Your Story, God’s Glory: Seeing the World Through God’s Global Story
Come hear the story Jesus told His followers on the road to Emmaus—a story unfolding for thousands of years throughout all of Scripture. It’s the true story of the risen Jesus bringing His life and love to every people, language, and land. When those first disciples heard it, their hearts blazed with hope.
In this seminar, Perspectives co-editor Steve Hawthorne will walk through that same story—from God’s promise to Abraham, to David's songs for the nations, to the sending of God's people. He'll show how God’s mission has always been about every people gladly giving Him glory in their own culture, creativity, and voice. You’ll see why small, self-focused hopes can’t compare to living to fulfill God’s great purpose. Expect your heart to be set on fire as you discover that God is giving you a place in the great story that will not fail to be fulfilled in every people and place.
Is Missions Still Good? Hearing from Global Leaders on Healthy Impact
Let’s be honest—missions has a complicated history. So is it still good today? In a generation asking hard questions about impact, power, and cultural humility, this seminar offers an honest and hopeful conversation with global Christian leaders who have seen missions done well. Through a live panel and Q&A, you’ll hear real stories of transformation and challenge from around the world—stories that show what happens when mission is done with love, wisdom, and partnership. Together, we’ll explore how to enter and leave a new culture in healthy, respectful ways, and what it means to share the gospel while honoring the people and place you’re called to. If you’re skeptical, curious, or committed to doing missions better, this conversation will offer clarity, courage, and next steps for faithful engagement.
How One Life of Obedience Sparked Thousands of Muslims to Follow Jesus
What can God do through the faithfulness of just one young adult? In this seminar, you’ll hear the story of how one step of obedience in Africa helped spark a movement where thousands of Muslims are now following Jesus. You’ll encounter the stories of five young adults who trusted God in risky and ordinary ways—and see how their obedience led to families and communities being transformed. Together, we’ll consider what it means to respond faithfully to God’s call in your own life. How might God be inviting you into a story like this?
Faith Under Persecution: Resilience and Witness from the Church in South Asia
"What does it look like to follow Jesus when your faith puts you at risk?
In this seminar, you’ll hear powerful stories from Christians in South Asia—where believers often face discrimination, pressure, and persecution for their faith. Their witness offers a stirring example of resilience, hope, and deep trust in God amidst adversity.
You’ll explore how the gospel shines in hard places, reflect on the cost of discipleship, and consider your own calling in light of global faithfulness. Whether you’re navigating challenges on campus or preparing for cross-cultural mission, this seminar invites you to learn from the global Church and take your next step with courage.
Science, Engineering, and God’s Global Mission
What if your degree in biology or engineering could be part of God’s global mission? Dr. Nicole Vander Schaaf and Dr. Michael Wade, STEM professors at Olivet Nazarene University, share how God led them to serve at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Papua New Guinea. From HPV testing to stormwater and air quality projects, their work meets real needs and opens doors for gospel witness. Whether you’re a student or early-career professional, this seminar will help you imagine how your technical skills could serve communities, advance justice, and become part of something much bigger than your career path alone.
Career or Mission? What If You Don’t Have to Choose?
Do you have to pick between a meaningful career and serving God’s mission? What if the gifts, training, and passions you already have are part of how God wants to use you in the world?
Many people assume that a call to missions means becoming a pastor or church-planter. But the Great Commission needs designers, engineers, entrepreneurs, healthcare workers, educators, and more. In this seminar, you’ll explore how your major and career path can be part of God’s global purposes—even if it doesn’t look like traditional ministry.
Through real-life stories and practical examples, you’ll learn the basics of Business as Mission (BAM), explore the biblical idea of tentmaking, and reflect on how your work might create opportunities to serve cross-culturally and build God’s kingdom. Whether you’re just starting to think about calling or wondering how to connect your career with global mission, this seminar will help you see new possibilities and take your next faithful step.
Developing Globally Welcoming Communities
How do we form communities that reflect God’s heart for the nations? This seminar explores what it takes to build vibrant campus groups that are globally diverse and missionally engaged. You’ll learn key characteristics of multinational communities, assess your current context, and discover practical next steps to move toward a more inclusive, Christ-centered witness.
The Calling Lab: Build Your Personalized Calling Map
Tired of trying to “find your calling” and ending up more confused? You’re not alone. This interactive workshop will flip the script on how we talk about calling—moving from pressure and paralysis to clarity and purpose. You’ll explore a fresh, backward-looking framework that helps you notice how God has already been at work in your story. It’s not a lecture. It’s a step-by-step lab, and you’ll walk away with a personalized map to help you name where God might be leading you next.
Called Now, Not Later: Gen Z’s Role in Global Mission
Tired of being told you’re too sensitive, too online, or too “deconstructed” to lead in missions? What if those very traits make you essential to what’s next?
This seminar is a space to reimagine the future of global mission—where Gen Z leads with creativity, justice, and conviction, and older generations offer wisdom and support. You’ll explore a strengths-based vision for your generation, get tools to bridge generational divides, and dream together about how to lead, serve, and shape mission today.
You don’t have to wait your turn. You’re called now.
Not Too Broken: Mental Health, Healing, and Mission
Can God use you if you’re still struggling? Absolutely. Led by Samuel Girguis, PsyD—licensed clinical psychologist with global experience in trauma care—this seminar offers a holistic vision of mission that cares for body, mind, relationships, and spirit. Dr. Girguis has served survivors of abuse and exploitation in Los Angeles, Cambodia, and the Philippines, and now focuses on refugee mental health among Syrian families in Lebanon. Through Scripture, psychology, and real-world ministry, you’ll see how mental health challenges aren’t disqualifiers but part of the redemption God is writing—equipping you to serve with wholeness and resilience wherever he calls. Whether you’re carrying wounds, supporting others, or preparing for cross-cultural service, you’ll discover how healing and mission go hand in hand—and how the God who sends also restores.
Reviving Mission: Living Out God’s Movement in Real Life
God’s mission isn’t just for pastors, missionaries, or “super-Christians”—it’s for you, right where you are. In this interactive seminar, you’ll learn the 4Es—Encounter, Explore, Empower, Establish—a simple, biblical framework for joining what God is already doing in your dorm, workplace, neighborhood, or friend group. Through Scripture, real-life stories, and practical tools, you’ll discover how to live with joy, purpose, and Spirit-led courage in the everyday moments that matter. Leave with a clear next step and the confidence that your ordinary life is part of God’s reviving mission.
Reaching the Rejected: God’s Heart for Neglected People Groups
Who are the people on your campus or in your city everyone avoids—but God loves deeply?
In this seminar, we’ll name the “Ninevehs” in our own lives and explore why they matter to God. Drawing on Jonah’s call, Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman, and modern movements in Malawi, you’ll hear how students have reached gang leaders, drug addicts, and others labeled as society’s rejects. Together, we’ll identify overlooked people groups in your context and share practical, tested approaches to engage them with humility, courage, and the hope of Christ. You’ll leave with fresh vision, practical ideas, and maybe a nudge from the Spirit toward the very people you’ve been avoiding.
God’s Heart for the Great City: Urban Mission in a Broken World
“Should I not care about that great city?” (Jonah 4:11). God’s question to Jonah still echoes today—especially in a world where cities hold both deep brokenness and incredible potential. In this seminar, scholar-practitioners Alexia Salvatierra, Dwight Radcliff, and Mary Glenn draw on years of ministry in urban contexts to help you imagine what faithful witness looks like in the heart of the city. You’ll explore how the church can engage urban communities with humility, hope, and sustained presence—and how urban communities can shape your theology, leadership, and calling. Through real stories, biblical insight, and tools like urban mapping, you’ll gain practical steps for serving and learning from the neighborhoods too often overlooked, yet deeply loved by God.
Borderless Calling: Why Global Displacement Is a Gen Z Mission Field
What if one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our time is also one of the greatest mission fields of our generation?
With over 120 million people displaced globally, mass migration isn’t just a political issue—it’s a gospel issue. In this seminar, leaders from World Relief (Myal Greene, Liliana Reza, and Daniel Yang) share how God is working through the Church in the midst of war, famine, and forced migration. You’ll hear stories of redemption, explore biblical foundations for global compassion, and discover how to step into this calling. Come ready to pray, learn, and find your place in God’s mission among refugees, migrants, and the globally displaced.
Made to Belong: Healing Communities for a Fractured World
In a world shaped by trauma, isolation, and burnout, what does it mean to follow Jesus with compassion—and build communities where people truly belong?
This seminar explores how wholistic discipleship includes emotional, spiritual, and relational healing. You’ll connect neuroscience with Scripture, explore trauma-informed principles, and reflect on how compassion can become a core part of mission and formation.
Led by Rev. Dr. Sanghoon Yoo, founder of The Faithful City and a national leader in trauma-informed community transformation, this session will challenge and equip you to create spaces of restoration and hope—starting in your own relationships, campus, and calling."
