“Please don’t post me to pastor in a rural area!” Such were the cries of many Anglican priests in one diocese of Nigeria, according to the bishop. Now they are insisting on being posted in rural areas.
What changed? Nigerians were awakening to God’s global purpose for every tribe and tongue to know, love, worship, and obey Him. They were becoming aware of the task remaining among unreached people groups, including those living in difficult rural areas. They were growing a willingness to sacrifice—no, more than that—a longing to be a part of ushering the nations to the feet of Jesus in worship.
What prompted this mind and heart transformation? The Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course came to this diocese in Nigeria. Perspectives began in Nigeria in 2002 with a vision of transforming church and mission strategies by educating leaders who influence others. Twenty years later, the results speak for themselves.
Perspectives has impacted many church networks in Nigeria, mobilizing over 14,000 leaders to embrace the mission of God, with a focus upon unreached people groups. Of the churches and agencies that have embraced Perspectives, many have also been drawn to the unity and collaboration of the Nigeria Evangelical Missions Association (NEMA). According to NEMA leadership, the membership of the association has grown in part because of the entrance of Perspectives into Nigeria.
Many stories could be told, but we will use the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)1 as an example. The Anglican Communion in Nigeria is possibly the largest in the world now. It comprises over 150 dioceses, has over 18 million members, and is led by archbishops, bishops, and thousands of parish priests. Perspectives has been welcomed by many of these leaders, including the metropolitan primate of the Church.
When a bishop welcomes Perspectives training to his diocese, numerous parish priests enroll in the course, sometimes at the directive of the bishop! As of 2024, over 1,600 Anglican leaders have received the transformative teachings of the Perspectives course.
One result is a focus on reaching the Muslim diaspora peoples that have relocated from the north of the country to the south. They have established numerous outreaches to the Fulani and Hausa peoples, among others. Many are coming to Christ. There are now churches and discipleship centers led by Muslim- background believers, who are leading their own peoples to the Lord. Beyond that, pastors are being appointed to the north to live amongst Muslim peoples, and not just in Nigeria; missionaries are also being sent into North Africa and the Middle East.2
Perspectives Nigeria is one of over 40 national Perspectives programs in nine languages around the world. As one of the oldest and most mature national programs outside of the US, it continues to instill great hope for the future of Perspectives in mobilizing God’s people into God’s purpose.
The impact of Perspectives over its 50-year history has been well documented. Awareness increases. Prayer increases. Sending increases. Going increases. Approximately half of the evangelical missionaries from the USA that currently serve overseas are Perspectives alumni. As Perspectives expands globally, we are seeing similar trends in other nations.
National Perspectives programs collaborate within the Perspectives Global Network, served by a small, distributed team called the Perspectives Global Service Office (PGSO). The PGSO and the Perspectives Curriculum Council together make up Perspectives Global, a ministry of Frontier Ventures.
Perspectives Global exists to support the establishment and growth of autonomous, yet interdependent, Perspectives study programs run by indigenous leadership that represent and serve a broad cross-section of the body of Christ in their country. National programs are autonomous, but covenant together around shared vision, values, protocols, and a core curriculum.
The objectives of the Perspectives Global Service Office are to model servant leadership, articulate guiding principles, train national leaders in starting programs, mentor program leaders through all phases of development, and facilitate communication and collaboration across the Perspectives Global Network.
Although it is not the only mission mobilization educational program, in many places Perspectives is the tip of the spear in expansive mission-sending to the unreached.
Perspectives Korea, another mature national program, was begun in 2000 with a focus upon college-age youth. Of the 35,000 alumni, over 20% serve at least one year in cross-cultural ministry. Even more noteworthy, the Perspectives course is one of the most significant forces shaping the mission strategy of the Korean church. It has had a great influence on the spread of the unreached peoples movement.
Across the globe in Brazil, mission agencies are asking Perspectives Brazil to slow down as they are producing more mission candidates than they can handle! Perspectives started in Brazil in 2009 when many mission leaders were discouraged, thinking the Brazilian church was losing its vision for sending missionaries. Over the past 15 years, they have graduated 22,000 alumni, including almost 4,000 pastors. The strategic emphasis of Perspectives Brazil on God being both a missionary God and a mobilizing God is sending scores of Brazilians to the mission fields, with a particular zeal for going to unreached people groups. The results have been documented by the Brazilian Association of Cross-Cultural Missions
(AMTB). Their 2022 research report revealed a threefold increase in missionaries sent, from 6,000 in 2006 to more than 18,000 today. In their 2017 report, they cited Perspectives as one of the key mobilization factors for the growth of Brazilian sending.3
From Africa to Asia to Latin America, Perspectives has influenced the formation of indigenous mission agencies sending out indigenous missionaries, supported by the indigenous church. The frontier mission vision of Perspectives has influenced the goals and strategies of national and regional mission networks. The priority of sending to unreached people groups is paramount in many of these agencies and networks.
Decades ago, Ralph Winter predicted that sending from the Majority World (or Global South) would overtake missionary sending from the Global North. They would be the new pioneers leading the way in the final frontiers of mission. That is today’s reality, and we in Perspectives Global are thrilled to be a part of it. To God be the glory!
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