IBAM EP86: Disciple Making Movements and the Challenge of Sustainability
“Survival Mode Changes Everything.”
— Steve Adams | IBAM
Why Multi-Generational Church Planting Movements Struggle Without Local Income — and How Sustainability Strengthens the Saints
What threatens disciple-making movements around the world?
In this episode, Steve Adams, founder and president of IBAM (International Business as Mission), addresses what he calls “the challenge to movements — the sustainability of the saints” .
IBAM’s core purpose is clear:
To be an accelerator to ministry
To disciple-making movements worldwide
To support leaders who are on the front lines
IBAM is not the show. The leaders in the field are.
They are:
Reaching people groups who are reached but penetrating deeper into culture with the gospel
Reaching unreached people groups
Planting churches
Developing disciples
But even the most vibrant movements struggle if they don’t solve one key issue:
Local sustainability.
What Is a Disciple-Making Movement?
Steve defines movements as:
“Multi-generational self-propagating growth of the development of house churches” .
This means:
One group forms
That group disciples and forms the next group
And the next
And the next
It is:
Multi-generational
Self-propagating
Disciple-making at its core
Disciple making involves:
Hearing the gospel
Accepting the gospel
Becoming a believer in Jesus Christ
Learning to abide in Him
Learning to obey Him over time
It also includes:
Praying for “people of peace”
Having spiritual conversations
Being faithful and prepared to give an answer for the hope within
And ultimately, it leads to church planting.
Some partners:
Plant traditional churches in rented facilities
Plant house churches
But the hallmark remains:
Multi-generational disciple making
Church multiplication
The Sustainability Problem: When Survival Mode Takes Over
Here’s the consistent pattern IBAM sees around the globe:
The lack of sustainable income works against the growth of movements .
When believers:
Can barely meet their needs
Lose their jobs after coming to faith
Are ostracized from social and family networks
They enter survival mode.
And survival mode changes everything.
Steve explains:
When we are just trying to take care of ourselves, it becomes very difficult to give ourselves away in disciple making toward others .
This creates pressure on:
Pastors
Movement leaders
Families walking through suffering
Some consequences include:
Pulling back from ministry involvement
Slowing movement growth
In some cases, turning away from the faith
This issue isn’t new. Steve notes that it has likely existed since Jesus walked the earth .
But it remains one of the greatest challenges facing movements today.
Rural and Unreached Contexts: The Job Opportunity Gap
In many regions — especially in Africa and Indonesia — leaders are placing people into:
New fields
Unreached areas
Rural locations
But those areas often have:
Little to no job opportunities
If believers are going to relocate or stay in those regions, they must have a reason to be there.
This is where business can come in.
Business provides:
A legitimate reason to remain
Income generation
Stability
Sustainability for ministry
And while rural areas present unique challenges, the sustainability issue also applies in cities.
IBAM’s Believer Empowerment Approach
IBAM comes alongside established, well-run disciple-making organizations with proven history and expertise .
The process begins with partnership:
1. Meeting leaders seeking sustainability solutions
2. Establishing formal partnership (memorandum of understanding)
3. Clarifying roles
From there, IBAM works for 18 months to 2 years training the first group of trainers .
Who Are These Trainers?
Typically:
Existing business owners
Local leaders
Individuals who will become the first teachers in the region
They:
Go through the full training themselves
Sometimes expand their own businesses through loans
Repay those loans
Then disciple others through the same process
This is multiplication by design.
Training the Trainers: How the Process Works
The structured process includes:
Business formation training
Building business plans
Vetting business plans
Running loan committees
Evaluating loan readiness
Coaching after loan approval
When trainers take their first student through the process:
IBAM observes
IBAM assists
IBAM supports the first loan committee
Then transitions to coaching
Each year:
They spin the wheel again
They improve
They refine the process
IBAM gradually becomes more observer and consultant
The goal is empowerment — not dependency.
Roles Within the Sustainability Structure
The local team includes:
1. Area Director
Indigenous leader
Strategic visionary
Often chairs the loan committee
2. Administrator
Ensures trainers follow the process
Oversees use of proprietary software (Biz Tools)
3. Fund Manager
Audits the fund
Ties out balances monthly
Ensures accurate tracking
This structured system builds:
Accountability
Accuracy
Process integrity
A Movement Within a Movement
What begins as business training becomes something larger.
Generations of students:
Grow
Become trainers
Spawn the next generation
It mirrors disciple-making movements themselves .
The ultimate aim?
To empower partners to run the system without IBAM.
The Results: From 40% to 90%
Since moving to this structured approach:
Success rates improved from about 40%
To approximately 90% of businesses thriving
And those thriving businesses:
Support disciple-making movements
Strengthen sustainability
Reduce survival mode pressures
Steve emphasizes:
They are just getting started .
Going Slow So We Can Go Fast Later
IBAM sees significant future opportunity, including:
Larger-scale funding
Businesses in the box
Accelerated expansion
But the focus right now is deliberate:
Let the process season
Identify problems
Improve systems
Build a larger data set
Steve summarizes the strategy simply:
“We’re going slow, so we can go fast later.”
The foundation must be strong before scaling.
Why Sustainability Strengthens the Saints
At its heart, this episode is about one central truth:
Disciple-making movements require sustainable believers.
When believers are:
Economically stable
Empowered
Equipped
Supported
They can:
Continue discipling
Continue planting churches
Continue multiplying
Without sustainable income:
Pressure increases
Participation decreases
Movements strain
With sustainability:
Movements strengthen
Leaders remain focused
Generations multiply
Accelerating Visions Through Sustainability
IBAM exists to accelerate ministry by addressing the sustainability challenge .
By:
Partnering with established organizations
Training trainers
Establishing loan committees
Coaching leadership
Building structured accountability
They help bring sustainability to disciple-making movements around the world.
The goal is not to be the show.
The goal is to strengthen those who are.
And through sustainable businesses, disciple-making movements gain the economic foundation they need to continue multiplying for generations.
👉 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/KyvY17yVkVA
👉 Join the free Third Fish Academy at ThirdFish.org
Transcript Evidence
All definitions, descriptions, processes, statistics (40% to 90%), geographic references (Indonesia, Africa, Central Asia), structural roles (area director, administrator, fund manager), training timeline (18 months to 2 years), survival mode explanation, and quotes were drawn directly from EP 86 transcript .
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