My situation is a little different. It is lifelong, because I have chosen missions as a career path. This leads to the second question, which is often not asked directly: why is the training so long? Just as you would need some training to be an effective doctor or teacher, having training related to missions is important. Often, people think I am studying Portuguese there, but this is also not true (although I already speak it fairly well from growing up in Brazil). A language is best learned by immersion, being surrounded by a people group's language and culture. Thus, each missionary will get to his field and learn it's respective national language. After he is fluent in that, he will move into a tribe to learn their language and culture.
So what makes the training so long? There are various challenges on the road to planting a church among a tribal people. We have the opportunity to learn helpful tools from those who have been there. These tools equip us to learn a people's language and culture more quickly, to work effectively with other team members, and to live in a remote location. The goal is to present the gospel to the people clearly and to bring the believers to maturity so they, as a church, can function on their own and share their own faith.
So how long is the training? For me it is 3 regular semesters, so I will be graduating in December, Lord willing. After that, I will go into full time "partnership development", the support raising phase of my ministry. Once God provides the funds and prayer warriors to stand behind me, I will head off to Brazil. This is all subject to change, of course, since things don't always work as we anticipate. Still, it is exciting to be this close to heading out. Thank you for allowing God to use you to make this possible through your many prayers and financial support!