Do you believe God is calling you to serve others for the cause of Christ? Never before have the opportunities for serving God been so challenging.  To be truly effective in ministry requires a teachable heart, a disciplined mind, and skillful hands.

 

IBCD is uniquely prepared and positioned to provide you training for service in our needy world. We greatly desire to pass on to others what we’ve learned through our research and our own years of service, and to do so we offer a variety of resident and field-based training programs in Biblical Community Development and Appropriate Technology - we call it Redeemed Technology.

 

Issues of interest and focus for research and training:

 

• Water resource development

• Sanitation

• Renewable energy

• Sustainable agriculture

• Local economic development (micro-loans, micro-business)

• Infrastructure development (roads, etc)

• Low cost transportation

• Low cost housing and building materials

• Natural Farming

• Nutrition and food security

• Basic health care and hygiene

• Basic dental care

• Holistic healing

 

Where?

 

Our training center, called the Center for Integral Mission (CIM), is located in the foothills of the beautiful Ozark Mountains in northeast Oklahoma. It sits on seventy-five acres of land bordered on one side by the Illinois River and on another by tree-covered hills. There is a market garden, an organic research station, a hand-dug well with various hand pumps, woodstove research and testing area, an orchard, equipped workshops, and lots of space to work, roam, think, and pray.

 

The residence has comfortable dormitory space for large groups, a classroom, kitchen, and library/research area. Occasionally, groups come to use the facility for retreats or business meetings.

 

We also occasionally offer in-context tailored training programs in other countries where we have partnered with national leaders or missionaries (Partnership section).

 

What?

 

Resident training programs offered:

 

Generalist Training for Holistic Mission

       A month-long program equipping workers with the knowledge, attitudes, and broad hands-on skills they will need to tackle challenging development and survival issues.

Mission Dental Care

      Hands-on training in basic dental work for the development context or mission field.

Basic Construction Training

      Learn how to quickly and safely build basic structures for shelter and housing. Taught by master builders with mission experience.

 

Who?

 

Our training is broadly applicable to anyone interested in missions and/or international development work, but especially for:

 

• Prospective or current missionaries working with impoverished people

• Relief and development workers

• Intercultural studies students

• Church missions committee leaders or members

• Short-term mission leaders

• People involved in Business As Mission or tent-making ministries in economically disadvantaged countries

• Missionary trainers seeking to broaden their skills

• Indigenous leaders or missionaries desiring to equip their people to become more self-reliant and more able to follow their own path of development.