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Pickerington, OH S21    Spring 2021
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You were Made For More!

Come and be "ruined for the ordinary," and catch God's heart 

for the nations and for your part in His story!


REGISTER TODAY!


What is Perspectives on the World Christian Movement?

God uses ordinary people to bring glory to His name. Perspectives is a discipleship course

that reveals God's heart to be worshiped by all nations, and how we can be part of HIS purpose -
whether overseas, at home, or in our community.


Details:

Classes will be held weekly on Tuesdays, 6:30-9:15 pm., January 12 - April 20, 2021,
at Grace Fellowship - The Chapel, 575 Diley Road, Pickeringto
n, Ohio.

The course will include lectures by national and local ministry experts from across the United States and Ohio,
interactive learning experiences, and creative demonstrations.
Homework assignments are specifically designed
to engage every aspect of a Christian’s life and to encourage students to see how they can utilize their own unique abilities
to advance the Kingdom locally, nationally, and internationally. 

  • Biblical Lessons (1-5): The Word of God is revealed with striking clarity as Perspectives illuminates God's unchanging promises as they unfold from Genesis to Revelation.
  • Historical Lessons (6-9): Discover your spiritual lineage as you learn Christian history is wrought with the immeasurable power of God, as He makes His name known among the nations.
  • Cultural Lessons (10-11): The peoples of the world come alive as we see, through Christ Jesus, expressions of the New Testament church being planted among nations, tribes, peoples and languages.
  • Strategic Lessons (12-15): Find your place in God's story, as there are endless opportunities to help complete the Great Commission.

Take the course at the level that best suits you:

Key Reading Level:  Attend classes, read 15-20 pages each week, and complete five journal responses (reflections on what you are learning) throughout the semester. (Cost: $220)

Certificate Level:  Attend classes, read 30-40 pages each week, 10 homework questions weekly, five journal responses (reflections on what you are learning), and a final project (5-page paper). (Cost: $220)

College Credit Earn three undergraduate or graduate credits for roughly 3-5 hours of reading and homework per week. Includes a mid term and final exam, plus a final paper. (Cost: $520)

Alumni:  Perspectives alumni may attend class at a reduced price.


The Reader and Study Guide are not included in the price. 

The class coordinator will contact registered students with details
on purchasing books at the special, discount rate ($30.00, plus shipping).


Whether you are a student, homemaker, a professional or retired,
Perspectives will bless and challenge your life.



REGISTER TODAY!

Class Info

Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

Location: Grace Fellowship - The Chapel 575 Diley Rd. Pickerington OH 43147

Contact: Graig A. Pellman

(614) 861-5234

 
    • Instructor


    • Lesson 1

      The Living God is a Missionary God

      God's purpose is three-fold: against evil—kingdom victory; for the nations—redemption and blessing; and for God—global glory in worship. God's purpose revealed in promise to Abraham. Exploring God's purpose for the nations: Blessing to the nations described.

    • Instructor

      Robert Blincoe

      Frontiers, Mesa AZ

      Bob led a Frontiers team into northern Iraq following the first Gulf War in 1991. He is president emeritus of Frontiers USA, living in Phoenix. He has a Ph.D. in History from William Carey International University in Pasadena. He has twice lost on television game shows. He blogs at robertblincoe.blog.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

    • Lesson 2

      The Story of His Glory

      Exploring God's purpose for Himself: How God has been steadily unfolding a plan throughout all nations and generations to bring about His greater glory, ultimately drawing to Himself the worship of all the peoples. Passion and prayer for God's glory.

    • Instructor

      Brian Hogan

      Disciple Making Mentors, Fayetteville AR

      Brian and Louise Hogan have served in mission since 1987. From the Navajo Tribe to Outer Mongolia, their passion has been to see Jesus glorified and lifted up among those who have never known Him. From 1993-1996 their team pioneered a church planting movement in Erdenet (AIR-DUH-NET), Mongolia that continues to grow under fully indigenous leadership to this day. Their Mongolian disciples are now training and sending out their own missionaries to other unreached people groups. The story of the work in Erdenet can be read in Brian’s book: There’s a Sheep in my Bathtub (Asteroidea Books), and in the case study article – “Distant Thunder: Mongols Follow the Khan of Khans” – on page 695 of your Perspectives Reader.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, January 19, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

    • Lesson 3

      Your Kingdom Come

      Exploring God's purpose regarding evil: How God has accomplished a defeat of evil powers in order to open a season of history in which the nations can freely follow Christ. The kingdom of God as the destiny of all history. Christ's mission seeks a hindering of evil to bring about a sign of the coming peace of the kingdom of God. Our prayers contend with evil in order to bring about the transformation of society with Christ's kingdom in view.

    • Instructor

      Paco Amador

      New Life Community Church, Chicago IL

      Paco Amador is pastor of New Life Community Church in the Little Village community on Chicago's west side. Paco has served as a missionary, a public school teacher, and is currently a pastor at the mexican immigrant of Little Village. He and his wife, Sylvia, have seven children and live in Chicago.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

    • Lesson 4

      Mandate for the Nations

      Jesus shows great strategic interest in Gentiles; wise strategic focus by initiating a global mission on a few disciples among the Hebrew people. The Great Commission and the ways of God's sending in relational power. Dealing with the ideas of pluralism (all religions the same) and universalism (all persons saved).

    • Instructor

      Bob Sjogren

      UnveilinGLORY, Mechanicsville VA

      Bob Sjogren (pronounced show - gren) is the president of UNVEILINGLORY, a ministry awakening the Church to new awareness of God's glory in all areas of life, and to seeing His glory go to all the world's peoples. Bob has been mobilizing the Body of Christ to reveal God's greatest glory through reaching all ethnic groups with the gospel. He and his wife Debby have written homeschool Bible curricula. And in 2021, Bob launched a YouTube Channel called, "Maturing The Bride." Bob and Debby live in Richmond, VA.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

    • Lesson 5

      Unleashing the Gospel

      The first followers of Jesus: obedient in costly, foundational ways. The climactic act of the book of Acts is the freeing of the gospel to be followed by Gentiles without Jewish traditions as a requirement. A foundational act of God which speaks to the situations where the gospel is hindered today. Strategic suffering and apostolic passion.

    • Instructor

      Andy Sieberhagen

      Heritage Christian Church, Westerville OH

      Andy Sieberhagen joined the pastoral staff of Heritage in June of 2009 as our Missions Pastor. Andy studied for four years at Baptist Theological College of South Africa, and he has served as a full-time student pastor and associate pastor at a Baptist church in South Africa. He spent 14 years doing church planting among muslims in Central Asia as well as working with Church planters in Africa. Andy is currently one of the lead Pastors at Heritage Christian Church .Andy brings a wealth of personal experience in overseas missions along with a big heart to reach the ends of the earth with the good news of Jesus! He and his wife, Lynn, have two beautiful daughters, Stephanie and Rebecca.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

    • Lesson 6

      The Expansion of the Christian Movement

      The story of God's purpose continues relentlessly from Abraham's day until the present moment. An overview of the largest and the longest-running movement ever in history—the world Christian movement. How the gospel surged through the peoples and places of the world. Important insights for our own day.

    • Instructor

      Elizabeth Himsworth

      Columbus OH

      Beth, her husband James and young children lived in the Northern Brazilian Amazon region for 6 years. Her focus was on meeting the felt need of people in indigenous villages – medical and dental clinics – and Bible study and training for discipleship. Another dozen years were spent in Southern Brazil and International ministry focused on leadership development and discipleship with World Team. In 1995, she started a discipleship network – writing a four-year training curriculum and raising up a dozen national workers. This network continues today in its fourth generation of training groups. Among other projects, Beth developed a 2 weekend Seminar to train pastors how to develop their own adult education for their churches and ministries. Her current focus is on personal discipleship in the local church context and teaching parenting classes to equip young parents in the discipleship of their children.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, February 16, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

    • Lesson 7

      Eras of Mission History

      The greatest explosion of growth ever has taken place in last 200 years in three "bursts" of activity. Why we could be in the final era of missions. The global harvest force comprised increasingly of non-Western missionaries.

    • Instructor

      Dan Green

      , Columbus OH

      Dan Green has been the Pastor of Global Witness at Grace Polaris Church in Westerville, OH, since 1999. After growing up on a farm in Indiana, Dan pursued a career in agronomy at Purdue, and then studied soil chemistry at The Ohio State University. It was there that Dan met The Living God and became impassioned for the lives of internationals. After further study at Columbia International University, Dan and his wife Nancy headed to Brazil, where they were involved in church planting with Encompass World Partners for 15 years.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, February 23, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

    • Lesson 8

      Pioneers of the World Christian Movement

      Today we anchor the race by continuing what others have begun. It's a day of finishing. All the more reason to learn the wisdom and the heart of ordinary people who did extraordinary things in earlier generations. Reading the writings of William Carey and other leaders to discern what these people have left to us. Exploring the contribution of women in missions throughout the centuries.

    • Instructor

      Barbara Yandell

      Hope for the Nations, Round Rock TX

      President Hope for the Nations, director of Engage Course and teacher at Horizons International, ordained minister and board member of the Alliance of Reformed Churches, Interserve USA, founder of Legacy Muslim Ministry conference.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, March 2, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

    • Lesson 9

      The Task Remaining

      God's pressed His purpose forward until the present hour of amazing opportunity. Understanding the concept of "unreached peoples" to assess the remaining task. Recognizing the imbalance of mission resources shapes strategic priorities. The basic minimal missiological achievement in every people group opens the way for working with God against every kind of evil so that the gospel of the kingdom is declared and displayed with clarity and power. The need and opportunity of urban mission.

    • Instructor

      David Mann

      Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, Columbus OH

      Dave Mann has been Pastor for Mission and Internationals at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church in Columbus, Ohio since March 2015. With his wife Pam, he has served for more than 20 years in Cameroon, Haiti, and Morocco. Having worked in multiple languages, they enjoy helping other internationals improve their ability in English. Pam and Dave have four adult children and five grandchildren.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

    • Lesson 10

      How Shall They Hear?

      Culture and intercultural communication of the gospel. Communicating the gospel with relevance at the worldview level helps avoid syncretism (blending of cultural error with God?s truth) and also enables powerful movements of the gospel. Sensitive missionaries will look for ways that God has preserved or prepared people to hear the gospel, often finding redemptive analogies for God's truth.

    • Instructor

      James Cha

      Crescent Project, Leesburg VA

      Rev. James Cha was born in Korea, but grew up here in the US. He studied electrical engineering at Cornell University, and worked ten years as an engineer. In 2000 he and his wife, Faith, took their 3 kids to Central Asia, where they served ten years as church planting missionaries with Pioneers. They are now back in the US reaching out to the Muslims in the Washington, DC area. James & Faith are Washington DC Area Coordinators for Crescent Project. They also direct ESL ministry in Leesburg, VA. They have three adult children and one grandchild. James recently published a book about their missions journey - Fear Not: Living a Life of No Regrets. Available on amazon.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, March 16, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

    • Lesson 11

      Building Bridges of Love

      The incarnation as a model of missionary humility. How missionaries can enter appropriate roles in order to form relationships of trust and respect to develop a sense of belonging, and thus to communicate with credibility for understanding. Explore the intricacy of identification in another culture. Explore the even greater complexity of presenting identity with integrity in a globalized, terrorized, pluralized world. Recognizing the dynamics of social structure in order to initiate growing movements of ongoing communication throughout the society.

    • Instructor

      Mary Smith

      Columbus OH



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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

    • Lesson 12

      Christian Community Development

      A survey of world need. Dynamic balance of evangelism and social action. Hope for significant transformation as a sign of Christ's Lordship by Christian community development. Exploring the charge that missionaries destroy instead of serve cultures. Healing the wounds of the world between the peoples.

    • Instructor

      Joe Showalter

      Rosedale International, Columbus OH

      Joe Showalter is president of Rosedale International in Columbus, OH. RI sends workers globally to make disciples and plant churches, giving priority to people groups who have been isolated from the gospel. Joe and his wife Janice are the founding leaders of the multicultural Columbus Network of Microchurches.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

    • Lesson 13

      The Spontaneous Multiplication of Churches

      Look beyond institutional features of churches to understand churches as dynamic movements of Christ Himself being followed. Such a view of churches as organic, living things opens up the practicality of seeing them multiply rapidly as movements and also flourish in society bearing the fruit of social transformation. Churches as counter-communities, acting as salt and light, bringing change to their cultures. How movements multiply by connecting with entire families and larger social structures.

    • Instructor

      John Harrison

      Encompass World Partners, Atlanta GA

      John was born and raised in a small town in Northern Michigan. At Cedarville University he met Katelyn. They married in 2009 and after her graduation they left for South Korea. Working as ESL teachers and being heavily involved in their local church gave them an appreciation and understanding of cross-cultural ministry. In 2015 John completed his MBA from Liberty University. After six and a half years overseas, John, Katelyn, and their three children returned to the States. The Harrisons live in Clarkston, GA; one of the most diverse places in the US. John enjoys spending time with his family and tinkering with building projects in his spare time.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, April 6, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

    • Lesson 14

      Pioneer Church Planting

      The hope of planting churches among unreached peoples. How the breakthrough of the gospel in an unreached people requires that the gospel be "de-Westernized". The difference of contextualizing the message, the messenger and the movement. Distinguish and appreciate people movements, church planting movements and insider movements.

    • Instructor

      Bryan

      Free Methodist World Missions, Saginaw MI



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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, April 13, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

    • Lesson 15

      World Christian Discipleship

      What it means to integrate life for Christ's global purpose as a "'World Christian". Into the great story for His glory: a Person-driven life as a way of. pursuing a purpose-driven life. The basic practices of world Christians: going, sending, welcoming and mobilizing. The essential disciplines of World Christian discipleship: community, giving, praying and learning. Simplifying your lifestyle as if in "war-time". Exploring the practical ways of pursuing God's purpose. Business and mission. Short-term mission. Welcoming international visitors. Wisdom in working with local churches and in partnership with Christians in different parts of the world.

    • Instructor

      Richard Mendola

      International Friendships, Upper Arlington OH

      Rich was born in Buffalo, NY, the grandson of immigrants from Italy who settled in Western, NY. His mother and father were both raised in the Italian section of the city. Although he was raised in a religious family who attended church, he did not personally know Christ until he was 17 years old. Prior to that, the death of his father at age 13 triggered a search for meaning and truth. This eventually led to studying the Bible, where he discovered that the true purpose of life was to worship and serve God. Through reading the New Testament he learned that Jesus Christ made it possible to come to God because of His sacrificial death for sins. Immediately upon coming to know Jesus, Rich had the strong desire to let others know the good news. Rich attended Colgate University in New York State where he majored in Biology and minored in Education and Philosophy and Religion. After his graduation, he had the first opportunity to pastor and was called to serve a rural congregation . At the same time he served on the Dean’s staff at Colgate University as the Director of Housing. In addition, he studied for a Master’s degree in counseling. In 1979 Rich and Janet attended.the Urbana Mission Conference. There Rich sensed a call to full time cross-cultural ministry. In 1980 he began to work full-time with international students in Buffalo, NY. At the same time, Janet attended medical school at SUNY Buffalo. In 1987 they moved to Athens, Ohio to open a new ministry to international students while Janet fulfilled her obligation to the National Health Service Corp – a program placing physicians in shortage areas. In 1991, Rich and Janet moved to Columbus, Ohio to work with International Friendships. Since 1998 he has served as the Executive Director. He also leads Bible studies and does 1-1 discipleship with students. He has written several Bible studies for internationals. He has served as the Chairperson for the Association of Christians Ministering to Internationals. Rich has also helped to plant two churches. He currently serves as lead pastor for All Nations Christian Fellowship. During Rich’s 29 years of service among internationals hundreds have come to know Jesus and many have returned as effective witnesses of Jesus among their own people. The kingdom of God is advancing among Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and atheists because of the ministry to internationals. Jesus can share many wonderful and dramatic stories of God’s work among internationals. Rich is a regular speaker at missions conferences, evangelistic outreaches, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement and is a lecturer at Vineyard Leadership Institute. Rich and Janet have 6 children: Grace, Danielle, Hope, Philip, Melody, and Paul. Rich’s interests are: Evangelism, Discipleship, trips, chess, and hats. Rich’s spiritual gifts are leadership, exhortation, and evangelism.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, April 20, 2021

      Time: 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM

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