140 Years of Jesus 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 t...

  1. Edinburgh Missionary Conference, 1910 Idaho Falls had at least one delegate attend the 1910 World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.   This was Rev. H. W. Jones, who reported on his experience at the Kendall Presbytery Women’s Missionary Society joint meeting held at the Idaho Falls Presbyterian Church on April 14, 1911. [1]   The Edinburgh Missionary Conference was energized by the watchword of the Protestant Missionary community of the time, “The Evangelization of the World in This Generation,” and hence was a landmark in the history of Christian missions. [2]   Rev. H. W. Jones was born in Wales, and pastored the Presbyterian Church in Idaho Falls from 1906 to 1912.   His ministry in Idaho Falls overlapped the ministry of another Rev. H. W. Jones in Idaho Falls. [3] 2. Layman’s Missionary Movement, 1910-1938 There are a few scattered references to the Layman’s Missionary Movement in Idaho Falls newspapers from 1910 to 1938.   This i...

  How has Jesus’ Great Commission motivated men and women who were called to Idaho Falls and sent from Idaho Falls to other nations?   How have pastors challenged the church in Idaho Falls to respond to Jesus’ Great Commission? The rich history of missions to Eagle Rock, Southeast Idaho and Idaho Falls began with Rebecca Mitchell. [1]   Soon after attending the first session of the Missionary Training School in Chicago the winter of 1880-1881, she came west to Eagle Rock and never returned to her home state of Illinois.   While she did not need to learn a new language or the ways of a foreign culture, she was an example of fulfilling a missionary calling in numerous other ways.   She sought the good of the community; she got to know people and families; she learned and wrote about the history of Eagle Rock and southeastern Idaho.   The people of Eagle Rock became her family and her home.   She saw the needs of Eagle Rock and Idaho and addressing thos...