After FUEL, our annual meeting, we are so encouraged about the vision and mission God has given us to disciple men through the churches of America. And you are important to the mission. So here are a few updates.
First, I’m so pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has elected David Delk, our president, to become the Co-Chief Executive Officer with me. I remain Chairman of the Board. David’s steady and professional leadership has meant that our staff, churches and other ministries can trust what we tell them. And trust is, after all, the true currency of getting things done. His promotion is well deserved. Congratulations, David!
Another notable milestone is the soft launch of “The Journey to Biblical Manhood”—a comprehensive, but flexible process for a church to disciple all its men over time. We provide the hospital, but the patients always belong to the church. And the church is always in control of the treatment. Learn more at www.JourneyToBiblicalManhood.
Now, here’s an update on the mission.
As you well know, the “men problem” has become a crisis that is virtually out of control. The devil has plundered our men. The collateral damage among families is staggering. Men under 40 are especially vulnerable to an alien worldview that is gutting the institutions of marriage and family. Our government agencies, social sector organizations and businesses are overrun trying to cope with the downstream damage of an increasingly fatherless, angry and dysfunctional generation.
Here’s what needs to be said: Anything less than a plan to disciple every willing man in every willing church is a moral failure of historic proportion.
But, unfortunately, we also have a “church problem.” The mission of the church, of course, is to make disciples. We love the church. Our only mission is to help churches disciple men. But the vast majority of churches have no comprehensive strategy nor enough leaders to disciple their men. As a result, they have not been able to cope with the changing climate among men. Yet these same churches know that there can be no meaningful solution to the problems our world faces unless men are equipped to be godly men, husbands, fathers and citizens. But isn’t it be reasonable to ask why God would give a church more men if they haven’t been able to disciple the ones they already have?
How can we fix these two problems? We know what needs to be done and we have a plan. Churches that use our “No Man Left Behind” model reported a 48 percent increase in men’s attendance in, on average, 2 1/2 years; and an 84 percent increase in men’s discipleship in that same period. When these results passed statistical analysis, we realized God had given us a trust to steward. We knew we had a duty to proliferate this model to as many churches as wanted it.
To spread this training on how to disciple men, we started an initiative 18 months ago to hire 330 Area Directors (ADs)—one for every 1,000 churches. Of course, we did not know if the idea would work—only that it was needed. I am happy to report that we have enough data after appointing 52 ADs to conclude the idea is working. While we have not reached critical mass, all the numbers make sense after 18 months.
Based on actual results, we have projections that show we will have 330 ADs by 2020 with more than 1,000,000 new men discipled, and a structure in place to disciple an additional 500,000 new men per year beginning in 2021. It is exciting to see the kingdom potential.
Our vision is “for every church to disciple every man.” Over the last 25 years, Man in the Mirror has helped churches impact more than 12,000,000 men with 20 staff operating out of a nondescript strip shopping center in Casselberry, Fla. We can readily see how this plan to mobilize 330 ADs should eclipse those results.
We believe that if God gives us success, this initiative to disciple men would reverse the moral and spiritual erosion of our men and their families for the next generation.
Recently I’ve been teaching our staff and new ADs about what it means that we are a servant ministry. For a servant, the question isn’t “What do I want?” It’s “What does the Master need?” This initiative is something we believe the Master has called us to sacrifice our lives to achieve.
Our priorities for 2013 include:
- Increasing the number of AD applications.
- Training and equipping ADs to succeed.
- A second round of financing. The first round of financing in the amount of $1,750,000 got us off the ground. Now we need a second round of $3,000,000 to cover 2013, 2014 and 2015, after which the AD initiative generates positive cash flow. That means we’ll help churches disciple 1,000,000 men between now and 2020 for less than $5 per man of donor money coming to headquarters. We think this is smart money.
- Website upgrades that will make the site more complete and easier to use.
- New database system—our current system is over a decade old.
We want to stand with you in any way we can as you disciple men. We really are in this together.
Joseph Mattera 
BJ Foster 
Shelby Bowen 
