Get a New Perspective on Missions
You are cordially invited to participate in God’s story. Is it not odd that our great God and Savior would give this world a multitude of languages and cultures and then give us the mandate to take the gospel to them all? Wouldn’t it be much easier if we all spoke the same language, read the same alphabet, and enjoyed the same type of BBQ?
Well, apparently God has a different plan about saving the world, and it includes His people. It has always included His people, both before the cross, and after. The mandate to take the good news to a dying world didn’t start with the Great Commission in Matthew 28, or Acts 1. God’s plan of salvation is first mentioned in Genesis 3:15 which states “He [the future Messiah] will bruise you [the serpent, Satan] on the head.”
Flip forward a few chapters to Genesis 11 and the Tower of Babel. The people of the world try to build a tower to the heavens, waterproofed with pitch, since Noah’s flood is in their recent past, and God disperses them across the world by confusing their language and instead giving them thousands of distinct languages and cultures. When God’s Word mentions “nations” or “peoples” or “families”, don’t think of our current geographic nations, but of these distinct cultures. How many distinct cultures do you think there are in the world? Keep reading!
Our God is a missionary God and always has been. In Genesis 12 we read about the covenant God made with Abram. “Now the Lord said to Abram …I will make you a great nation…so you shall be a blessing…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Yes ALL the distinct families, peoples, cultures of the world will be blessed through Abraham’s seed, Christ the Messiah, who has given the church the task to take this good new to them.
The Invitation: there has been a growing movement to finish the task of reaching every “nation” on the globe, and a great place to get threaded into this thrilling story is to take the Perspectives on the Christian World Movement course, being offered at 3 locations, January 13 through April 22. The two main locations to take the course are in South Austin on Sunday evenings and on the UT Campus on Monday evenings.
This course is offered around the world and is taught mostly by seasoned missionaries that have served on the field (you won’t want to miss hearing their incredible stories!). There will be fifteen instructors over the course of fifteen weeks. Austin is fortunate to routinely have some of the best teachers in the rotation across the country. This is not a course to make you feel guilty, but a course to educate you and to see where you might fit in by going, praying, giving, or strategizing. The course is broken into four areas related to missions: Biblical, Historical, Cultural, and Strategic.
There is a cost involved but the rewards far outweigh the cost of time, effort, and money. Financial help is available; so absolutely do not let the cost deter you. The course can be audited, or taken for graduate or undergraduate credit.
For more information, please check out Perspectives.org, pick up a brochure on the Information Table, speak to a Missions Committee member, or contact Eric Buescher. You can also check out one of the excellent promotional videos.
Oh, how many “nations”, or “people groups” in the world? According to the Joshua Project, there are 16,448 people groups of which 7,081 are still “unreached”, which represents 2.89 billion of the 6.92 billion people in the world (42%). We’re actually closing the gap fairly rapidly, but you’ll learn all about that when you take Perspectives.
Get threaded into God’s story!