They Did It! Disciples from South Asia Advance the Great Commission

A new batch of trainees completed the Getting Started in Disciple Making Movements course. Recently, two trainee groups finished the course. They were to make disciples in their cities, villages, and regions. The English course had students from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The Tamil course welcomed students from Tamil Nadu. There were 45 trainees from the English course and 40 from the Tamil course that completed it in the last few months.

The DMM course is a 6-module curriculum that teaches trainees how to:

• Develop your vision and build a team.
• Keep going and be accountable even when it’s difficult.
• Pray. Why it matters and how to pray.
• Choose methods and tools to build a movement of disciples.
• Look for people in your area to be the “Person of Peace” to partner with.
• Use what you have learned. Start a group of disciples. They will then go on to disciple others.

The trainees train with other people in their region. Disciple Makers Increase (DMI) staff and volunteers coach and help as they learn. Many modules have PDFs to aid with understanding the concepts. They also have simple tasks or assignments to help the students progress. In the last lessons, they start groups for discipleship. They use the methods they have learned along the way. After completion, the trainees still get support from Alumni Peer Groups as they continue their journey of multiplying disciples in their area.

Commissioning the Trainees to Go

The Tamil language cohort began in March 2024, and the commissioning was at the end of July. The commissioning is more than a graduation. It is a time when many of the trainees, past and present, have said the true ministry begins. They now have tools to fulfill their life’s calling to make disciples.

The trainees’ “Go out” moment is a powerful motivator. The Great Commission in Matthew 28 has called believers to come out of their comfort zones, out of the walls of the church, and to “Go!” The commissioning is a time for trainees to reflect on their learning. They are then sent out to apply what they have learned. It is more than a celebration. Trainees understand the tools they have learned and can confidently use their new skills. They leave the course and keep sharing the gospel with others. DMI coaches urge trainees to seek a journey with the Lord. They should see multiplication with help from the ideas taught in the course. Later, as this begins there is a celebration of their achievements.

The Tamil Language DMM Course Made It Simple

The trainees found it helpful to write their vision down. This is one of the assignments in the first module. They liked having practical steps to move forward. Many said this taught them new ways of doing things. It made it simple to share the gospel. The methods helped everyone feel included. They thought the oral methods fit their area’s culture. The storytelling helped many understand. This helped them reach out to people in both big cities and small villages. Many of them felt that DMI and the DMM course were impacting the state of Tamil Nadu as a whole.

The recent commissioning was online. Some trainees gave testimonials. They shared what they learned and found helpful from the course. From these trainees, 45 first-generation groups began. A generation is a trainee starting a group. That would be the first-generation group. When someone in the first-generation group starts a new group, they call it a second-generation group. That is how this program measures generations. The English course trainees report that some second-generation groups have also formed. This is the multiplication that will, by God’s grace, lead to a movement.

One coach said the trainees value a commissioning more than a graduation. It is more than the end of a course. They are encouraged to continue what they have learned. The trainees have already started groups. They are now ready to take practical steps to see their vision completed.

Pray with us for those who recently completed the Tamil cohort and for those currently in the training. Pray that God will help us in Disciple Makers Increase (DMI) to see more indigenous language courses translated and launched. We hope to see many other South Asian language cohorts begin in the next few years as well as a dubbed version of the DMM course in Portuguese, Spanish, and French by the end of this year.

Are you interested to know more about DMI’s courses and programs? Send us an email at hello@disciplemakersincrease.org or go to our website and click on the various courses we offer.