day.

The worst thing about the trip was when I got sick. About a week into the trip, it looked like I had the symptoms of malaria (weakness, fever, nausea, and aching), but it turned out that I had some sort of virus instead. It went away after a couple of days, but the worst part was being unsure of the future and whether I would be healed.

God taught me a real respect for the Totmans and other missionaries in third-world countries. He also gave me compassion for the people who live in Niger. I believe that they generally relate to the gospel better than Americans because their lives are much like that of Jesus and the disciples. The women draw water out of a community well, and everyone needs to wash their feet because they don't wear shoes and the road is of dirt.

I realized about two days into our trip that our main ministry was helping the Totmans, but if that was the only goal of the trip, they could have gotten local labor much cheaper than our plane tickets, room, and board. We came to Niger to be more than expensive labor. We came to Niger to get to know the Totmans and to invite God to change our hearts and minds.

Caleb Padgett:

We had quite a few choices of where to go on the missions trip. Niger is one place we hadn’t been, so we decided to go there and see what it’s like. Plus we all knew Dave and Anora [12–13 years, in Caleb’s case], so it would be nice to see them and to see what it is like for them out there. They’re a good family and a lot of fun.

Getting a feel for what missions life is like, especially in a third-world country, is a very incredible thing. It grips your heart. After being there a while, you’re like, “I know these people. They’ve been my family for the last couple weeks. I don’t want to leave.” For me, the trip was a great opportunity to get a feel for what God could have me do in my life—to be able to experience it, hand-on-hand, and being able to see it and the stuff the missionaries live through and all that. I’m really glad I got to go.

The highlight of the trip was going in the bush with a couple of other missionaries. We went to a Gourma village [from the Gourmantche people group, who live in southeastern Niger]. It took about an hour and a half to two hours to get there; we were really far out. These missionaries have gotten through to the villagers by using their language. It took one missionary about 13 years to learn the language completely. He’s been out there close to 20 years. The missionaries taught on baptism that Tuesday because the people were asking about it. It was cool to see that happening. Another highlight was how the Nigerians worship; it’s a lot different from over here. Their worship is very joyful. They don’t sit still for long. Over here, we mainly sit still. So it was definitely a new experience for me.

For me, the worse thing about the trip was seeing how the people live, compared to how we live here. Over there, there are piles of trash everywhere. And over here we have dump trucks to pick it up and take it to the dump, and their dump place is pretty much wherever they want it. They walk all over it, and it doesn’t faze them.

One thing God taught me was that I needed to open my eyes to different opportunities that I’ve been given and need to be thankful for and that I’ve taken for granted. He also taught me that I need to be humble that I was getting to do this. God really opened my eyes to missions—it’s definitely a possibility in my life. So I need to have a willing heart and be willing to say yes instead of being hesitant, to be patient, to wait on God, and be willing to let Him take me where He wants me to go.

Before the trip, I had to raise money. Realizing that the church was going to pay for my flight there and back was a good thing that I was thankful for, but having to raise that much [$800–1,000 more] was really hard.

By the end I had about $300 more I had to raise two or three weeks before we left. I was like, “I have to find a way to get this.” And God provided it. So God also taught me patience in that area—learning to wait and realizing God will provide in His own time and on the right time.

Our greatest accomplishment was probably not what we did, but just that we showed up We showed up and were there for Dave and Anora, to be an encouragement and to help out with anything they needed. We moved some pretty big stuff—a 300–500 pound speed bump that had been cut in half and one that was whole. But I think the biggest thing we did was we were there for Dave and Anora. We asked them questions about what they need. They need a maintenance man very desperately, and they need some other things.

The trip was, overall, a great experience.

Related Posts: 

• What is Cross Training?
• The Climax of Cross Training – A Missions Trip
• A Missionary Responds to Cross Training
• What is the Future of Cross Training?

What is Cross Training?

Cross Training is a three-year program with the goal of providing “the training, tools, and encouragement necessary for teens to ground themselves in Bible doctrine and practice.”

Former Youth Pastor Bobby Thompson designed the program. He says:

“I started the program because I felt like we needed some kind of measurable and systematic way for teens to take the next step in their walk with Christ. For some teens, they get that at Christian school. Others get it if they go to a Christian college. Then there’s a whole group of teens that don’t really have anything regular in their lives in which they’re learning new things and taking steps beyond what they get in Sunday School or church or youth group a couple of times a week. So this provided a sort of like a Bible class that would ground them both in systematic theology and what they know with their mind about God’s Word, and then also a practical theology—how they work out that theology in their life. So the course is broken up into those two sections.”

Pastor Bobby describes what he considers the program’s greatest strength:

“I think it is in helping the teens to see, number 1, that theology is practical. We try in every class, especially in our systematic theology classes (in three of our classes we go through a systematic theology book). As we go through each doctrine, we try to show how that doctrine is not just academic, but—okay, how does that affect our lives on a daily basis? 

We spend half the class working through that book and the other half the class. I try to bring in some that is current—whether it’s a news story, something off a Christian blog, where a particular topic is being discussed, and how it’s actually playing out in the real world at this time in history. We talk about that as well. I think that’s been good for them. And then the class sizes are pretty small, so there’s a lot of interaction. I try to encourage discussion and questions. So there’s a real intimate kind of feel with regards to the class that makes it flexible in terms of the things we talk about.”

Students can start Cross Training as early as seventh grade. Pastor Bobby designed the whole course to be three years—one course in the fall and one course in the spring—for a total of six courses. That way, if students are busy with sports activities or the like and for whatever reason cannot do the class at one particular time, they can still take a class they missed to complete the program over six years.

(Here are all the courses that are offered over the 6 year period)

During Pastor Bobby’s time with Cross Training, only two students completed the entire cycle, culminating with the missions practicum. (Several students who were upperclassmen when the program started graduated high school before the three years were up.) The two who finished were Dean Corbett and Caleb Padgett.

(Dean & Caleb at Sahel Academy in Niger)

In sharing his thoughts about Cross Training, Dean says, 

“I would encourage the teenagers at our church to join and stick with our Cross Training program for two reasons. They will become well rounded in the protestant doctrines, and they will get a myriad of opportunities such as visitation and the missions practicum of their choice.”

Caleb says,

“I would definitely encourage middle and high school students to do the Cross Training program, to do all six classes, and get that done and out of the way and then go on a missions trip paid for by the church (even if it wasn’t paid for by the church, I would recommend it). I would suggest taking it just if you want to learn more about God. If you want to dig into God’s Word and you haven’t already, try Cross Training.”

Related Posts:

• What is Cross Training? 
• The Climax of Cross Training – A Missions Trip
• A Missionary Responds to Cross Training
• What is the Future of Cross Training?