The Power Of “Perspectives”

In Fall 2014 Covenant Life hosted a 15-week course called “Perspectives on the World Christian Movement.” Since it was first offered in 1974, “Perspectives” has given over 100,000 students in the U.S. a bigger and bolder vision of what God is doing in the world and how they can be part of his mission.

Over 90 students from Covenant Life and other area churches enrolled in the Fall 2014 course and more than 70 are currently participating in the Fall 2015 course. What’s the impact? Here’s how the course affected four of last year’s students.

Lisa Carr: Personal responsibility for missions wasn't even a dim flicker on my radar until recently. “Perspectives” provided me the opportunity to learn how the Light of the World planned to spread the Kingdom from the beginning of time through his people and how his faithful plan remains unchanged. My understanding of who God is and what His mission is was ripped open and the chasm created was stuffed full with His light. (Lisa participated on a short-term trip to Central Asia in Summer 2015 and plans to use her veterinary skills on a trip to Ethiopia in December.)

Marlana Titus: “Perspectives” turned out to be one of the biggest “Aha!” moments of my life.  I learned directly from Scripture how God has been a missionary God from the beginning, and that through history He has been inexorably driving His mission forward to reach all nations and peoples.  The class exposed me to fifteen different instructors—one each week—who gave breathtaking firsthand accounts of the gospel reaching people groups around the globe and here in the U.S.   Most significantly, I learned that I don’t have to relocate to another country (although I might some day!)—I can effectively be part of God’s mission plan right here in Gaithersburg. (Marlana participated on the Montgomery County “Stay At Home” missions trip in May and is now serving as Coordinator for the Fall 2015 “Perspectives” course.)

Dave Calderone: “Perspectives” changed my life from the heart up and the head down! God used it to captivate my heart and begin re-aligning my scattered desires with the great mission that has driven His heart through history—to reconcile mankind to Himself, and to gather those He has redeemed from every tribe, tongue and nation to worship at His throne through Christ.  In the head category, He persuaded my mind with this: while 2.7 billion of the world’s people reside in “unreached” people groups (those without a viable, indigenous and reproducing Christian witness), fewer than 10% of the church’s missionaries—and an even smaller percentage of its resources—are focused on reaching these people.  This transforms the Great Commission into our great priority, and I’m thrilled to see God working this change in us individually and corporately.  (After “Perspectives,” Dave and his wife Patty took a follow-up course called “Unreached Within Reach” and have joined a group formed from that class to encourage each other in ongoing outreach to internationals in our community.)

Corinne Glab: Growing up, I looked at missions as a quota I needed to fill as part of my spiritual life. It was like I had a bucket labeled "missions" that I needed to make sure I filled up each year. Perspectives helped me realize that missions is really the complete opposite of that. Being "on mission” for Christ means that every day you are living in a way where you can meet, love, and share Jesus with people around you. Missions can be scary and intimidating, but God loves to use weak people. When you simply focus on loving Him, the rest usually ends up figuring itself out. (Corinne served as team administrator for both Youth Missions trips to the Dominican Republic this summer and is now participating in the Missions Roundtable, a monthly meeting for Covenant Life members who are seriously exploring a long-term call to missions.)