Texts and materials
One of the core elements of the WMA is its texts and
materials. These provide the basic information about missions and missionary
work and life, and are fundamental to the training provided by the
WMA. Our materials are specifically designed to provide a solid
introduction to missions, especially from a perspective of the two-thirds world
and with a Latin American "flavor."
The general topics covered by our texts and materials give a sample
of the extension and depth of the WMA's training. Basic topics include the
following.
- Understanding missions in general – what the Bible has to say
about it, what it is, what is involved, why we
do it, how we should do it, how it fits into the broader ministry of the local church,
etc.
- Establishing a Biblical philosophy of missions – the Biblical
framework that guides us in all of our missionary activity
- Understanding missionary work – what it means to be involved in
missionary activity and to send out missionaries
- Understanding missionary life – what it means to serve as a
missionary
- Evangelizing in a pertinent and persuasive way – how to present
the Gospel in a way that is relevant to the needs of our audience and is
persuasive in that context
- Working in another cultural context – how to live and minister in
a cultural context that is different from the one in which you were raised
- Understanding the world's principal non-Christian religions – what
these religions believe, what their followers are seeking, and how Christ can
meet their needs better than the religion they currently follow
The WMA's texts and materials are grouped according to three general levels:
a basic level, an intermediate level, and a specialized level.
Basic-level
texts and materials cover the subject matter in a simple, introductory fashion,
and they are designed for broad use in formats ranging from
Sunday School classes and small Bible study groups to large seminars. These
materials tend to be rather short in nature, many are only a few pages in
length, and they are designed to be covered in just one meeting. However, a
couple of the basic-level texts represent a more-developed introductory study
(about 75 pages in length), and they are designed to be covered in a space of
five to ten weeks (at two hours per week).
Intermediate-level
texts and materials cover their subject matter in a much more thorough and
detailed fashion, and they are designed for use in a small-group setting. These
materials tend to be rather developed in nature, usually running between 250 and
300 pages in length, and they are designed to be covered in a space of about 16
weeks (at two hours per week).
Specialized-level texts and
materials, as their name implies, are designed to treat specific topics that are
limited in nature yet important for successful missionary work (depending on the
context). Examples of works in this level would be our text on missionary
photography, or a text dedicated to studying one specific religion (like Islam
or Hinduism).
Along with our basic texts and materials, facilitator's guides also appear in
the list. These are technical manuals designed to accompany the textbook to
which they refer, and they provide important helps to the facilitator in
teaching the text. The general content of a facilitator's guide includes: a
basic lesson plan (dividing the text into weekly blocks of study), reading
assignments (the portion of the text assigned for that week), the overarching
key activity or goal for that week, the specific learning objectives covered by
that week, and suggested learning activities that are designed to lead to and
reinforce the accomplishment of these learning objectives.
Our texts, materials, and facilitator's guides are all stored in standard Adobe®
Reader® format (PDF files). Any text or other material may be opened by
simply clicking on it from the list. Once opened, the material may be read on
screen and even printed out (using the printing options of the document viewer). Although Adobe®
Reader® is an extremely common program that is present on most computers, a
free copy of the most recent version is available through the link that appears
on our home page. To download Adobe®
Reader®, just click on this link and follow the instructions.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR USERS OF GOOGLE
CHROME®: To facilitate the viewing, printing, and saving of our documents,
we recommend that you enable Chrome's® alternate PDF viewer plug-in. Please see
the note on our home page for details. This step is quite simple.
William F. Ritchey is the founder and director of the World Missions Academy
and also the author of many of our texts and materials. He and his wife have
served as missionaries in Venezuela with EFCA ReachGlobal since 1984. Thus he
writes and teaches from a lifetime of experience as a cross-cultural missionary.
His training includes a Bachelor of Humanities degree (concentration in Spanish)
from Biola University, Los Angeles, and a Master of Divinity degree in Missions
from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Chicago. His background includes:
serving as Professor of Missions and Church History in a theological seminary in
Venezuela from 1985 to 2000, serving as Academic Dean of this school from 1991
to 1993, serving as the school's Registrar from 1994 to 1997, and serving with
the World Missions Academy since 1999.
The WMA's texts and materials are usually prepared originally in Spanish.
Then they are translated into other key languages as time and translators allow.
Therefore, the vast majority of our texts and materials will always be found on
our Spanish website. As materials are translated into English, they will then
appear on this English website. At the current time, only a few works from
the basic level have made it through the translation process, but these were
carefully selected as being among the most important works that the WMA has to
offer, and crucially foundational to establishing a Biblical philosophy of
missions. So, although there may not be a lot of materials available in English
at this current time, those that are available are well worth studying. Feel
free to browse our materials, using the menu options above, and enjoy your
studies at the World Missions Academy.
© 2011 William F. Ritchey
Border courtesy GRSites.com