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Searcy, AR // S21    Spring 2021
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***COVID-19 Notice: While we are currently planning for an in-person class, we are continually monitoring national, state, and local government guidelines for gatherings and will make adjustments as necessary based on those recommendations. In the event that these guidelines are not conducive to launching an in-person class, we will transition to a live virtual format until relevant restrictions are lifted.


15 Challenging Topics  |  15 World-Class Instructors  |  15 Life-Changing Weeks

God has a "world-sized" role for every Christian in His global purpose. Whether people go to distant countries or stay at home is a secondary issue. The primary issue is what most people are hungry to discover: vision to live a life of purpose. Discovering that vision makes this course valuable, and perhaps crucial, for any Christian.

Perspectives is a discipleship course that takes you through the Bible, back in time, and across the globe. A fantastic array of pastors, theologians, missiologists and mobilizers will challenge and inspire you as they help bring the course content to life with their personal experiences and expertise. You will join a community of believers as you journey together toward a better understanding who God is, what He is doing, and your role within that. Whether you are single, married, a student, a homemaker, a professional or retired, Perspectives will encourage and challenge you to live on purpose, with purpose.  


Still not sure? Grab a friend and visit the first class for FREE!




***Textbook Notice: Historically, course textbooks were included in the registration cost and ordered by the class coordinator. In this current COVID environment, textbooks will be ordered by the student. Upon registration, you will receive and email with instructions on how to order your books at a discounted rate. Current class pricing reflects this change in process. 

Class Info

Date: Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Location: Fellowship Bible Church 1009 E. Beebe Capps Expy. Searcy AR 72143

Contact: Shelby Wang

(479) 387-0205

 
    • 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

      Luke Hettinger

      Restore Counseling Services, Columbia MO

      When I was 24 I became the pastor of a small town church in Sumner, Iowa. It was there that God began to show my wife and I his heart for the nations through books, people, and Perspectives. Since that time we have had the incredible privilege to work as mobilizers, welcomers and even goers in a number of different contexts. Most recently my wife and I work as counselors and mentors to workers on and off the field through our counseling practice in Columbia, MO.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, January 19, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 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

      Ken Shackelford

      Lumenations, Searcy AR

      Ken Shackelford was in pastoral ministry for 14 years in California and Arkansas. He and his wife, Tanja and their family have lived long term and worked on the Tibetan Plateau in China and also in Albania. In 2018, Ken formed a new media-mobilization organization called Lumenations. In 2021, Ken and his family will be relocating to Tunisia where he will pastor the Sousse International Church.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 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

      Kyle Reno

      The Summit Church, Conway AR

      Kyle has been married to his amazing wife since June 2004 and they have two sons. Cooper & Able. In April 2014 he planted The Summit Church in Conway, Ar. By God's grace the church has many reached locally and mobilized globally.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 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

      Kevin Little

      Maumelle AR



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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 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

      Russell Kyzar

      Jackson TN

      Russell was a missionary for 28 years with the International Mission Board, SBC in Costa Rica, Russia, Cuba, and Czech Rep. He was involved in church planting, leadership training, strategy development, and field supervision. He retired with his wife, Melinda, to Jackson, TN. in 2020.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, February 16, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 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

      Nathaniel Allen

      Global Outfitters, Fayetteville AR

      Nathan Allen is the Global Missions pastor at New Heights Church in Fayetteville, AR and the Director of Global Outfitters. He has a Bachelors of Arts in History and political Science from the University of Arkansas. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Theological Studies from Reformed Theological Seminary.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, February 23, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 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

      Sundee Simmons

      Perspectives, Winter Park FL

      Sundee Simmons currently serves as Associate Director of Perspectives Global. Sundee has been serving the Perspectives program since 1991. She has served as a volunteer coordinator, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Director, East Coast Regional Administrator and the Director of Training for Perspectives USA before joining the Perspectives Global Team. Sundee Simmons is a wife and mother of 3 children, Nathan (1996), Emily (1998) and Julianna (2005). Her husband, Scott, is a ordained PCA Pastor serving Third Millennium Ministries as the Director of Instructor Relations.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, March 2, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 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

      Anna Darnell

      Perspectives, Conway AR

      Anna & her husband Brian are passionate about mobilizing God's people to engage fully in His plans & purposes. Whether locally or abroad, one of her greatest joys is helping others realize who God created them to be and coaching them as they take steps toward their specific role in fulfilling the Great Commission. Anna has served through Perspectives as a coordinator, instructor, area mentor and currently serves as the Perspectives Chief Training Officer and Acting Director of Instructor Development.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 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

      Justin Long

      Beyond, Garland TX

      Justin Long is a global missions researcher. He presently serves with ActBeyond as part of the Global Ephesus Initiative which seeks to send teams to start movements that cascade through whole People Clusters. As a researcher He maintains the Global District Survey (places to go), Movement Index, Movement Case Study archive, compiles People Cluster Forecasts, and edits The Long View weekly missions trends analysis. His website is http://www.justinlong.org.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, March 16, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 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

      Scott Ward

      Grand Avenue Baptist Church, Fort Smith AR

      Scott Ward is the mission pastor at Grand Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Prior to this position, he and his family served in Tanzania with the International Mission Board starting churches among an unreached, Muslim people group. He has been married to Jennifer for 25 years and has 4 boys: 3 biological and their last one adopted three years ago from Korea.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 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

      Gene Daniels

      Fruitful Practice Research, Jacksonville AR

      Gene Daniels has a passion to spread the fame of Jesus in the Muslim world, something he and his family have been involved in since 1997, first as church planters in Central Asia and now as a mission researcher. Daniels has his doctorate in Religious Studies from the University of South Africa. He is also the author of several books and dozens of articles on mission. (Gene Daniels is a pseudonym)

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, April 6, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 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

      Cliff Peters

      Paraclete Mission Group, Siloam Springs AR

      Cliff is a tinker for Jesus and loves to work on gadgets in his workshop that could be useful in developing countries. He has been a missionary for over 20 years, most recently with Paraclete Mission Group, and is now retired but continues to volunteer with Paraclete and other organizations. He enjoys teaching Christian community development to missionaries, national workers, and Perspectives students as he has opportunity. He lives in NW Arkansas with his wife of 40 years, and has four children and three grandchildren.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, April 13, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 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

      Pam Arlund

      All Nations, Kansas City MO

      Pam is currently the Co-Editor of Perspectives 5th Edition and a member of All Nations. She lived in Central Asia for ten years, where she planted churches among three people groups, two of whom are Muslim. She earned an MA and PhD in Linguistics (i.e. Bible Translation) from the University of Texas at Arlington. She has published numerous books and articles in missions. She is most well known as “The Stick Figure Lady” for her popular book “Stick Figures Save the World.”

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, April 20, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 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

      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, April 27, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 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

      Courtney Joseph

      Pioneers, Orlando FL

      Courtney Joseph developed a heart for the unreached during her years in college. While studying Public Health, she learned about God’s heart for the nations and upon graduation, spent a summer with long-term workers in East Africa. After sensing His leading towards long-term ministry, her life’s trajectory shifted. She spent a year working in the public health field before joining Pioneers. Motivated by Luke 10:2, she has spent the last two years working for in mobilization with a heart to see more laborers sent to do church planting among unreached people groups.

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    • Class Info

      Date: Tuesday, May 4, 2021

      Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM

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