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!

Tim Coblentz's e3 Staff Support

Donate

Organized by Tim Coblentz

Donate Start a Fundraiser for this Cause

Growing up in church as a young boy, I believed in God and knew all the Bible stories.  Even though I was taught the difference between right and wrong, I was never taught “why” and had a distorted view of God and viewed Him as someone up in heaven watching to punish me when I did something wrong. 

At 16 years of age I was struggling with my identity and who I really was and that manifested itself in anxiety/worry, loneliness, being self-absorbed and seeking the approval of others.  I made the decision of my own will that I would not allow someone else, even God, to tell me how I was going to live my life.  Open rebellion toward my parents and God lead me to start drinking alcohol and that very quickly lead to smoking pot and then losing my virginity.  From the time I was 16 until 25 I lived life on my own terms.  Anything that the world said would make me happy I experimented with.  I tried to find happiness in money, drugs and physical relationships with girls but the further I strayed from God the more empty I became. 

One of the great mysteries in life is that God would continue to pursue and love me in spite of my rebellion.  This can best be summarized by Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  At 25 years of age, God finally brought me to me knees. It was one of the most difficult times in my life but some people are so stubborn that until they are broken they will not submit.  In September of 1992, in a decision of my own free will, I recommitted my life to the Lord Jesus Christ.  I am far from perfect, but when my life before Christ was marked by anxiety, loneliness, self-absortion and seeking approval, my life now is marked by peace, joy, purpose and freedom that can only be found in Jesus.  I now have a personal relationship with the God of the Universe based on my relationship with his son Jesus Christ. 

My life verse is Phil. 3:13-14

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Considering the first 25 years of my life were about myself and worldly pleasure, my desire is to make the rest of my life about glorifying God and making Him known in Dallas and among the nations.  International mission trips have had a dramatic impact on my spiritual life and I have often said “Once you see God doing something through you that only God can do, you will never be the same.”  I am humbled to have been on staff full-time with e3 Partners since December, 2000.  Our mission is to fulfill God’s Great Commission by Equipping God’s people to Evangelize the lost and Establish churches that reproduce themselves all to God’s glory!  I am so blessed to partner with Watermark Community Church by taking single adults out of their comfort zone and going to Ethiopia to partner with Ethiopian believers and share about how Jesus Christ has changed our lives.  Many people in Ethiopia have a distorted view of God just like I did when I was young and it gives me great joy to share how much God loves them and desires a personal relationship with each one. 

My E3 Partners “mission verse” is Psalm 96:1-3

“Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. 

Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. 

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.”

I married my wife, Kelli, in 2007 and we were blessed on February 17, 2014 to add Hunter and then in November 2016 to add Caleb to our family.  Children are a blessing from the Lord and it has been a joy to watch our boys grow and develop.  While our family size has increased, so have the obligations that go along with children.  God has been so faithful to provide for our needs and he has done that through faithful ministry partners who give to e3 so that I can do this full-time.  Thank you for prayerfully considering our ministry support.  Let me know if you have any questions. 

There are no updates at this time.

27636
Days to Go

Powered by Pure Charity