EP 86: When Disciple-Making Movements Enter Survival Mode

Episode notes

What threatens the long-term growth of disciple-making movements? In this episode, Steve Adams unpacks a critical challenge facing global ministry efforts: sustainability . Across regions like Indonesia, Africa, and Central Asia, leaders are faithfully planting churches, discipling believers, and seeing multi-generational growth. But when new believers lose jobs, face social and family ostracism, or move into rural areas with little to no job opportunities, movements begin to strain. When people can barely meet their own needs, they enter survival mode. And survival mode makes it difficult to give yourself away in disciple making. Steve explains how IBAM partners with established disciple-making organizations to address this challenge through a believer-empowerment approach. By training existing business owners to become trainers, forming loan committees, implementing structured evaluation processes, and coaching local leadership teams, IBAM strengthens sustainability from within. The goal is not dependency - but empowerment. Over time, generations of students become trainers themselves, multiplying impact. The results?

• EP 102: Grants, Government Partnerships, and Kingdom Impact, Part 160 / 100
• EP 101: When Business Becomes Discipleship, Part 241 / 100
• EP 100: Business, Failure, and the Making of a Disciple, Part 158 / 100
• EP 99: Excellence, Trust, and Everyday Mission, Part 2
• EP 98: How Christian Leaders Stay Grounded When Work Gets Heavy, Part 1