Because I was already living in Thailand for two years before starting the global volunteer training program, I was curious to see if it would still be helpful to me, or more like just "going through the motions." It turns out it was an invaluable process, forcing me to articulate thoughts, feelings and reactions to my experiences, and also to identify areas I can still improve on...and it was a lot of fun!

The STM Network is a uniquely Canadian resource for all things short term missions. Any Canadian church that is serious about intentional and functional cross cultural ministry should consult with the STM Network.

Thanks again for the great Skype debrief meeting. Always so insightful to hear from others' experiences and the 'professionals'. I wanted to give each of you a HUMONGOUS thank you! I so, so appreciate all of your time, energy, answers to many questions, extra effort, patience, and more patience that you gave to make this possible. Our training really taught me a lot and I'm so grateful for all of you and everything you do. You guys are amazing...God bless you!

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!

Do we really need to go through all of this training?!? I found out we really do, thanks very much!

Going to another culture is difficult, frustrating, and has plenty of opportunity for harm. STM Network helps make you conscious of your mistakes, so that you hopefully don't repeat them.

While living and volunteering overseas I felt like I always had support. Whenever I needed to chat with Matt about issues that came up, he always made sure we connected as soon as possible. I felt that I was definitely a priority to them while I was away.

The trip was amazing and everything went well: traveling, accommodations, food, Honduras, the missionaries, the children, the piece of our hearts left there and the piece we brought back! Once again thank you for your training weekend with us; it was invaluable, it was a pivotal moment for the team and for the trip. Our team gelled and grew at the same time. I would recommend STM Network to anyone!

Matt, people not only had fun, but learned a lot too about themselves and short-term missions.  Always love your training style and how you keep it from being monotonous or boring...so thanks for coming.

Matt is hilarious and incredibly knowledgeable about missions work, and our training sessions always went for much longer than planned. His support while in the field was also awesome, talking me through the highs and the lows of the global volunteer experience.