OUR HISTORY

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” – Habakkuk 2:14

Habakkuk 2:14, that’s what we’ve been working towards since e3 Partners began in 1987; filling the earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. It started with a vision God placed on the heart of Mike Downey to help nationals plant churches, and over the last few decades, God has used this ministry to do just that. He’s guided us through challenges and growth, and through it all, the vision has stayed the same. e3 Partners remains focused on helping nationals plant healthy, multiplying, transformative churches all across the world, and we will continue to do so until there is a local church accessible to every person, everywhere.

The Early Years

In 1985, Mike Downey led a group from his church in Oklahoma to Mexico for a mission trip. While there, they saw over 100 people accept Christ into their lives, and when they returned the next year, a church had been planted! Mike called it, “accidental church planting.” He was moved by the passion of these Mexican believers, and as he returned from that second trip, God gave him a vision. He founded Global Missions Fellowship (GMF) with the intent to serve nationals and plant churches in Mexico (on purpose), and it wasn’t long before God expanded that vision further.

In 1990, the collapse of the Soviet Union opened doors that allowed GMF to expand into Eastern Europe, and four years after that, we expanded to Africa as well.

In 1996, God expanded our vision to the entire world, and GMF began taking trips to areas within the 10/40 window.

Over the next two years, God revealed to us the concept of church planting movements (CPMs), which we began incorporating into our short-term trips strategy. There then became a clear need for some scalable evangelism and discipleship tools, which led to the development of the EvangeCube.

The EvangeCube provided our trip participants and national partners with a simple, easily comprehendible way of sharing the gospel. We began using it on all of our trips, and we’d train those who came to accept Christ on how to use it as well, encouraging them to go share the Good News with others.

The 2000s

In 2002, God revealed to us another idea that we refer to as “initiatives”. Essentially, the idea was to combine the evangelistic aspects of our short-term trips with an aid/relief aspect as well.

Medical church planting was our first initiative.

We began taking these types of trips to areas that were severely lacking in accessible medical care, and God used our medical service to open doors to countless families and individuals who had not yet heard the gospel. It was amazing to see how God could use the medical expertise and service of our teams to ultimately lead people to Him.

In 2006, we became e3 Partners Ministry.

Equip God’s people, evangelize His world, establish His church. Those are the three “e’s”, perfectly aligned with the original vision God gave Mike Downey in 1987.

Two years later, the I Am Second brand launched in Dallas, TX, focused on reaching people with powerful Gospel-centered stories through the ever-growing presence of digital media. It quickly became a national brand, and has now grown internationally as well, allowing us to spread the gospel to many people and places we may not be able to get to physically.

That same year, e3 Partners started its “Orality” initiative in Ethiopia. Many communities across Ethiopia speak languages that the Bible has not been translated into yet. The orality initiative focuses on developing strategies and scripts to share the gospel and other Biblical stories with these people through oral storytelling.

By the end of 2008, e3 was taking trips to dozens of countries around the world, and we’d organized the ministry into regional and country teams.

Recent Years

In 2014, we added a more focused training element to the ministry. Training new believers and Christian leaders had always been a part of what we did on our trips, but now there was an added emphasis on training outside of our church planting trips as well. Both domestically and internationally, through one on one meetings, discipleship groups, church gatherings, and other opportunities, we began training new believers how to share their testimonies and the gospel, and training more mature believers on how to disciple others and plant churches.

Then, in 2017, through God’s guidance we employed an integrated Four Fields strategy locally and globally to create something we call the “Great Commission Pipeline”.

The Great Commission Pipeline connects our trips, trainings, international workers, national partners and church partnerships all together to increase the effectiveness and speed at which we reach people far from God.

Looking back on the last 30+ years, it’s amazing to see how God has been at work the whole time. The expansion of our vision from Mexico to the whole world, the addition of initiatives and scalable evangelism tools like the EvangeCube, and now 3-Circles, the added training element, the 4 Fields strategy, the Great Commission Pipeline, it’s all been from God. He’s led this ministry the whole time and has allowed us to do some amazing work for His Kingdom.

In recent years, through our 4 Fields strategy and the implementation of the Great Commission Pipeline, we’ve seen the Gospel reach further and spread faster than ever before. We truly live in an unprecedented time in history. God is moving all across the world.

Come join us as we work to make Habakkuk 2:14 a reality!

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"Do you not say, `There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.”(John 4:34-35)

 In Sudan and South Sudan the fields are white for harvest and God has given us a tremendous opportunity to carry the Gospel of Jesus Christ to one of the most unreached and difficult parts of the world. In spite of what appears to be insurmountable obstacles Christ is moving in unfathomable ways in transforming lives, erasing tribal boundaries, removing the chains of bondage, through the power of the proclamation of the Gospel of CHRIST crucified. He has granted us stewardship of this ministry.

 Our mission is to be obedient to the LORD'S command to go and make disciples, and to be faithful stewards of that which HE has entrusted us with.  

 2 Timothy 2:2 is our guideline in partnering with indigenous, born-again believers. We teach and train them to make and train disciples who will make and train disciples that will result in a disciple multiplication and church movement throughout South Sudan and Sudan. One of our ministry tools is to mobilize the body of CHRIST here at home into short-term mission teams. We train and equip these teams to teach and train others and then we deploy with them into South Sudan where we team up with our indigenous partners to accomplish the ministry work.

 In the past 3 years we have witnessed the LORD bring about an explosion in areas of South Sudan with hundreds of house churches planted and small groups started by our indigenous partners.

 The LORD has also opened the door to undisclosed areas in Sudan. Of the 164 people groups that live in Sudan 132 are unreached with the gospel of JESUS CHRIST. We recently spent time 3 weeks in a refugee camp along the border of South Sudan and Sudan with 70,000 plus refugees. Among these 70,000 refugees (90% Muslim) from the Nuba Mountains there are approximately 70 unreached people groups represented. We were able to partner with 6 churches who sent representatives for us for 2 weeks for training, including classroom and practicals, in how reach, teach, and train new believers in how to follow CHRIST and reach, teach, and train others. This is our mission to reach the unreached with the Gospel and make multiplying disciples.

 William Carey, one of the great missionaries to India and one day in response to a group of Christians and pastors who were speaking of India as a gold mine but who would venture to go there? William Carey responded, "I will go down (into the mine)...but remember you must hold the rope." In Sudan and South Sudan there is a vast field of the LORD’S harvest...I will go down but need you to hold the rope.

 Now is the time, Sudan/South Sudan is the place, and we are the chosen!!

 "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” (John 15:16)


  • THANK YOU!!!

    Posted a week ago


    I praise the LORD for you and want to thank you for continuing faithfully support the ministry. The LORD blessed so many field staff like myself, country funds, causes, and general capacity fund of e3 Partners during the special e3 Giving Day. 

    Because of your faithfulness to the LORD, your desire to see CHRIST proclaimed to all nations, and worshipers from every tongue, tribe, and nation bowing to LORD JESUS we will continue to press forward with the Gospel to train disciples who will multiply and plant multiplying churches. I pray you understand how important you are to the ministry and that you are as much a part of the mission as those of us who are called to go...you are called to send and you are obedient to the LORD! 

    The Apostle Paul says it better than any man could ever say it:

      "Whoever will call on the name of the LORD will be saved." How then will they call on HIM in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in HIM whom they have not heard? And how will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News of Good Things!" (Romans 10:13-15)


    Your feet are beautiful because you bring GOOD NEWS of GOOD THINGS to those who have never heard! 

    Thank you and may GOD continue to bless you!!! Let's keep our eyes upon CHRIST JESUS and continue the struggle well in and through HIM until the whole world hears!!!









    Posted by:
    David Hicks

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