Steven C. Hawthorne had to sneak his way into Urbana ‘76, a missions conference organized by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He was there only to hear the biblical exposition of John Stott. The conference was sold out, so he slept on a dormitory floor, ate out of vending machines, and paid his registration fee via the offering plate. The opening address of John Stott, “The Living God Is a Missionary God” (now chapter 1 of this book), surprised him because of the rich, biblical beauty of God’s purpose. The following day he listened to Ralph Winter present the strategic possibility of completing world evangelization. Before that moment, Hawthorne had only heard people say that we need to do more evangelism. It was the first time that he’d heard the idea of finishing evangelizing the entire world. He signed up that day for a correspondence course designed by Ralph Winter. The content of that course eventually became the Perspectives course.
While completing a master’s degree at Fuller Seminary’s School of World Mission, Hawthorne helped as an assistant for the Institute of International Studies. In 1981, along with others at the USCWM, he coedited the Perspectives Reader with Ralph Winter. Hawthorne worked in the early 1980s as executive editor of World Christian magazine. During those years he conceived and launched a series of teams that did ethnographic research to identify unreached peoples in world-class cities in Asia and the Middle East. He continued that work with Caleb Project, a student mission mobilization ministry.
In 2013, Hawthorne completed a PhD in biblical mission theology from the School of World Mission at Fuller Seminary. He now directs WayMakers, a mission and prayer mobilization ministry focused on increasing hope for Christ’s greater glory in a prayed-for world. He continues to write materials that help churches and mission agencies cultivate maturity in serving God’s purposes. He says of his writing and speaking, “I like to commit arson of the heart.”