Global evangelism / Communicating the Gospel in a pluralistic world

A 6-week online course taught for Nazarene Bible College students

"This class should be called Wake up to World Missions and Evangelism because it has made me feel as though I have just come out of a deep sleep." -- Rege C., NBC student

Course resources

• Course policies
  • "5 out of 7? That sounds like some kind of sports playoff series." Attendance policy -- The "5 out of 7" rule
  • "So, how much time am I gonna have to spend on this course anyway?" Time expectations
  • How do I apply for an Incomplete or "I" grade?
  • What if I cannot connect online? Solving technical connection problems
• Lectures
  • Week one: Biblical foundations
  • Week two: Missions history
  • Week three: Culture
  • Week four: Missionary strategy, part 1
  • Week five: Missionary strategy, part 2
  • Week six: Where Nazarenes fit in
• Biographies
  • Susan Fitkin
  • Wanda Knox
  • Harmon Schmelzenbach
• Helpful pages
  • Searchable PDF of Discovering Missions by Gailey and Culbertson
  • Concentric circles and iceberg models of culture
  • Surviving culture shock
  • Milestones to cross-cultural understanding
  • 10/40 Window map and explanation
  • Creative access countries
  • If all the world were just one village . . .
  • Missions slogans
  • Missions and holiness: booklet by Susan Fitkin
  • History of Nazarene Missions International
• Text of sections of Fred Parker's Mission to the World: A History of Missions in the Church of the Nazarene through 1985
  • Chapters 1 and 2, pages 15-35
  • Chapters 3 and 4, pages 36-68
  • Chapters 5 and 6, pages 69-103
• PowerPoint resources
  • Five epochs of global mission expansion
  • Donald McGavran and the Church Health and Growth Movement

Assignment instruction videos for this course

• Welcome to course
• Calculating grades
• Reading reflections
• Response posts
• End-of-Week reflections
• "All posts read" affirmation
• Sermon ideas
• Sermon illustration
• NMI Central evaluation
• My local church's global involvement
• Face-to-face mobilization
• Missionary interview
• Final exam

Course objectives

As a result of taking this course, students will be able to:

1. Outline a biblical rationale and the theological imperative for world evangelization
2. Identify and describe some key movements and individuals in the history of the global expansion of the Christian movement including those within one's own denomination
3. Articulate some of the problems and skills involved in the complexities of communicating the gospel cross-culturally, taking into account insights from applied anthropology
4. Give a biblical rationale for involvement in development and social change and outline ways the Church is involved at home and abroad.
5. List some basic components necessary for local congregations to be involved in the missionary task of the Church.
6. Explain the task yet to be accomplished and describe important trends and selected strategies being used in contemporary world mission outreach

"After everything I've learned in this class, I now feel prepared to emphasize the importance of global missions in my ministry. Growing up in the Nazarene church, I heard a lot about how important missions is, but not much about what to do if you're called to stay." -- Joy P., Nazarene Bible College student