LANCASTER, Pa., June 29, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Disciples, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Lancaster, PA, announces the launch of impact49, an initiative designed to expand its support for discipleship-mission training and business development skills to workers in developing countries who desire to spread the word of Christianity. The goal of impact49 is also to elevate awareness among people in the U.S. of the more than two billion people in the world who have not had the opportunity to hear the Good News of Jesus.
Global Disciples works with groups of churches in 49 countries throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America to train and equip local people to be disciples and church planters. impact49 provides discipleship-mission training, business skills and a personalized small business plan to individuals so that they can enter a new community. From there they start a business while they build relationships, and plant a church to create a fellowship of believers. The cost of the one-year training program is $1,200, with Global Disciples contributing 49% and the individual's church group providing the remaining 51%.
impact49 is an initiative for Christians here in the States to be matched with an indigenous person who will go through the one-year training program. The support equals $49 per month for twelve months. Global Disciples continues to provide support to local programs for another two years, at which time it becomes fully sustained by the local church group.
Global Disciples' innovative and entrepreneurial missions approach works well because local churches and disciples are best able to reach – and impact – people in their communities. It's also highly sustainable, as 92% of all Global Disciples' discipleship-mission programs started in the last 15 years continue today. In the past five years, nearly 900 church planters have been trained in small business strategies, more than 2,600 new churches have been planted and nearly 15,000 disciple-makers have been trained and sent out, resulting in more than 69,800 newly-baptized believers worshipping Jesus and transforming their communities.
The need for training is growing more rapidly than Global Disciples' ability to train and send church planters. Through impact49, Global Disciples can expand its training and sending program to meet this need. Christians have an opportunity to make an impact for Jesus through this innovative, sustainable program. 100% of contributions through impact49 go toward supporting individuals' one-year training programs.
Global Disciples is a nonprofit organization working with groups of churches in 49 countries around the world where Christian activity is restricted due to government and/or religious persecution. Rather than training and sending western mission workers into these restricted areas, Global Disciples empowers clusters of churches in the region or from similar cultural groups to equip their own people to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. For more information, please visit www.impact49.org or www.Facebook.com/impact49 .
Media Contact:
Tiffany Dodson
Scheffey Integrated Marketing
717.569.8274 ext. 32
tdodson@scheffey.com
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