In 1981 Bonnie and I had a thriving ministry with students at Penn State and there were people who wanted to support us financially. We wanted these donations to be tax deductible, so we incorporated DiscipleMakers as a tax-exempt, charitable organization. I hoped and prayed God would use us, but I didn't plan to start a new ministry. Among many people we were the ministry with no name, but the Lord gave us an influence out of proportion to our size.

Therefore, when someone asked me about joining DiscipleMakers, I was surprised. I said, "Why would you want to do that? Don't you know it's just me?" Much to my surprise, over the first ten years of ministry, we grew to six missionaries. It seemed likely that more might join, so I began to ask why the Lord would do this. We discovered that though large universities have ministries, most smaller schools have no full-time missionary. In the northeast United States alone there are about 900 colleges and universities that lack a full-time missionary. That got my attention, and I knew why God was giving us missionaries to labor in this field.

Many times we had neither the resources nor the knowledge to continue, but God has provided what we need each time. Today God has given us 45 full time missionaries and I recruit, train, send and support the many more we need. Specifically, I focus on developing leaders. Today, we still often feel we lack the resources and the knowledge we need, but God continues to provide.

The greatest lesson He has taught and continues to teach me is the sufficiency of His grace. When you take all I am and have, and you add everyone with DiscipleMakers and all they have, it's just a few small loaves and fish. We put them on the altar knowing they are hopelessly inadequate. That's when He steps in and accomplishes His great work.

Would you also like to be part of this story? Come! Join us.