SCHOOL OF MISSIONS

My name is Dwight Whitsett and I worked as a missionary in Adelaide, South Australia from September 1967 through June 1976. Upon returning to the United States I worked as a pulpit minister until 1998. I then joined Missions Resource Network for three years as Director for Church Equipping. My job was to equip churches to be more effective senders and supporters of missionaries. I then began work with Sunset International Bible Institute working in the Missions Department as a teacher and missions coordinator for the South Pacific region. I seek to interest students in working in the region and help with mission team formation and deployment.

I also work with Sunset’s International department as Dean of International Training/South Pacific. In that capacity, we have begun a partnership with an existing school, Macquarie School of Biblical Studies, in Sydney, Australia to strengthen their program for training men and women for ministry. In these roles I make frequent trips to Australia and New Zealand.

Visions and Dreams

My vision is to see the church restore a God-driven zeal for reaching every human on earth with the good news of Christ Jesus. In order for this to happen we must recapture the mission and purpose of the church to follow Christ. To follow Jesus means to seek and save the lost, to make disciples and gather them into strong, mature, reproductive churches. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation whose purpose is to proclaim the excellencies of the One who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

My vision is to see a greatly expanded missionary force. We are the answer to the prayer for workers in the harvest. We must seek out and “shoulder-tap” those men and women whom God has gifted for evangelism and whose hearts are burdened for lost souls. Churches and individuals must make it a priority to train and send these men and women into harvest-ready fields across the street and across the sea. Recruitment will not be a problem when we clearly understand that this is our exclusive task as the people of God, a task for which we will be held responsible.

My dream is to see missions perceived an honored career for our people, young or old. There should be a sense cultivated among our churches that there is no higher, more honorable profession than to go forth as lights into this dark world. If we could just see this change in attitude, recruitment efforts would be much more fruitful. This is what we are working toward at Sunset. Just as if their son or daughter were physically defending their country and its freedoms, parents should be honored that their children want to give their lives to the fulfillment of this Great Commission.

It is to our shame that those who preach a false gospel should outstrip us in the matter of recruiting and sending missionaries. Do we believe the message we preach? The proof of that will be seen in our readiness and eagerness to proclaim it. Our eagerness to proclaim it will be seen in our readiness to train and deploy adequately prepared missionaries. Churches, committed Christians and the training schools they support must take the initiative in sounding out the call for workers.

My dream is to see scores of mission-minded men and women gathered into places like SIBI to not only study but also to coalesce into teams focused on areas of our world where the gospel call is weak. At Sunset, they are guided by seasoned missionaries who help them in the formation of their teams and give them the benefit of their experience. These men help with team formation and continue to mentor those teams even as they begin their work on their chosen field. This is what the School of Missions training was designed to do and has been doing it with great success.  If God has given you a longing to reach lost souls, we would like to hear from you.