The First Perspectives on the World Christian Movement Class in Idaho Falls
The first Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class held in Idaho Falls finished with a Celebration Night May 5, 2025 at Berean
Baptist Church, attended by a combined 77 students, class coordinators, class
volunteers, pastors and other guests. An
orientation to the class was held on January 6, 2025, followed by 15 Monday
night classes, all held at Born Again Christian Bookstore.
Usually abbreviated to just “Perspectives,” the course originated
in 1974 after an unusually large response at the triennial Urbana ’73 missions
conference. Since then it has spread
from that initial class at Wheaton College to regular classes on the campus of
the U.S. Center for World Mission[1]
in Pasadena, California to locations across the country and around the world. As of mid-2024, at estimated 300,000 students
world-wide had completed the course.[2]
The goal of the Perspectives course is to enable people to
understand God’s glorious purpose and the unique role He has designed for each
Christ-follower in making His Name known to the nations. The classes add strong vision and discipleship
components to a fifteen-lesson education course that explores different aspects
of God’s global purpose.
The roots of the Idaho Falls class are intertwined with a
couple, Brandon and Michelle Knobloch, members of SIM USA, a missions agency,
and currently living in Idaho Falls while preparing for overseas service. One requirement
of their preparation was to take the Perspectives class, which they did in 2024
via the online option. Even before
finishing the classes, Michelle became convinced that it would benefit many in
Idaho Falls and began telling friends about it. One of them challenged her to spearhead
bringing the in-person version of the class to Idaho Falls.
The next step was to attend a Coordinator’s Training Workshop,
which Brandon and Michelle did in June of 2024 in Twin Falls. They were joined
by Charles Barnes, who was familiar with the course because his wife Rachel had
taken it about 40 years ago at the US Center for World Mission and his
son David much more recently at the same location. In hearing what it takes to put on the course, Brandon,
Michelle and Charles were all skeptical it could happen in Idaho Falls, but
Tyler Pease, the Northwest Regional Director of Perspectives, encouraged us to
move forward and see what God would do.
Based on our initial budget projections, we planned to bring
in outside instructors for 5 classes and use videos for the remaining 10.
However when we reached our goal of 15 students registered and obtained some
welcome donations and student scholarships from local churches, we were able to
invite instructors for two more classes.
These instructors came from Tacoma, Seattle, 3 from the Denver area, Dallas and Draper,
Utah.
A Perspectives class can vary from 2.5 hours to 3 hours in
length, and as this was our first, we went with the shorter length. However we found it very difficult to include
all that we wanted in each class. The
instructors were given two 50-55 minute segments in each class, and the rest of the time was
filled with worship, prayer for the nations, activities and discussions to
reinforce the lessons. Another component
of Perspectives classes is having local guest speakers, and while we developed
a list of many we would have liked to invite, we found we had time for only
one, Omar Garcia, a missionary from Idaho Falls who had served in Chile and Turkey
but was in Idaho Falls during a transition period. Omar had actually helped pioneer and promote
the Perspectives class in Chile.
Our 15 students represented 8 different churches, 6 in Idaho
Falls plus 1 each in Ririe and Pocatello.
One of our students was from China and one from Mexico. Their ages
ranged from 17 to over 70 and occupations included pastor, college student,
translator, nurse, pastor’s wife, special needs services, State Department
employee, engineer, and former college professor and dean.
All students who take the course do a lot of reading; the
textbook, called the “Reader,” includes 170 articles from more than 150
theologians, pastors, mission scholars and practitioners. Our class was offered at two
levels, a “Key Reading” option and a “Certificate” option that involved more
reading and more assignments, including an integrative project of devising a
strategy for reaching an unreached people group. Four of our students opted for the Key
Reading level, nine completed all requirements for the Certificate level.
For a taste of the class, here are a few reflections from
the students:
The
idea of implanting the gospel within a society has really resonated with me.
Implanting the gospel into a community spreads out like yeast in dough. Just a
little bit can spread through the entire community. This results in whole
societies being transformed by faith in Christ. It has given me more confidence
in relationship being the avenue of sharing the gospel.
One
of the key ideas that stood out to me was the connection piece of God's glory
in mission work. My focus and driving force for outreach and evangelism was
impacted with realizing that the ultimate purpose of mission work is not just
about saving souls but about God receiving glory from all nations....Rather
than seeing missions as a human-driven effort, this lesson helped me see it as
a God-initiated movement … I will be focusing on the goal to reach unreached
people group moving forward.
This
lesson brought me hope and encouragement. The stats on the exponential growth
of believers in the last few decades was very encouraging. The new phase of
missions that the Spirit has energized: the world now going to the world was a
surprise to me. I did not realize that so much of the worldwide church had
matured to the point of engaging in the task.
As we reflect on this first Perspectives class in Idaho Falls,
we see God’s hand in bringing together the 6 members of the Coordinating Team and giving
us 15 students, and are very thankful to Him for the amazing times we had in classes
and for all that God did and will do in the lives of the students who were part
of the class.
If you are interested in being part of a future Perspectives
classes in Idaho Falls, as a student, on the coordinating team or as a
volunteer, contact PerspectivesIdahoFalls@gmail.com. For more about the Idaho Falls course, listen
to the two REV Radio broadcasts about Perspectives, accessible from https://therev.fm/journey-with-michelle/.
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