Igniting Discipleship

GEM wants to ignite discipleship movements in 50 cities over the next five years (Click here for more info). Discipleship multiplication training is essential to that vision in order for our GEM staff, our European national ministry partners and our North American church partners to be making disciples that make disciples.

(Learn more about DMT)

In the last 12 months, discipleship multiplication training that began with GEM’s Europe-based leaders and a handful of their European partners in Basel, Switzerland, has spread training all of our field staff at a conference in Poland. Then we had the chance to begin training our North American church partners at our first DMT conference in Wheaton, Illinois with 250 people from across the US late last fall.

Next, our team in Ireland hosted a DMT event in Dublin this spring to bring even more European ministry partners in contact with the principles of discipleship multiplication. A similar event is coming up early this fall in Prague.

Now GEM is planning two regional DMT events for late this summer in Denver, Colorado and in Houston, Texas. If you’d like to receive an invitation to one of our North American events, click here. And for specific information about our events, click here.

The team at eDOT is excitedly creating a website that will foster online community and ongoing education for all the people that go through the various DMT training courses. What an opportunity to be a Christian in Europe on the verge of revival!

 

GEM and the London Olympics

For two years Greater Europe Mission has been laying the ground work in preparation to reach the athletes, coaches, fans, and people of England. Now, over 300 people in over 22 teams are converging on England to put those plans in action.

With such a huge undertaking communication is vital. That is why eDOT has put together GEMStory12.com. This is a communication portal where teams can record their stories, share their prayer requests, and stay in community with other believers as they look for what Jesus would have them do in, through, and around the Olympics. Please prayerfully read this website and look for what the Lord would have you join through prayer.

Had I already been in Germany, I would have been a part of creating this site. I can’t wait to be part of these types of projects, multiplying the efforts of God’s servants through technology!

Mobile Outreach Centers

I (Jeff) am really excited that one of my projects with eDOT will be helping to establish Mobile Outreach Centers (MOC). A MOC is a mobile computer lab that is designed to be used to teach basic computer classes. These MOCs are typically given to ministries that reach high unemployment areas where computer skills equal job opportunities. While the ministry is teaching these skills, the door opens to share Jesus through God’s love lived out.

There is one such MOC is entrusted to John, a GEM missionary in Zaporozhye, Ukraine. This MOC has been up and running for a few years now. John sets it up at a New Hope Center which is operated by New Hope Church, a church plant. The orphanage system in Ukraine will only help kids 14-years-old and younger. So when an orphan turns 15 they are on their own. The MOC at this community center is being used to give these teenagers the skills they need to support themselves and thereby shield them from prostitution and other forms of crime and human trafficking.

New Hope Church offers many classes that range from cooking to managing a dairy, and they were trying to become an accredited trade school, but were getting caught up in red tape. Once the Ukrainian powers-that-be discovered that they offered computer classes, they cut through the politics to accredit their first course (Ukraine is trying to become the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe). Now that this course has broken the ice, it will make it easier to get other classes accredited. They are now on their way to official and full trade school status, and God used a humble little MOC to forge the way! I can’t wait to be a part of how God is changing lives in Europe and calling people to Himself through simple people using their skills to further His kingdom!

Turkish Billboards

Turkish Billboard

The billboard above asks, in Turkish, “What if what we grew up believing isn’t true?” If you were in Istanbul, Turkey, this past May you might have seen this billboard while waiting for a train or while riding a bus.  In partnership with Bible Correspondence Course, Turkey (bccturkey.org), GemStone Media (GEM’s media ministry), and eDOT (the team Jeff is joining) helped produce this outreach campaign which was placed in 42 bus and subway locations throughout Istanbul.

The purpose of the outreach was to get people to go online and start conversations with Turkish Christians about Jesus.  The Muslim world is very curious about Jesus right now, so the timing is perfect!

Here’s the techy part: To get people to move from just seeing another billboard to having a meaningful conversation about Jesus online with Turkish Christians, we included a QR code (square barcodes that can act as a URL for smartphones), a SMS/Text message code, and, of course, the URL to the website (www.gercekne.com).  All of the contact information collected by these three avenues was stored in one central database.  Through this database, the Turkish Christians can follow-up with the many people that responded and they can keep track of their many conversations. With this tool everyone that follows up can know the history of the conversation and where they are on the discipleship spectrum.  This helps better move the conversation toward a decision and allows for more balanced discipleship.

Originally, the campaign was supposed to last 4 weeks, but opposition shortened it to three weeks. Even still, in three weeks a significant number of people responded via the three contact methods!  We can’t relay the specific statistics here, but if you request them directly we can send them to you.

Although Christianity is legal in this predominantly Muslim country, it’s very difficult to show your faith in any anti-Christian culture let alone a violently anti-Christian one.  We’re proud of our Turkish brothers and sisters at Bible Correspondence Course in Turkey who had the courage to dream up and execute this wonderful campaign.  Through them and to God’s glory, there were people exposed to the Gospel that otherwise wouldn’t have been!  Pray that the Lord would water the seeds that they planted.

Man Texting

We have been asked by some other groups that are working with Turkish immigrants outside of Turkey about what it would take to do this in their cities. God willing, we’ll try again!

Status

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In our conversations with potential Armor-Bearers, we’ve met a few that would rather give toward more tangible than just a monthly gift into a lump sum. If that’s you then we have the perfect tangible need!

In June we hope to attend a five week training seminar with Missionary Training International (MTI). This excellent program is divided into two sessions: SPLICE and PILAT. These two programs are designed to make us more effective when we get to Germany.

SPLICE is a three-week, pre-departure program that is designed to help new missionaries and their families develop the practical skills and attitudes that will successfully take them through the challenging and rewarding process of being interwoven with another culture. Read more.

PILAT is a two week program. Its name stands for Program In Language Acquisition Techniques. The logic is compelling and the facts are undeniable. If you must learn another language in order to be an effective cross-cultural messenger of the gospel, you need to be empowered to do so. Quality training makes the difference. Zeal and good intentions are not enough. Read more.

This training course includes room and board for the whole five weeks and there is a special version of each customized for the kids. So this training will prepare all four of us to live in Germany! The cost of this training, $10,638, is included in our Launch Fund. Our Launch Fund is the lump sum we need before we can go. It will pay for the expenses surrounding three key areas: moving costs, household setup costs, and language and cultural training costs. If you are inclined to invest in a one-time gift towards this endeavor, please click here.