20th Anniversary Report

Celebrating 20 Years of God’s Blessing

Middleton Report August 1989 to 2009

Dear Friends & Ministry Partners,

“The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24 st

On August 1 1989 Dynamic Churches International began with the vision “to have

were enough witnessing disciples to share the Good News of the Gospel with every person on earth. To do this the local church had to be the equipping center in each community.

DCI Was Born! I prayed for God to show us what we must do and He gave the vision to do what we are doing today – although it has been clarified and developed over the years – the vision and strategy have changed very little. John Dueck and Eldon Babcock shared a common

sufficient trainers equipped and helping Pastors and Christian leaders develop enough dynamic disciplemaking churches to reach each community in every country of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.” We have many to thank for this vision of being a part of fulfilling the Great Commission. Certainly our years with Campus Crusade for Christ (now Power to Change) and specifically the passion and vision of Dr. Bill Bright to strategically plan to reach the whole world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Also Rev. Al Broom of Church Dynamics in California who had developed a strategy to equip Church leaders. His insights helped us greatly as we put together our resources and wrote the Oneto-One Discipling materials. While participating in Jesus film projects in Mexico and Brazil we became increasingly aware of the need to equip the churches to follow-up those who received Christ as their Savior.

The Vision for DCI was Born in Mexico City. Having shown the Jesus film and seen thousands of people receive Christ, I looked out over the city as far as I could see, (which wasn’t far because of the terrible smog), and knowing that there were 20 million people in Mexico City at that time, I thought, “How many times would we have to send teams to do this in order to reach them all”. It seemed like a daunting task even if they stopped having any more babies – which was not likely to happen!

vision so we agreed to begin DCI together. I resigned from Campus Crusade for Christ on July 15 and we planned to begin DCI on August 1, 1989.

God Will Do It!! On July 27, Mary and I were in Saskatchewan and when we returned home there was a note on the door to call our son Mark no matter how late it was. He indeed had bad news for us! Our daughter Joan and her husband Earl had been in a serious motorcycle accident in the mountains. By the time we arrived home they had both been flown by helicopter ambulance to an Edmonton hospital, were in ICU and were being treated for multiple injuries and broken bones. At one point we were not sure Earl would pull through. They were in the hospital for several months and it was a very difficult time for them! It was also a difficult time for Mary and me and a very challenging time to launch a new ministry. In it all God made it very clear that this ministry was not going to be something that we would do – but could only be what God would do! Dave and Sheila Hunt joined the team and John, Eldon and Dave helped develop the discipleship and training materials. These too have changed over the years as we have grown in our understanding of how to serve the church and help them make more and better disciples.

International Opportunities! There had to be a Better Way! I had a growing conviction that we needed to take God’s command seriously to make disciples who would make disciples until there

Even before we had anything but a vision and a plan God opened up 2 international opportunities. John and I shared the vision with Fred Magbanua the director of Far East Broadcasting in the Philippines. He said, “You must

come and help us!” We also got an invitation to go to India with Herb Reinhardt who was a missionary in India for many years. We traveled to both countries in January of 1991. In India we recruited Rev. Dr. I.G. Sundararajan to be our DCI representative there. He had been a disciple of Herb Reinhardt. Within one year after that we were able to travel back to the Southern Philippines where we recruited Jing Estrella as our Philippine Director. Both of these men have continued to serve faithfully with us and we consider it a privilege to work with them.

Expanding the Ministry: Over the years we have set goals and each time God has exceeded our goals. But it has often been met with opposition from the enemy! For example in 1992, when I was about to head to the Philippines to establish the DCI ministry there, John’s wife Gladdie Mae was in a serious accident. It was hard to go but we felt we should send Satan a message that we trust God and we would not be intimidated. In 1993 when we were heading off to launch DCI in Latin America, Sheila Hunt collapsed on the kitchen floor. It was discovered that she had a brain tumor and would need an operation. I have always been impressed with the determination of our team to keep moving forward no matter what – so we did! By the way Joan, Gladdie Mae and Sheila are all doing fine and they know that it was God who brought them through!! And so the story goes – and so the ministry grows! As we now look back over these 20 years we marvel at the grace of God! He opens the doors and we simply walk in knowing that whatever happens will be because He did it and so we find it easy to give Him all the glory!!

Family: I am thankful for the wonderful partner that Mary has been to me. She has served God with such passion and commitment to the vision that God called us to accomplish. She has put in many long hours and kept the administrative details in order. I simply could not have done it without her!! Our children have also encouraged us and stood by us even though it meant us moving away from them when we went to the U.S. for 5 years. We have grown spiritually as a family, because when you have to depend totally on God for your existence you get to know Him and learn from experience that He is totally trustworthy! We have also grown in numbers. 20 years ago Mary and I had 3 married children and 3 grandchildren. Today we have 8 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. What a joy it has been to see them grow and each have learned to put their trust in God as their Savior and the Lord of their lives. Joan and the twins, Reggie and Robert will be in Peru from August 10-25 on a mission trip – please pray for them!!

Faithful Leaders: I am thankful to God for all who have led DCI to where it is today. For those who have served on the Board: John Dueck Eldon Babcock Dave Hunt Brian Dunning Bill Wong Guy Bonnier And also those who are our present Board Members: Larry Kolskog Ron Nelson Peter Jarman Sig Schuster Wayne Jorstad Through their wise and steady counsel they have moved DCI towards the vision that God so clearly gave us. They have been such a blessing and encouragement to me.

Have We Made a Difference? We all want to believe that our lives are making a difference and that we are making the world a better place. The following are what some of the DCI Staff and Pastors have reported to us:

Thaddee Lombe, DCI Lubumbashi. D.R. Congo. Dear Brother Al, I still don’t know how much to thank you for your ministry. Since I met with you my way of serving God has changed. I had 22 years of ministry before I met with you. The church you were in when you were in the Congo was started 17-11-1993 but still I never experienced what I am seeing today, with DCI methods-although it takes some time-still the growth is Just Explosive. I was having 2 churches planted in the city since 1993, but now we are planning to have more for next year. When the leaders become the coaches, more Life Groups will be established all over the city and we will use the opportunity to plant more churches with the Explosive Growth disciple-making process. Our church has doubled within 8 months. As I met with you and understood your vision, and applied the DCI Disciple-Making strategies, our church became a living testimony in the city, so thank you brother for your ministry. While I was in Namibia for a month training pastors there, my associate pastor continued to apply DCI Disciple-Making strategies while I was away and he baptized 25 new souls, I am very grateful for that, to God be the glory and honor. May God continue to bless you more and more.

Pastor Deonarayan: I am Pastor Deonarayan I work under the Leadership Training Centre as an Evangelist. I am so thankful to God and DCI for changing my entire life. I am now a new person in Christ. My family, my neighbours, my friends and all my villagers think that I am a new Deonarayan. It is because of attending DCI training and applying its teaching to my life. Without any delay, I started giving training from DCI curriculum to my church members and it is impacting the total community now. If you ask me about my previous life, I am so ashamed of how I lived earlier. I was a big problem to my family and friends. I was quarrelsome and loved to fight with others. No body trusted me because of what I was.

Evangelist Yongkhon:

Praise the Lord! I am Yongkhon from the state of Arunachal Pradesh in North Eastern India. My State government passed Anti

Conversion Bill a few years ago. Many believers are being persecuted and many churches have been burned down. I am married and blessed with 2 children. Two years ago I went to LTC Siliguri for training. I and my class mates were taught DCI curriculum. I was so inspired and challenged by the course which was taught by Moala Kashung. I could not wait to go to the non believers and reach them through DCI. Soon after my graduation I joined an organization where I could not fully get opportunity to exercise what I learned because I was put in office work. I immediately resigned from it and went to Arunachal Pradesh which borders on Myanmar and started door to door evangelism. Amidst persecution, I and my 2 other friends have started 7 house fellowships through DCI. I am also translating DCI to Tangsa language which is spoken even in Eastern Myanmar as well as in certain parts of Arunachal. Please pray for me.

In addition to training and serving the churches in their city or country, over the 20 years we have taken trips to:

You Have Been a Vital Part of all that has been Accomplished! Without your prayers and your generous support we would never have been able to see God do such amazing things. We have always considered you as our partners. Now we can praise Him together for what He has done!!

Are We There Yet? No Not Yet! Like children traveling to a favorite destination they will often ask, “Are we there yet?” We too are anxiously anticipating the arrival at our destination – The fulfillment of the Great Commission! But we still have a long way to go. The following is what we trust God will do as we work with and through many other organizations:

A Window to the Future of Dynamic Churches International:   

Canadian Cities Other Countries Total Ministry Trips

Al 30 82 112

Other Staff 26 = 32 = 58 =

Total 56 114 170

Today the ministry of Dynamic Churches International is serving in 30 countries on 5 continents and with part or all of our discipleship and leader training materials translated into 35 languages. We are grateful to God for the faithful people that He has brought to our ministry - 47 who would consider themselves DCI Staff and another 132 who are trainers. Often they are volunteers with us and many serve in other organizations but are using the DCI strategy and materials to equip Pastors, Church Planters and Church leaders within their own ministry. Thousands of Churches have been planted through these organizations with our DCI model.

Our Website: Thank you to Jim Klaas and John Ringness who set up all of our English discipleship and training materials on the website. There are also some of the French and Spanish materials as well. Check it out at: www.dynamicchurches.org We plan to have all of our materials in all languages available for anyone to download. This will be a lot of work!

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Goals for 2009/2010:     

10 New Countries 5 New Languages 15 New Staff 200 New Trainers Our Financial Goal would be to increase from $190,000 to $370,000 annually.

If Each Year for the Next 10 Years: Each DCI Staff recruited and trained One New Staff Each Trainer Recruited and trained One New Trainer Each Trained Church Trained or Planted Two Other Churches We could accomplish the following goals!

Goals for the end of 2018:       

Countries and Regions Translations Books Printed DCI Staff DCI Trainers Participating Churches Estimated Budget

313 3,828 590,490,000 15,360 51,200 17,714,700 $118,870,859

Results: 

National DCI Representatives: We are so grateful for the National DCI Staff and Trainers who have modeled Discipleship and trained thousands of Pastors, Church Planters and Church Leaders. There is no way for us to know how many lives have been changed, how many churches have been planted and the impact that has been made on existing churches and on communities all over the world!

To Reach the World with the Gospel of Christ…  We must Reach each Country To Reach each Country…  We must Reach each City To Reach each City…  We must Reach each Community Each Church must Reach it’s own Community We Need Enough Churches to Reach Every Person in Every Community in Each Country

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By Networking with Other Ministries we could establish DCI in every Country Millions of Churches could be Planted Millions of People could Receive Christ and become Disciples and Disciple-Makers Neighborhoods Reached Cities Reached Nations Reached Great Commission Fulfilled!

Transforming Communities:

Global Trainers:

Communities will be transformed when individual lives are changed by the Love of God and the Power of the Holy Spirit. As many people receive Christ as their Savior and become disciples of Christ, they will live like Christ in all aspects of their lives! By doing deeds of kindness they will demonstrate the Love of God. They will transform the Physical, Social, Emotional, Educational, Environmental and the Spiritual aspects of their community - as Jesus would do!

We will need thousands of National Staff and Trainers to be equipped to train the churches in each country. We are looking for people who would be interested in joining us as we move forward into the future that God has planned for us. If you are interested in being trained to travel into other countries to equip National Leaders then contact me. I would be pleased to talk with you!

Prayer Partners: We will know the Great Commission has been Fulfilled when the Community has been Transformed!!

Financial Strategy:  

Raise $25,000,000 and place in a Trust (It may build over several years). . Invest $25,000,000 in safe yet high yield investments so it will multiply to produce $120,000,000 over 10 years, to be given as resources to DCI each year as we need it.

Action Needed:      

Pray, Pray, Pray! Establish a Trust (It is being set up at this time) Identify Potential Investors Share the Vision and Strategy with potential investors Expand the Leadership of DCI to facilitate the Increasing Growth Trust God to make it happen!

Finances: We plan to raise $25 Million dollars in the next few years. Do you want to make a great investment in the Kingdom of God? Every dollar you donate to the Trust described above could provide $5 for ministry over the next 10 years. Any amount large or small will make a significant difference! Ask me I would be happy show you our strategy.

We need to develop a much stronger base of prayer than we presently have. If you would be willing to meet together with a group of people or pray on your own for the DCI Ministry and our wonderful Staff and Trainers around the world then let me know of your interest and we will keep you informed of needs and opportunities that you can pray for.

There are challenging Days ahead as we continue accomplishing the vision God has given us! We Need Your Prayers More than Ever!!! Thank You: I want to say a very special thank you to each of you who has so faithfully partnered with us over these last 20 years. It has been a great adventure and Mary and I have needed and appreciated your friendship, prayers and encouragement.

God has been faithful – and He has done it!! Your brother and sister in Christ,

Al and Mary Middleton

Leadership Continues to be a Great Need: DCI Board of Directors Executive Director  International Director  Training Director  Prayer Director  Administrator  Accounting  Material Developer  Website and Multimedia Developer  Trust Fund  Investment Advisors  Investor Recruiters

Expanding the Team: We need a strong leadership base at home to administrate the ever expanding global effort. Do you have administrative gifts and would you be willing to invest your life in this ministry to accomplish the greatest challenge on earth? Call me!

Dynamic Churches International 164 Stonegate Close Airdrie, AB. T4B 2V2 Phone/Fax: (403) 912-4438 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.dynamicchurches.org