25 Years: Why It's Working In early January 1996, I walked in the door of a 10’ by 14’ room that was our first Global Disciples office. God had given me a vision, confirmed by other leaders. And four, soon to be five, of those leaders directed discipleship-mission training programs and had agreed to join our alliance. Their vision and passion were clear: To respond to the requests to make it possible for churches in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to equip and send their own disciple-makers—especially among unreached people. These charter members of the Global Disciples Alliance were committed to: • share freely any materials they developed, • fast and pray for each other one day a month, • invest in mentoring new program directors, • gather with all directors in the Alliance each year, • give 2% or more of their budget to multiply others. Today 25 years later, those five training programs in three countries have multiplied into 1,979 training programs in 62 countries, equipping local believers in discipleship-mission, small business development, and leadership. And each one makes those five commitments. We celebrate that in the last dozen years, we have seen 425,807 people come to faith in Christ and actively engage in 19,679 new fellowships. Most of those in least-reached areas. We are humbled Thanks to our Annual Sponsors 6 Global Disciples
and grateful; this is all for God’s glory! The secret of this fruitfulness, I believe, is in those five initial commitments, now expressed in so many wonderful, life-transforming ways. We share freely and strategically all that God has entrusted to us. We collaborate, not compete. We want all we do to be conceived, birthed, and carried out in prayer. Fasting and prayer to seek the heart and direction of our Heavenly Father is our passion. Global Staff 1997
We invest in the lives of others, seeking to model the way of Jesus, as our way of life. It’s about being real, humble, bold, and authentic as we mentor.
It’s so much about relationships. Without the unity of the Spirit, Global Disciples wouldn’t work. Our goal everywhere is to serve and empower others. Finally, as God is generous with us, we seek to be generous with others. Not to develop dependency but to multiply through healthy local sustainability and obeying Jesus! We praise the Lord for this, and say with Isaiah, “Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.”
Galen Burkholder, President/CEO Global Disciples
