This course, Perspectives On The World Christian Movement developed by U. S. Center for World Mission (USCWM) is currently running in Aba, Abia State Nigeria. Thanks to God and my mentor Tim Olonade, the Executive Secretary of NEMA, I had another wonderful privilege of gathering with 120 Anglican Priests and some of their Bishops in a camp-like atmosphere to facilitate and engage a few ideas projected by this life transforming ministry tool. It is wonderful to watch the Anglican Communion in Nigeria embrace this course with such indescribable passion. They know where they are going.
Billy Graham said of this course, “There is no course of which I know that will inform, inspire and motivate Christians for world evangelization like Perspectives. It will stretch your mind, warm your heart, and stir your will.”
Pastor Mrs Aina of RCCG Lagos said, “Since I started attending conferences and courses…I have never attended one like this…with such depth, profound convictions and motivation.”
Perspectives is introduced as a course of vision – a vision that mobilizes and equips the people of God to live a life of passion and purpose as Jesus did. It is aimed at helping participants grasp a clearer understanding of God’s mission in the world so as to enable them make informed decisions about their strategic participation with Him in world evangelization.
This 15 lesson course insists that God has a ‘world-size’ 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 study program valuable and I dare to add, crucial for every Christian.
Carefully selected articles from over one hundred authors like the late Dr. Ralph D. Winter, Steve Hawthorne, John Piper, John Stott and a host of others make up the Perspectives Notebook. See these few ideas extracted from the Notebook.
“Understanding the promise God made to Abraham is indispensible to understanding the Bible and Christian mission. The whole of God’s purpose is encapsulated here.”
“The ultimate value of [our] salvation is not to be seen in what [we] are saved from, it is what [we] are saved for that really matters. People are saved to serve God in worship.”
“The only heroes who operate alone are figures of fiction. The stories of accomplishment and significance always unfold as stories of teamwork…. The only way to exchange the illusions of fame and self-importance for God-granted greatness and blessing is by working in partnership with others.”
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate not mission because God is ultimate not man.”
“World Christians are day-to-day disciples who Christ’s global cause has become the integrating, overriding priority for all that He is for them.”
“Obedience to the Great Commission has more consistently been poisoned by affluence than anything else. The antidote for affluence is reconsecration. Consecration is by definition “the setting apart of things for a holy use.”
I’m always awed and sometimes amused by the initial attitude of some participants towards this course, especially those who have been in ministry for a while. They come, wondering what new teachings or ideas this course has to offer. Their initial queries and even body language reveal a measure of indifference difficult to disregard. But ignorance is soon exposed and a fire ignited in their hearts as perspectives on familiar Bible stories and events from history are blended into one unfolding saga. Ordinary Sunday school stories suddenly mean more than simple lessons in righteousness, obedience and faith or their lack.
In Nigeria, the Perspectives Study Program is coordinated by Nigeria Evangelical Mission Association (NEMA). This Association exists like an umbrella body for mission’s thrusts in Nigeria, with a broad spectrum of membership from the core Evangelical Community, Mainline Denominations, Charismatic and Pentecostal Communities and Non and Inter Denominational Bodies. Serving as a networking and equipping para-church organization, NEMA strives to mobilize the Nigerian Church towards fulfilling its role in world evangelization.
I recommend this awesome ministry tool to you and your organization. If you’ve passed through this class at any time, please comment on your experience. If you are interested in the Perspectives Study Program in Nigeria, kindly express your intent via this email to the National Coordinator: pspnema@gmail.com
A few more classes are lined up for this year. Seize the opportunity. You’ll be glad you did. This is a course of vision, hope and passion. Engage!!
Kingdom Exploits With Uche 
Do you remember the young man here at Africa School of Missions who you helped with an assignment earlier this year? Sam took the Nations course – an 8-week intensive that included a lot of the material from Perspectives. It was offered as part of the year-long and 2-year master of missions course but also open to other missionaries who wanted an in-depth but short-term training. Sam has already been a very effective itinerant evangelist with a ministry blessed by God. When he finished the course he decided to leave school. “What more is there?” he said. “Now I have to go do what I’ve learned. Maybe later I can come back and get some more but now I have to go to the nations in my country that I have never spoken to.”
Tribal loyalty runs so deep – as you well know.
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