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Years of
Empowering
Ordinary Christians
By Dean Davis and Mike Dragon , Church Multiplication Facilitators
OMS is celebrating 25 years of empowering ordinary Christians to multiply disciples , churches , leaders , and missionaries using Train & Multiply ( T & M ) resources . George Patterson wrote this series of booklets in Central America in the 1970s . Later , a Chilean ministry called SEAN developed it , and a Canadian ministry called Project WorldReach distributed it . T & M is now stewarded by its copyright owner , One Mission Society .
OMS first discovered and used T & M in South Asia when Jerry * began working with an OMS partner there . He quickly saw the need to train ordinary church planters who struggled to read . Jerry knew George Patterson and had heard about his biblical , practical , and easy-to-understand booklets . Soon , South Asians gathered in training centers to learn how to make disciples , plant new churches , and help those churches grow strong in the Lord .
Today , T & M contains 66 illustrated booklets and a Student Activity Guide , all available in 52 languages worldwide , with translation into 12 additional languages underway . OMS ’ use of T & M has grown from a single South Asian country in 1999 to 59 countries on 5 continents in just 25 years . Over the years , OMS missionaries Brian Kessler and Jessica Hollopeter have developed and expanded translation and publishing technologies initiated by Project WorldReach . Now , T & M is available as PDFs for printing individual booklets , in volumes , and can be viewed on smartphones and tablets . We even have a secure web app with digital versions of the booklets that allows for individualized coaching of church planters and easy distribution of the materials .
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