HORIZONS
see the need
Horizons is a missions discipleship program for AFES students and apprentices seeking to discern their suitability for cross-cultural ministry. We send teams of participants from across our national fellowship who see, support and share in what God is doing globally!
Run over 6 months, the program includes pre-trip training, an overseas cross-cultural exposure trip, and debriefing and deliberation about potential next steps upon return. We partner with 10 mission agencies that host our teams and provide us with trainers, mentors, and front-line workers to visit and learn from.
Get connected
Discern your part
Whether you are certain you want to reach the lost of the world, or still figuring out how you may fit into God’s global gospel plans, Horizons is an opportunity to live out mission and learn alongside like-minded people. You’ll meet and learn from missionaries with long-term cross-cultural experience, be exposed to life and ministry in another place, and be challenged by the gospel needs around the world.
We have three teams planned for 2026:
- Jun/Jul – Southern Europe
- Dec – South East Asia
- Dec – Madagascar
To express interest, talk to your campus staff worker and then email [email protected]
Get in touchWhat makes Horizons Different?
Not a short-term mission trip
Horizons is a 6-month online program centred on discipleship and discerning suitability for cross-cultural ministry, not just ‘doing mission.’
National framework
Participants join a team from across AFES campuses, learning from each other as they journey together.
Exposure and experience
Overseas exposure gives real insight into what missionary life and ministry involve, under the guidance of experienced mission partners.
Structured training & mentorship
Pre-trip training, on-field mentoring, and post-trip debriefing help participants grow spiritually and practically.
Partnered with mission agencies
Horizons connects students with a variety of mission agencies, offering diverse perspectives, frontline experience, and specialised guidance.
Horizons is a great way to be exposed to the need for the real Jesus, challenge boldness in the gospel, and think through next steps in mission. It has grown my desire to serve God in a way that glorifies him with a humble heart.
Horizons is a program where you can really learn about and be convicted of God’s global mission (and your place in it) in a structured, supported, and immersive community with other like-minded believers in Christ. Seeing God’s people worship in a different way really brought home how all kinds of people from all places can worship the same God, and how all peoples need to hear about him.
You won’t really get what it’s like to live as a Christian elsewhere, and what being less resourced really means, until you go! I now understand more tangibly that global mission is hard but that the gospel really does transform people’s lives in remarkable ways, no matter what culture or what part of the world you’re from.
Here are
some Qs we get
asked a lot.
Horizons is a missions discipleship program for AFES students and apprentices seeking to discern their suitability for cross-cultural ministry.
Horizons is coordinated by the AFES Global Missions team based in the AFES National Office. We partner with 10 mission agencies that host our teams and provide us with trainers, mentors, and front-line workers to visit and learn from.
Horizons is open to committed Christians who are members of an AFES group and who are seriously considering their suitability for cross-cultural ministry or missionary service. We heavily advise speaking with your staff worker first before applying.
In service of the AFES vision, Horizons was developed to help double the number offering themselves as missionaries to serve the nations with the gospel. Horizons aims to provide hands-on cross-cultural experience, personal and spiritual growth, and a chance to explore opportunities to serve in relationship with missionaries and agencies whose vast experiences we learn from.
Horizons is an online program run in connection with a network of in-person mentors. We run all our training remotely with participants from across the country who meet with experienced missions mentors local to them. We then gather together in person before the overseas trip departure (either a team day for mid-year or at NTE for end-of-year teams).
The program’s costs depend on the location of the overseas trip. Costs vary from AUD $2,000–$5,000, covering flights, accommodation, meals, and activities. Fundraising is heavily encouraged, and a scholarship is available for successful applicants.