Perspectives on the World Christian Movement

There are two parts to the History Section.
The first is the History of the USCWM (below)
and the other is the history of Perspectives in Houston.

The Story of the U.S. Center for World Mission
By Greg Parsons

Before the U.S. Center for World Mission was established, God was moving in the hearts of Ralph and Roberta Winter.

While teaching other missionaries, the Winters gained keen insight into the task of world evangelization. They realized that even if every Christian in the world witnessed to everyone in his or her own culture, only half of the world's population would hear the gospel. Because of barriers of culture and language, the rest of the world was sealed off from the Gospel in people groups without a viable, indigenous, evangelizing church.

To establish a church among every Unreached People group is the driving vision and burden of the U.S. Center for World Mission. As the Center was getting started, many other ministries were formed along the way.

Even before the Center began, the need to make mission resources more available led to the founding of the William Carey Library Publishers. Because of WCL, valuable mission books, tapes, and videos are published and distributed no matter what the quantity.

In 1974, the Institute of International Studies arose out of a need not only to train people as missionaries but also to provide an intensive foundation on what is happening in the world and what needs to happen. Now called the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, with over 33,000 alumni in the U.S. and Canada, the course covers information crucial to any person interested in God's global purposes.

Building on these ministries, the Winters took a radical step by founding the U.S. Center for World Mission in 1976 in a few rented offices on the 35-acre campus of Pasadena Nazarene College. Their purpose was to pull people together to concentrate on the plight of the Unreached Peoples. To most effectively fulfill this purpose the U.S. Center went on to purchase the campus which was up for sale at that time. They had little financial backing but a great dream of a unique, missionary center. The money came in miraculous ways, primarily through small gifts of individual Christians around the country. The final payment for the campus was made in 1988.

Harassed for 11 years by huge property payments, the U.S. Center for World Mission nevertheless concentrated on spreading the vision for the unreached. The financial struggles themselves became a soapbox from which to proclaim the vision. The Center hoped to motivate thousands who could then build a movement that would bring tens of thousands in touch with God's heart for the unreached. The teamwork and prayer of the staff and thousands around the country helped to thrust this movement forward, building a network that is yet to be fully utilized.

The efforts to establish the U.S. Center have also led to the development of a wide-ranging movement to the frontiers of mission that now involves thousands of people and hundreds of missions organizations. The U.S. Center now seeks to serve this growing movement with resources, information, and strategic insights that can help the movement grow and effectively reach all the unreached peoples. We invite you to join us in this task

The Vision of the U.S. Center

Missionaries do all kinds of good things, but the truly unique task of missions is not "winning more souls." We will always have the job of evangelism. Neither is it social involvement. Life and culture will always be under attack. The unique task of missions is to work for a viable church among every tribe, tongue, and nation on the earth.

Until we are sure there is a strong church movement within every one of the people groups, this basic part of our task is not finished.

Yes, until a people group has a rugged, believing fellowship within its culture, it is unfair to expect very many individuals to make a truly meaningful decision about Christ and His claims. Until individuals in every group can see how their "new life" relates to their culture--as it has in thousand of others throughout history--they will not feel comfortable or have the fellowship necessary to be reproductive followers of Christ.

That is why the U.S. Center for World Mission exists. We realize there are many other good things Christians can do to further the spread of the Gospel and confront the sin of today. But we believe that the greatest need in our day is to have Biblical disciple-makers inside every people group. (Matthew 28:19-20).

That's why many of us at the USCWM are "staying home" specifically to mobilize the resources for the unfinished task. We are working together conjunction with many other ministries all over the world-asking God to call out people from His church to focus on the unreached peoples of the world.

Understanding the monumental task of reaching the unreached reveals how crucial it is for some people to "stay home."


	From Ralph and Roberta Winter

Here at the U.S. Center you will find many wonderful people that God has led to come and help us mobilize for the unreached peoples-what we call the "frontiers".

Surprisingly, mobilization for missions is just as important as field mission work, and is always a larger activity. The fields will suffer if for every missionary on the field there are not at least four people at home who are equally dedicated and hard at work keeping mission vision alive and focused on the remaining task.
Roberta and I would be back on the field if we were not convinced-that the biggest task is that of extending mission vision to the American Church. Right now only two percent of the people in our congregations have that vision.

That's right. Only two percent of the American congregations is alive in any very meaningful sense to "Declaring His Glory among the Nations."

If you are wondering what would be the most powerful impact your life could have in the Cause of Christ, you may do well to consider the mission task a cause and not merely a possible "career" for you.

If it is just a career you seek, you may not stop to think about the overall cause and where your life could make the most significant contribution. If it is the cause, the completion of the task that must be considered. Then the decision to be a follower of Christ becomes much more complicated-and exciting!

Someone has observed that "God cannot lead you on the basis of facts you do not have." Is it possible that a period of internship at the Center could give you the missing data? Here you can hear daily about the incredible things God is doing throughout the world and where you might fit in most strategically. Come and see.