Insight for Living Ministries is committed to excellence in following Jesus’ Great Commission to “go and make disciples of all the nations.” We plan to broaden our borders with the message of God’s majesty, the authenticity of His Word, and the power of the cross, woven into a tapestry of God’s amazing grace, in all 195 countries of our world. We will pursue this goal by modeling the life of Christ and mentoring disciples through the Charles R. Swindoll Searching the Scriptures International Training Center, our daily broadcasts delivered in all languages worldwide via the latest technologies, translations of our published resources, and international pastoral internships.
Vision 195 is the mission that God has given us for all generations.
Since 1979, Insight for Living Ministries has faithfully broadcast God’s Word. Our goal has never changed: to teach the study and application of the Scriptures wherever the Lord opens doors. With this firm foundation, we are pursuing a bold vision to reach all 195 countries so that lives will be transformed as individuals hear the gospel, receive God’s amazing grace, and learn to become spiritually self-sustaining disciples.
In 1959, Chuck Swindoll began his training for ministry at Dallas Theological Seminary. His studies included a course taught by Dr. Howard G. Hendricks on how to study the Scriptures and deliver messages with applications that touch the heart. Together with mentoring by Dr. Hendricks, this course changed Chuck’s life.
Chuck has explained that method of study and delivery in the message series Searching the Scriptures. This series is for anyone who wants to learn how to
- observe the text of Scripture,
- probe the meaning of Scripture,
- compare the truths of Scripture, and
- apply the wisdom of Scripture.
Chuck’s related book, Searching the Scriptures: Find the Nourishment Your Soul Needs, teaches readers to use this method on their own and includes STS studies at the end of each chapter. This course of study will be the centerpiece of Vision 195.
To support this vision’s aggressive international outreach, we will establish the Charles R. Swindoll International Training Center at our international headquarters in Frisco, Texas. Here, we will train national and international students, pastors, leaders, and interns to follow the Searching the Scriptures method and to teach others to do the same. Many of those trained here will become Insight for Living Ministries translators and pastors within their countries.
In addition to this primary center, we plan to establish training centers in each country. Under the direction of Insight for Living International Ministries, each center will be led by our trained translators and pastors. These trained individuals will work with indigenous groups who already have the Scriptures in their heart languages. Leaders trained at each center will, in turn, train and mentor other pastors to use our translated resources within their own indigenous people groups. In every country, with respect for each culture, we will model the proper use of Scripture and mentor new disciples to live out God’s Word.
Amazingly, there are approximately 6,875 heart languages in our world, and the Scriptures become available in more languages every year through Wycliffe Bible Translators! As new translations are completed, Wycliffe delivers them in print and through an app that is available worldwide. This will sometimes open the door for the book Searching the Scriptures to be translated for that language group. When that happens, Searching the Scriptures will become the “textbook” used within that group to disciple brand-new believers and train pastors to study and deliver God’s Truth to their congregations.
As Wycliffe continues adding new translations to their app, anyone anywhere in the world will have access, at any time, to God’s Word in his or her own heart language! And by God’s grace, as we continue our work, disciples will be made in every nation and every language!
Vision 195 seems overwhelming, until we remember that Jesus’ disciples “turned the world upside down” in the first century — without worldwide technology! With the same tenacious, vigorous spirit of those first-century disciples and the generous financial support of our partners, Insight for Living Ministries will pursue Jesus’ nonnegotiable Great Commission. One day at a time, we will cultivate biblical knowledge and application worldwide by following the Lord through each door He opens . . . just as He has faithfully done since 1979.
This is an audacious vision! But we serve a sovereign God who has commissioned us with an unconditional promise: “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20, emphasis added).
Vision 195
Enlarging the Tapestry of God’s Amazing Grace in 195 Countries
is an audacious vision, but we serve a sovereign God who specializes in impossibilities.
For the last few years, Cynthia and I have focused our attention on building Insight for Living Ministries’ legacy, which we base on Matthew 28:19–20: “Make disciples of all the nations . . . . Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (NLT). Will you join us in this all-important legacy?
—Chuck Swindoll