What People are Saying

I thoroughly appreciated participating in this course - I found it highly practical and succinct. I have lead a few teams on STM trips and have developed some key checklists, systems, and guides for my personal use as I prepare each year, however, Mark gives some practical language and additional tools that could serve helpful for the junior and experienced STM leader alike. I would definitely recommend this course to churches as a resource for those in their congregation or on their staff who will be leading STMs in the foreseeable future.

It can be reasonably easy to gather a group of people and head to another place to "help people over there". Mark helped us take another step toward knowing how to train a TEAM, how to walk beside other people and encourage them, and how to process the experience upon return. If you are interested in leading a mission team, STMleader will guide you in doing it with excellence!

I thought after having visited my host many times I was taking this course because I was obligated to do so by the host in order to lead a team. However this could not be further from the truth. I found the course to be engaging and thought provoking. I believe my team members have a much better chance at an impactful experience as a result of this course. Highly recommended!

Thanks Mark for the many tools and resources that I can use to make any stm's in the future successful.

Mark gave me lots of amazing food for thought in how to have discussions with others in the group. How to take a missions trip from scratch to finish. Great to have a Leadership team that wants to excel you from the start and continue to be there for you afterwards. Thank you all. Vanessa Sendle-Dinger

Having been involved in short term missions for 20 years it was time for leaders to hear from someone other than me. As I sat and listened to Mark's presentation I wanted to stand up and cheer! Not only did he affirm what I had been telling team leaders, he brought new perspectives to everyone involved. Including Me !

There is so much to this course, and Mark does a great job of unpacking it all. Tons of useful information, planning procedures, and just things to know that you probably didn't before. I highly recommend this course even if you are just thinking about short-term missions.

Here I found a collective wisdom, live in Mark and the group, and stored in the course materials. I've survived a lot of trips by God's grace and the seat-of-my pants. This new foundation is a welcome assurance for the ongoing mission.

This course is so comprehensive and thorough. I had a lot of anxiety as I was in the beginning stages of planning a Short Term Missions trip for my church, and now I feel much more confident and don't feel so alone as I plan. This course has been a life saver for me. It's so excellent that I'm suggesting to my church leadership that we make this course mandatory for all future short term missions trip leaders

If you are leading a mission team, and you think you know it all, take this course!
If you are leading a mission team, and you think you know nothing, take this course!

Whether its a refresher, or a wealth of new information, this course is spot on! Plus, the added promise of on-field support is invaluable!!

This was a Just-in-Time training for me as I literally finished the main course content and then boarded a plane with our Missions Team for El Salvador. Mark has everything well thought out... and well laid out and all the content helped prepare me... who then helped with our pastor / team leader to prepare the team before, during and after the trip. Our team was 14 people and we left excited what the Lord would do; we experienced what the Lord did there, and in us; and we returned excited, blessed with many new connections and friendships. I did not know this type of training was available. This is 'must-do' training for leaders.

Although I had already led a few STM courses, I was looking for a way to improve my leadership skills. This course really met my expectations. I feel much more equipped with planning the logistics of leading a team, training a team and dealing with the tough issues. Thanks to my church for sending me. Thanks Mark for teaching such a great course and providing thorough notes.
Debbie Hoffele
Welland, Ontario

Content, content, content. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of content and resources made available through the STM leadership course. Mark is super personable and willing to go the extra mile to make sure his students/colleagues in ministry succeed in their missions endeavor. I highly recommend the course to anyone looking to sharpen their skills or provide training to their teams.

This course helped me to be a more confident leader. The material is amazing and you can apply it to so many areas of your ministry. Its also a neat way to talk to and bounce ideas off many other leaders across Canada.

I had an amazing experience and the information I learned is priceless. I am able to use what I learned in this course at my team meetings and the information will prove very useful over the course of my trip. I would highly recommend this course to any short term leader or participant.

The STM Leader Certification course really added a lot of tools to my toolbox as a team leader. I found it to be a good blend of practical, hands-on learning combined with big-picture content. I know I'll be referring back to course materials as I lead teams in the future.

The STM Leader Certification has changed the lens through which I see and understand the value of short term missions. The sessions and resources cover everything you need to know to lead a team on mission. You get to keep all of the resources which is a huge added bonus. 10 out of 10 would recommend whether you are a novice leader or a missions expert. Everyone can learn something from this course.

Thanks Mark. I pray God blesses your ministry.

Mark has done an exception job of creating this course and a strong vision for STM leadership.

After attending the STM leadership program, I just realized how intentional doing short term mission can be, somewhat different from the spontaneous/organic approach I naturally will gravitate to. I feel strongly, this can be an enhancer rather than inhibits previously conceived approach, a not so structured one to short term mission efforts. I find the level of details in the program fascinating but very pragmatic.

Mark and his training opened my eyes to how much more we can improve our short-term missions trips at the Gideons International in Canada. No matter how experienced one is in leading missions, this course will still show you how you can improve. There are best practices for short-term missions trip leadership and Mark will get you to that level. Implementing this training will allow you to provide an excellent experience for your trip members. I highly recommend this course for every short-term missions leader.

I am a novice short term leader so found this course very helpful in preparing me for our upcoming trip this year.
Thank you Mark for allowing us to learn from a distance.

Very informative. I found my view on short term missions actually shift throughout the training. It gave great practical info on how to run and the desired outcomes of STMs. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.

STM Training not only helps equip me personally to lead better with STM teams, but it help me as a missions Pastor at my church to create mission language and training that is the same across the board at our church, which will and is leading to better alignment in STMs at my church in both youth and adult missions. I highly recommend this training to any church that does STMs.

This course in very relevant for those who would be leading a group on short term missions. This course is a great tool and is worth while for those in leadership to take.

The wealth of experience that Mark draws from and packages it in a practical, empowering way is invaluable. Not only will it benefit the leader, but team members, hosts and churches will be grateful.

I loved learning from others and hearing about the different experiences. As a result of the training I have a greater awareness of missions, the good and the negative they can cause. I would definitely recommend STM Leader to my friends

I always take courses and workshops with the attitude of "I hope to walk away with one new thing ". If I learned one new thing or if I'm inspired to do something in a new and better way, then I'm happy. I take that attitude because I've been around a while and so a lot I hear are only good reminders of what I already know (at least in my field). But even after leading people on missions trips for 15 years I found Mark had so many great ideas and resources that I lost count of the number of new things I learnt in this course. Thanks Mark for making me feel like a kid again, I learnt so much!

Mark did a great job investing in this group his wealth of knowledge and first hand experience. I have found this course challenging me about what STM really is and how to be effective. This course could easily be a 6 month course. There is so much material to soak up. I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who has a passion for short term missions

I appreciate all you've done to help us as hosts Mark! This is excellent. The better we are at communicating, the better interns we can have work with us!

I had the opportunity to take this course at a recent training session. I have worked with Mark as my coach on a mid term deployment and was familiar with much of the information Mark delivered. I agree wholeheartedly with Mark's approach with this material and his personal examples reinforced the learning. With experience working in another culture and understanding Mark's expertise with the material it was an excellent reminder of the key fundamentals of cross cultural work. I would suggest strongly that every person going for the first time on a short or medium term developmental deployment take this course.

I am very grateful for Mark and the training he provided. I know the success of our mission trip to the Philippines was mostly due to the training Mark provided in preparing me as a leader. There were so many times when something would come up and I was prepared for it only because I took this course.
I also very much appreciated being able to debrief with Mark when I returned. I took the time to debrief with my prayer partner when I returned but it was also really great to debrief with Mark and talk about the trip with him.
The course material was incredibly useful as well and I used it to keep track of my budget, expenditures and purchases and as handouts for my team.
I know that I will be using this material for years to come and adding to it from my own experiences to fine tune it to personally fit.

Thanks again Mark - you are a great teacher!

This is a must-take course for anyone considering taking a short-term missions trip, regardless of whether it is for local or international missions. The course is full of wisdom and practical application in areas of administration, team building, working with hosts, and team training, and I recommend it very highly!

If you're doing missions in your own back yard or other nations this course will help you to do it in a very practical way and give you the tools to help your team be a blessing to other cultures.

I feel like I've tapped into a wealth of resources when it comes to leading short-term missions. I very much appreciated Mark's very practical advice and keen insights! I love how he goes beyond conventional ways of thinking about missions, to take a step back and evaluate why we do what we do and what exactly does it set out to accomplish. Thank you for raising the bar and providing a standard by which we can think, approach and lead short-term missions!

I've been leading teams for over ten years now and learned SO much from this course! Mark is the best ever! He teaches from a place of great experience, humility & humour. I'm so thankful for the simple and fun way he taught us new perspectives on STMs, shared great & practical resources, and helped us process our own STM experiences through the lens of story and relationship. Looking forward to sending many more team leaders his way!

Great job Mark! I learned a lot and enjoyed your training sessions! Feel better equipped to l lead and yet know I have a lot of room to grow and learn as I continue to serve in missions! Will refer back to our course curriculum a lot in the future

Hey Mark;

Course was great. Fantastic content! You've covered a lot of stuff and given great resources. The only thing I would say that might help is sometimes the questions during the Skype calls might not have been super clear as to what you were looking for so that's why I think there was a lot of silence and a sense of trying to pull things out of people. No biggie though. Happy to have gone through the course!

This is a great course for newbies or veterans - I'm sure you'll learn a thing or two at the very least. Mark does a great job in delivering the material and I love the hand outs which I'll be using for years to come. I especially appreciate the "sample lessons" that one can do as-is or modify for their own context. His wealth of knowledge, stories and experiences is very evident and at any time, you can pick his brain for help. As a STM team member, it would be great to know that your team leader has gone through training/certification themselves before taking you out on the missions field.

I have really appreciated the opportunity to take the STM leadership Certification. I have received so much useful information to lead our team going to El Salvador in August . Mark's personality - relaxed attitude , wealth of knowledge , and evident love for God - made the course - even more interesting and meaningful . You have given me all the tools required to have a positive and effective experience. Thank you Mark for your dedication and passion to equip us with the Tools. May God continue to inspire and lead you.

Mark Crocker has helped hundreds of volunteers and career workers serve in cross-cultural mission contexts. His insightful, passionate, culturally sensitive and encouraging training style has helped many to be effective in short-term service around the world. He will help all who ask to make their mission adventure a great success.

Mark is a very knowledgeable and gracious leader, providing a learning experience that is encouraging and creates a desire to learn more about foreign missions and serving abroad.

Mark is passionate and knowledgeable in this area of leadership and the program gives a great outline to follow as we embark on our own mission with a team

I would recommend this training to anyone leading a mission team. It will give you an abundance of information and help give you perspective and direction.

Mark has put together a great package of training materials. The materials are comprehensive and organized. He is friendly and easy to work with during the cohort sessions. This is a beneficial course for anyone going on a missions trip.

Mark, has a broad experience in short term mission team training and leadership and understands the best practices that make mission trips effective and meaningful.

I was thoroughly impressed with the training, content and delivery of the STM Leadership Certification program. It benefitted me immensely.

Mark's heart for equipping leaders so that they may lead well is very obvious through his teaching and experience. I believe that his knowledge and foresight puts him in a perfect position and attitude to be teaching these skillsets. What a treasure chest of information.

I have struggled with a lack of self-confidence in teaching/leading. I have always thought that I didn’t know enough to be able to lead and loved to serve instead. I seemed to have always fumbled with words. You have showed me step by step instructions on how to start strong and end well. By working together and going through each section piece by piece, I gained confidence. I liked the one-on-one, face-to-face, sessions with you. You really challenged me to keep going and keep learning till it wasn’t so overwhelming. Thank you, Mark, for taking the time to work with me. It is truly amazing how the effects of this really are.

The STM network training revealed many of our short comings in team prep for the field, as well as what we've been doing right. It's been a valuable resource for our next missions trip. Mark has a great way of not just helping people "do" missions better....he helps them "understand" missions more fully too! I would definitely recommend this program to other leaders!

STMleader with Mark Crocker as my trainer, has taken my confidence to a new level. My time spent with him in training has opened my mind to a greater understanding of foreign fields, team leading and development, communication, strategies, and so much more. Mark is quick to listen, patient in teaching you where you are at, and is a wealth of information. You are truly a great teacher Mark and your heart is certainly very apparent in what you do.

In Spring I led a STM to Honduras, this wasn't my first time doing something like this but it was the first time that I had gone through the STM certification. I wasn't a rookie, but I found the training to be really helpful and wished that I had the opportunity to do this ten years ago when I started leading STM trips. Everything was useful and valuable and I would highly recommend to anyone, no matter how experienced, that they avail themselves of this training. Mark Crocker was engaging, friendly and exceedingly helpful. I looked forward to my skype sessions with him. Keep up the good work.

My greatest concern about hiring STMleader.com was regarding the practical side of leading STM teams. Theory is important but would they address and understand the practical side of things? As leaders we all have different strengths and needs and STM Leader has set up this course to address us as individual leaders. They found out and understood who I really am, and then equipped and encouraged my leadership growth. I highly recommend STMleader.com to be part of any STM team preparation.

Using Leader Certification was a LIFESAVER! It not only shaved off dozens of hours off of prep work, but I felt my team was more prepared and ready to rock than when I created the materials myself. I especially enjoyed the fact that it just wasn’t more paper curriculum, but instead Mark and I Skyped every week which helped me feel support and better understand the material. I’d recommend this to any church leader who is planning on taking a team to an international missions destination!

STMleader.com is a unique resource for all things short term missions. Anyone that is serious about intentional cross cultural ministry should consult with STMleader.com.

Mark has served with excellence! Training our staff to be able to better prepare short term missions trip leaders.

At first, planning an STM trip to Haiti in 2013 was a frightening task. I had such little experience, as did virtually all of my team. Our host in Haiti recommended STM Leader and it was by far the best decision we made for planning and training. There were so many "missions myths" debunked for us by our trainer. We ended up traveling and serving and simply loving the people with much greater confidence and understanding of what being missional is all about. I highly recommend STM Leader and will be using this resource for every STM trip our church runs.

Huge thanks to Mark and the STM team for preparing us to be the best team our hosts have ever received. I can't imagine a better way to prepare for all that waits for you and your team on the field. Mark helped us think about and prepare for so many elements of global engagement that we would have missed. From choosing a global partner, to send thank you cards to your host once you have returned...STM Leader will lead you step by step with skill, heart and expertise.

The training I've gotten for my upcoming year overseas has been very thought provoking and enlightening. I feel better equipped to handle the adventure awaiting me. Thank you STMleader.com!