BARTLESVILLE, OKLAHOMA (ANS) -- Ever wondered what it is like to spend time in a refugee camp?

Now you can have that experience and gain valuable tools and knowledge on working in some of the world's hotspots, areas where there is war, disaster or persecution of Christian believers.

Strategic World Impact (SWI), a faith-based mission organization located in northeastern Oklahoma will hold its 10th Disaster Assistance Response Training (DART) Conference from June 14 to June 19, 2009 at Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Space is limited for this week-long event, so early registration is strongly encouraged.

This year’s theme will be “Kingdoms in Conflict,” and will address working in regions of war, political turmoil and significant refugee populations.

ANS Chief Reporter Michael Ireland undergoing landmine awareness training at a previous SWI DART Conference

Some of the course topics will include Trauma Counseling, Land Mine Awareness, Evangelism, Worldviews & Religions, Anti-Terrorism & Hostage Survival, Intercultural Communication, Missions Preparation and Understanding Islam.

“I believe the 2009 DART Conference will be our best ever,” says Kevin Turner, president and founder of Strategic World Impact, an international ministry committed to areas of war, disaster and Christian persecution.

“This event will provide one-of-a-kind training to missionaries, churches, NGOs, members of the military and anyone else planning to work in hostile or unstable regions of the world,” he adds.

Strategic World Impact’s conference has been lauded as one of the premier disaster training events in the country. In fact, a former DART instructor from the Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency found it to be one of the best civilian courses of its kind in the United States.

The training will also feature an overnight stay in a "refugee camp,” which will simulate conditions often faced in difficult environments. Attendees will camp overnight on a designated tract of land where they will receive training and also have a great opportunity to fellowship with others.

"The refugee camp is an important component to our conference,” Turner noted. “This field training is valuable because retention of information dramatically increases when it's learned through real-life application.”

Strategic World Impact’s DART conference is not exclusive to any particular groups or individuals and is open to anyone who wishes to attend.

To learn more, including cost and registration information, please visit www.swi.org  or call 877-TEAM-SWI (832-6794). You may also visit SWI’s Facebook page at http://tinyurl.com/swi-facebook .

** Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent of ANS, is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. Michael has traveled to Albania and the former Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany and the former Czechoslovakia, Israel,and Canada. He has reported for ANS from Jordan, China, Russia, Jamaica, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- Michael Ireland Media Missionary (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International.