Altoona, PA // S23
Spring 2023
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.Welcome
to Perspectives Altoona / Central PA - Spring 2023
You are invited to join us for a unique class of Christian
study and discipleship that will leave you going, "Wow! I get it! And I
get to be a part of it!"
Perspectives on the World Christian Movement will give you fresh eyes to
see God, His story, His world, and His heart. Come learn how He wants to
include YOU in His plans and purposes to bring all nations to Himself!
This 15-week class is designed to
equip the people of God for strategic participation in His plan to reach all
peoples, tribes, and nations. It presents the biblical, historical, cultural, and strategic aspects of fulfilling the
Great Commission:
- 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. See how it all fits together!
- Historical Lessons (6-9): Discover
your spiritual lineage as you learn Christian history is full of examples
of the immeasurable power of God as He makes His name known among the
nations. See how He is weaving His epic story!
- Cultural Lessons (10-11): The peoples of the
world come alive as we eventually see, through Christ Jesus, the
expressions of the New Testament church thriving among every nation,
tribe, people, and language. See how He uses all of us to reveal His
glory!
- Strategic Lessons (12-15): Find your place in
God's story. See the endless opportunities to help complete the Great
Commission!
Classes are offered each Sunday night from January through April and
will include lectures from 15 different live instructors (e.g. pastors,
professors, ministry experts), interactive learning experiences, and a great
closing celebration. If you need to miss a class, they are available remotely or by video. The weekly readings
include selections from 170 articles written by 150 authors such as John Piper,
John Stott, William Carey, and more. Optional homework assignments are specifically
designed to engage every aspect of a Christian’s life and encourage you in
utilizing YOUR unique abilities to obey the Great Commission both locally and
globally.
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Enrollment
options
Alumni state again and again how the course was worth the investment in
time and resources! If you don't agree, we'll give you a refund!
Key Reading Level: Prepare for great speakers and their
material with light reading. This level requires about 1-2 hours of reading
each week with five "what I'm learning" responses. COST $280 (minus discounts and scholarships).
Certificate Level: This is the recommended level for a
much richer experience. It involves weekly homework assignments, five
"Personal Reflections" and one group research project. This level requires about 3-4 hours of work per week. We encourage all students to start at this level. They can be transferred to Key Reading Level at any time. COST $280 (minus discounts and scholarships).
Credit Level: Undergraduate and graduate credit is available
through Excelsior University, which may be transferable to the school of your choice. Excelsior University offers
undergraduate college credit to high school students who take Perspectives. Perfect college prep for homeschoolers. COST $700-$750.
Discounts are available for early
registration/payment by Dec. 4, multiple family members, pastors, and more.
Scholarships are available for attendees through some area churches. Contact Patty Douglas or Terry Ruhl for additional information.
Select CLASS PRICING tab
on right for more details. Full refunds are available until Jan. 22 if you need to
change your plans. PAY
BEFORE DEC. 4 TO LOCK IN THE BEST RATE!
FIRST NIGHT FREE! Not sure? Register and join us for the first night for free
(January 15th). No commitment is necessary; invite your friends! Register using the "First Night Free" option under
CLASS PRICING, far right side. This will help us plan seating, snacks, and
materials.
Contact Patty Douglas ator text at 814-761-4821.
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Registration & Orientation
Kick Off
Registration & Orientation
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Instructor
Terry Ruhl
T Peoples Resource Network, Duncansville PA
Dr. Ruhl has filled many roles as a missions mobilizer while practicing as a full time family physician. He has served as a short term worker in Asia and Africa. He has devised missions curricula and taught in a number of locations. He was one of the founding board members of an innovative missions support network, focused on the T people.
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Date: Sunday, January 8, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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.
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Instructor
John and Margie Marsh
Leola PA
John and Margie teach and encourage both adults and children to live for the glory of God in all areas of life with a passion for all peoples of the world. They serve in partnership with UnveilinGLORY ministries, Volunteers in Missions with World Witness and ReadySetGo. They have travelled extensively teaching and training globally. John has an MDiv from Reformed Theological Seminary, Margie earned a post graduate degree in Mission Education from the same seminary, in addition to two previous Masters degrees. John and Margie have three grown children, three grandchildren and an extensive international family to which they are known as “mom and “dad”. b
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, January 15, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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.
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Instructor
Benjamin Marasco
Perspectives & Friendship Community Church, Washington PA
Benjamin serves as Perspectives' Area Team Leader for Western Pennsylvania and is Associate Pastor at Friendship Community Church (FCCWashPa.org) where he leads the youth and missions. His heart lies with catalyzing the younger generation to fulfill the Great Commission and live lives worthy of the Call.
Benjamin can frequently be found hunting and fishing with others, especially newbies. b
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, January 22, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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.
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Instructor
Lyn Newbrander
International Students, Inc., Philadelphia PA
Lyn has 25 years of overseas missions experience in Japan, The Netherlands, and Germany. Since 2013, she and her husband Tim have worked with international students from all over the world. Lyn's role is primarily at the University of Pennsylvania where she is a chaplain's associate. Over 70 nations have been represented in the Newbrander's home in Philadelphia. Lyn and Tim open their home and their hearts wide to students, many of whom consider them their family away from home. b
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, January 29, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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).
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Instructor
Dave Shive
Frontier Ventures (formerly US Center for World Mission), Catonsville MD
Dave Shive is a 1968 graduate of the Washington Bible College, a 1972 graduate of Capital Bible Seminary with a Th.M. in New Testament Studies, and a 1994 graduate of Baltimore Hebrew University with an M.A. in Biblical Literature. Dave has spent the past 47 years in full time ministry as a pastor, Christian school director, and college professor. He currently serves with Frontier Ventures (formerly the US Center for World Mission) as a missions mobilizer for the northeast region of the United States. Dave lives in Catonsville, MD, with Kathy, his wife of 52 years. Dave and Kathy have three married children, Dan, Mike, and Becky. They are also the proud grandparents of 9 grandsons and 2 granddaughters. b
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, February 5, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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.
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Instructor
Matt Geiger
DiscipleMakers, State College PA
Matt attended Penn State and studied architectural engineering with a desire to apply his education in overseas missions. After he had worked for a few years in Washington, D.C. as an engineer, God opened the door to campus ministry with DiscipleMakers. Matt has served there for 12 years, equipping students to a life of ministry and casting vision for taking the good news of Jesus where it has never been preached—indeed to the uttermost parts of the world. He lives in State College with his wife and three children. b
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, February 12, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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.
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Instructor
Richard Noble
Center for Missional Engagement, Pittsburgh PA
Rich is a husband and father who is committed to developing people, which is seen in his roles as missions mobilizer, college professor, pastor, and writer. Most importantly, he is on a journey of faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. He is passionately committed to missions and has been on many short-term ministry trips to various places in the world (mostly Eastern & Central Europe and Africa). He earned his Doctor of Ministry in Missions & Cross-Cultural Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 2004 and is the author of "On Mission Together: Integrating Missions into the Local Church". b
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, February 19, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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.
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Instructor
Lance Stoddart
Leadership Training International, Mars PA
I left a career in the US Coast Guard in 1994 to respond to the call to missionary service. Since that time, each transition has taken me into another role in missions mobilization. I've served four churches and four mission organizations. My prayer has been, "God, let me touch more nations and reach more unreached peoples through those I mobilize, train and send than I ever could have had I gone myself." Today, God is allowing me to fulfill that prayer as through Leadership Training International, as we mobilize and train leaders worldwide. b
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, February 26, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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.
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Instructor
Daryl Cyrus
Martinsburg Grace Brethren Church, Martinsburg PA
Pastor Daryl Cyrus Jr. has been Youth & Young Adult Pastor at MGBC since 2015. Previously he served as pastoral intern at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C. and as youth intern at Forest Baptist Church in Forest, Va. He earned his bachelors in Biblical studies from Liberty and is working on his masters in divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. His hometown is Suffolk, Va. b
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, March 5, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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.
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Instructor
John Pitterle
Advocates for the Unreached; Volunteer with Cafe 1040, State College PA
John is a Penn State grad and currently works at Penn State. John's family spent several months in South Africa and Namibia with YWAM. With the Assemblies of God, his family lived in Madagascar for four years as the Lord used them to help bring the story of Jesus (Book of Hope) to children and then to help start the first Malagasy study Bible. John has been on short-term trips to Ukraine (with YWAM), India (with Global Awakening), and Zambia twice (with Dynamis World Ministries). He is an author (http://AdvocatesForTheUnreached.com/ebook.pdf) and shares regarding the urgency to prioritize the unreached (http://AdvocatesForTheUnreached.com).
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, March 12, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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.
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Instructor
Ramy
State College PA
Ramy comes from a Christian family in the Middle East, but has lived in the U.S. for many years. He is in ministry in the Northeast, seeking to reach international students from the Middle East for Christ. b
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, March 19, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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.
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Instructor
Susan Patt
Frontier Ventures, Exton PA
Sue Patt has worked as a mobilizer for more than 40 years (since 1982) with Frontier Ventures, formerly the US Center for World Mission. She has served as a Perspectives Regional Director (13 years) and as the Perspectives National Program Director (7 years). Her current assignment is Chief Strategy Officer with FV. She has been developing deliberate friendships with Muslims since 1980, and Hindus since 2005. She is married to Fran Patt since 1986. They have 3 adult children and live in Exton, PA in the Philadelphia suburbs. b
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, March 26, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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.
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Instructor
Karen Stoufer
Christian Veterinary Mission, Wormleysburg PA
Dr. Karen Stoufer served with her family in Nepal for 13 years in rural community development, animal health training and women's empowerment with the United Mission to Nepal and World Concern/CVM. She returned to serve as Director of Training and Asia programs for Christian Veterinary Mission (CVM) based in Seattle WA. She has a special interest in Missionary Kids (TCKs) and fostering of refugee teens. b
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, April 2, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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.
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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. b
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, April 16, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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.
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Instructor
Steve Sanford
Ethnos360, Sanford FL
My wife Sharon and I served as Church Planters with Ethnos360 from 1993 to 2005 among the Joti people of Venezuela. We returned to the U.S. in 2006 after Ethnos360 was forced to leave all church planting works by the Venezuelan government. We have been serving in mobilization for Ethnos360 in Pennsylvania since our return. In November 2023 we will be moving to our home office in Sanford, FL to assume the role of Ethnos360 CEO. b
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, April 23, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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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.
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Instructor
Terry Ruhl
T Peoples Resource Network, Duncansville PA
Dr. Ruhl has filled many roles as a missions mobilizer while practicing as a full time family physician. He has served as a short term worker in Asia and Africa. He has devised missions curricula and taught in a number of locations. He was one of the founding board members of an innovative missions support network, focused on the T people. b
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Class Info
Date: Sunday, April 30, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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