DiscipleMakers Full Story
1981 to 2006
Jesus said, "The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed . . ." Mark 13:31 (ESV)
DiscipleMakers started as a mustard seed. At times it seemed doubtful that it would ever germinate and grow! However God, who delights to use humble means, has worked powerfully through DiscipleMakers to reach more and more college students with the life transforming gospel of Jesus Christ.
Failing in the Right Direction:
DiscipleMakers was established on April 13th, 1981 when Bill Dripps filed the Articles of Incorporation. Though at age thirty-two Bill had worked in a remarkably wide range of jobs, he had never before been involved in starting a corporation. Working part-time as a computer consultant for the Philadelphia Phillies and part-time in ministry, he did not have a lot of money, so he found the cheapest lawyer that he could and incorporated as the sole employee and board member. In later life, Bill became famous among his staff for encouraging them to fail in the right direction. This is because he did it many times himself. It took three tries before DiscipleMakers could be recognized as a charitable organization having tax exempt status.
Modest Beginnings:
In 1987, the number of Staff involved with DiscipleMakers began to expand. Bill allowed Dennis Mitchell, who had left another ministry, to use DiscipleMakers to process his finances so that his donor's gifts would be tax deductible. Then in 1992 and 1993, fourteen more Staff joined DiscipleMakers. This was the beginning of DiscipleMakers camps and conferences. Dave Green had organized them when he was with his former ministry and he continued to run them, this time for DiscipleMakers students.
Reaching the Next Generation:
Bill began discipling Ben Hagerup, the son of a college friend who had gone to Africa as a missionary. He was teaching Ben and his roommate how to start evangelistic Bible studies. Ben had been inviting their neighbor, Rhys, to Bible study for more than a semester. Finally, Rhys decided to come and eventually he became a Christian. Immediately his life began to change. After college, both Rhys and Ben joined DiscipleMakers Staff.
Picking Up Steam:
In 2000, fourteen people joined DiscipleMakers Staff. This was an increase of 43%. That same summer DiscipleMakers also started the summer internship program which gave qualified students from our campuses an opportunity to experience the DiscipleMakers Staff culture, round out their college education with intense training from a Biblical world-view, and even test their calling to campus ministry. In this year, DiscipleMakers also reached $1 million in donations and was officially out of debt from the years of running a deficit. By 2002, all of the campuses where DiscipleMakers had student fellowships were fully staffed. Teams developed in northern Susquehanna valley under Ben Hagerup, in southeastern Pennsylvania under Mark Fodale, in south-central Pennsylvania under Dave Kieffer, and at Penn State under Rhys John.
2007 to Present
"Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes." Isiah 54:2 (ESV)
Responding to God's call to DiscipleMakers to make more disciples of college students, we sought ways to widening our tents and preparing ourselves so that we could support the fast growth that the Lord was blessing us with!
New Headquarters!
By 2007, DiscipleMakers outgrew it's current Headquarters location, a basement underneath a restaurant. With cramped quarters, many staff worked from home and used the alley outside as a place for private conversation! Little did we know that back in the early 80's, when the president was founding the mission, IBM built a beautiful, quality constructed office building that the Lord would reserve for us! Without a capital campaign, God provided so that we could purchase this 8000 sq ft at one-half of its estimated worth. This was an amazing provision from God! In July 2007, DiscipleMakers moved to its new Headquarters.
Growth:
Part of God's provision in 2007 was providing Courtney Shirley, an accounting major. Courtney helped DiscipleMakers prepare to manage the increase of financial resources the Lord was entrusting us with. Also, Ben Hagerup became our first Chief Operating Officer. In the spring of 2007, DiscipleMakers became an official fellowship on Shippensburg University. The close of 2007 saw DiscipleMakers with 48 staff and having reached 2 million in income, becoming a multi-million corporation.
Raising DiscipleMakers:
The goal of DiscpleMakers continues to be graduating students who will make a profound difference on those around them by their character, their message, and their wisdom. We strive, by God's empowering grace, to develop those whose lives are really affected by the gospel and who truly follow what it teaches. DiscipleMakers has often fallen short of its goals but the Lord continues to make everything beautiful in his time. To the delight of DiscipleMakers Staff, God is pleased to use a group of sinners committed to "failing in the right direction" to build His kingdom and bring others to Christ.
