Everything You Never Knew About Disciple Making Movements

What is a disciple-making movement (DMM)?

A disciple-making movement is a rapid and exponential increase in disciples making disciples. This movement spreads wide and deep to at least four generations and beyond. This means one disciple makes another disciple, etc. — to the fourth level. And disciples do this with many people and groups of people, who then learn to make disciples who also reproduce.

In the West, we often think about discipleship as one believer helping another “to know” some truths and get grounded in the Bible. However, disciple-making movements focus on teaching new believers “to obey” the Bible and make new disciples.

What is a church-planting movement (CPM)?

A common definition for a church-planting movement is, “A rapid and exponential increase of indigenous churches planting churches within a given people group or population segment.” (David Garrison, Church Planting Movements.) 

Others may say it includes a hundred churches that started in three years and goes four generations deep. This means one church has planted another, which has planted, etc. — to the fourth level.

No matter what, a church-planting movement is the Holy Spirit bringing spiritual awakening to a people group. Like a fast and powerful wave, it is out of our control, but it is definitely within God’s. While we recognize a church-planting movement as an act of God, we also recognize there are effective ways of doing ministry.

> Learn more about how you can start making disciples.

How are church-planting movements and disciple-making movements related?

While many workers focus on church-planting, the Bible never commands believers to start a church. Rather, believers are commanded to make disciples. In some ways, focusing on starting churches is like putting the cart before the horse. Our primary task as followers of Jesus is to make disciples. When we teach new disciples the values of the church, new churches will naturally begin.

The more simple something is, the more reproducible it is. The opposite is also true. The more complex, the less reproducible. When new disciples have a simple paradigm of church, they are more likely to form a church-planting movement. The converse is true as well.

Our strategy is to make disciples who make disciples who make disciples. We are also committed to an extremely simple and highly reproducible paradigm of church. So, we work toward and pray for disciple-making movements that lead to church-planting movements among diaspora unreached people groups.

Why church-planting movements?

Millions of people from unreached people groups live in New York City. Our missionary training programs are designed to teach participants the underlying ministry paradigms that lead to church-planting movements. We also train participants in the hands-on ministry skills and best practices that lead to church-planting movements. We’re not training missionaries to reach one person with the gospel – we’re training them to reach thousands.

In other words, we train our people to plant their first church so it can spontaneously reproduce itself within a people group. With over 52 unreached people groups in New York City, there is plenty of work to do! Our vision is to see disciple-making and church-planting movements happen among all the unreached people groups in international cities like New York and the 7,000 unreached people groups around the world

Our vision is to see disciples from among diaspora unreached groups eventually engage their families and friends in their home countries, starting organic and spontaneously reproducing churches in every nation

> Learn more about how we train disciples to make disciples.

Get Involved

Training is a crucial part of a disciple-making movement. One could say a disciple-making movement is a training movement. In many ways, we need to recover from our old way of thinking and relearn what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. We need to learn how to make disciples. 

Our 10-Month Equip Missionary Training is 100 percent focused on making disciples who make disciples. With coaches, mentors, and trainers to help you process your,  you will receive training to initiate a church-planting movement in an unreached people group in New York City. Join us in making disciples among the unreached people groups in the various diaspora communities around the US.

Our Summer Internship and Seed Weeks offer taste of this training. You will receive hands-on tools, skills, and experiences to take home and continue making disciples in your local community.

Are You Ready? Get Equipped

Check out our Equip Missionary Training Program. A ten-month church-planting and cross-cultural missionary training program in the culturally vibrant and diverse heart of New York City.

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