Some Fast Stories

In 2017, I heard so many stories about lives impacted and changed because people were trained to join Jesus on His mission as an everyday lifestyle. Here is just a sampling:

A pastor in northern Illinois: “My people are reporting having conversations with friends and neighbors they would have never had just a few months ago.”
A thirtysomething man in New Jersey: “I have been looking for something like this [the mindset and practices of D114] all my Christian life. This makes so much sense!”
An outreach leader in the San Francisco Bay Area: “Our elder chair and his wife wholeheartedly embrace joining Jesus on His mission. The latest was [the wife] telling me of her conversation with a couple she met in a local Starbucks. It ended with them praying together. She said to me, ‘This is so easy – even for an introvert like I am!’”
A pastor in north-central Texas: “I have a dear friend serving in Africa as a medical missionary. When he was here for a few months last spring, he went through your book with us in a small group. He has incorporated much of it in Uganda [where he is now serving] with his patients and medical colleagues.”
A fortysomething businessman in Iowa: “I am a follower of Jesus now because [my friend] joined Jesus and was willing to walk with me even though at first my heart was hard and uninterested.” (Go, Jesus!)
A man in his 80's in Washington state shared with his neighbor that he was unbaptized and not sure what to do. The neighbor did! The man was recently baptized into the grace and peace of Jesus! (Go, Jesus, again!)
A seventysomething woman in Arkansas: “I am so excited! Each day is now a wonderful adventure with Jesus. This has changed my life!”
A man on the move from Colorado to Washington state: “A friend in Grand Junction, CO loaned me a copy of ‘Joining Jesus’ last summer. It changed my life in many ways - my view of current events and my attitude toward pretty much everything. I have recently moved to Washington state and am interested in introducing Dwelling 1:14 to my new church.”

Some Fun Stats

Total number of “Joining Jesus” books and video curricula distributed since their release:

42,191
The seating capacity of Minute Maid Park - where the Houston Astros play baseball - is 41,676.
Minute Maid Park could be filled to capacity with everyday missionaries!

Dwelling 1:14 celebrated its 6th birthday in 2017! If we added up all the people over the years stirred to join Jesus through D114’s books, trainings and presentations, how many would there be?

It is estimated that the people could more than fill the 107,601 seats of the Big House at the University of Michigan, the nation’s largest football stadium.

Number of People Trained in Dwelling 1:14’s Missional Lifestyle Training Process in 2017:

37 congregations
with combined average worship attendance of 9652 people
from California to New York, from Texas to Wisconsin

Other Opportunities in 2017:

Greg presented at 11 conferences nation wide
352 congregations were present
from the Pacific Northwest to Florida, from Arizona to New York state and in places like Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois and Michigan in between

Greg was also invited to present to

Concordia Seminary students in St. Louis
Concordia University students in Austin
Native Americans at the annual LIM retreat

It is awesome to be invited to influence the future leaders of our congregations and mission efforts!

And 2018 is Starting FAST!

2018 is already off to a fast start! In January alone, we will have been in New Jersey, Iowa, California and Florida. (Training weekends are filled through early May. Fall dates are now available.)

Two BIG Initiatives for 2018

Two new couples to help as Trainers: For the sake of increasing the reach of D114 beyond what Susan and I can accomplish, we have recruited two new pastoral couples to the D114 team. Both will be “keeping their day jobs” with their current churches and will not be employees of D114 per se. Rather, they will be mentored by us in how to lead congregations through the Missional Lifestyle Training Process so they can then go out and connect with congregations in their respective regions. Think of them as independent contractors who are under our supervision. Please keep the Borgs and Schauers in your prayers as they begin their training processes with us.
A new video curriculum supporting the new discipling book: As soon as the second book was published – “Joining Jesus: Show Me How” – leaders started asking if a new video curriculum would be created to support it. The answer is now, “Yes!” We still need to raise a portion of the $25,000 to $35,000 the project will cost, but we have started laying out the script and design and hope to begin filming in late spring. Can you help us? Make a donation via our D114 Donation Page. Thank you!

To our small army of prayer warriors and financial supporters, thank you for all you have done in 2017! As I hope you can see, the Lord has greatly blessed your investment - so many real people really joining Jesus on His mission! We invite you to join us on the adventure of 2018, as well! – Greg and Susan