From the desk of the Executive Director
Dr. Jonathan King

2023 has been nothing short of a staggeringly blessed and fruitful year for FDMI. In our very first FDMI semester which launched in October 2022, we had four international instructors (2 in India, 1 in Tanzania, and 1 in Mexico) with about 100 students total enrolled. We rejoiced greatly over such a wonderful start. Heading in to 2023 we were certainly hopeful as we prayed for the Lord to bring us additional students as we steadily expanded the courses that we offered. Reflecting now over the span of three semesters of FDMI classes in 2023 we are truly amazed and so thankful to the Lord for the 300 plus students who have completed FDMI courses. Furthermore, we praise the Lord for bringing us four new fully trained and qualified international instructors this year, expanding our roster of FDMI instructors to eight (3 in India, 1 in Tanzania, 1 in Bangladesh, and 3 in Mexico). To give you an idea of FDMI’s global reach this year, our instructors taught students who live in the following countries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Poland, Venezuela, Columbia, Guatemala, Cuba, and Mexico.

I’m delighted to further report that this year FDMI handed out our very first Diplomas in Discipleship. I had the personal privilege of teaching two different groups of students in India — a Tamil speaking group and an Odia speaking group — who completed all of the FDM discipleship courses over two years of weekly classes. Their path has been a long obedience in the same direction, having committed themselves to learning more deeply and faithfully what it means to be a disciple of Christ, what it means to make disciples of others and teaching them to do the same. Every one of these students received a Diploma in Discipleship from FDMI. In addition, I’ve been teaching another group of students in India — this one is a Telugu speaking group — who I am very confident will also complete all the FDM discipleship courses sometime in the first half of 2024. Of all the FDMI groups who have participated in our training thus far, this Telugu speaking group in India has 100 students, which is the largest number of students we’ve ever had in one class participating every week. In fact, we would have even more students attend each week but we maxed out the limit of the number of participants who can join the class via Zoom. So being limited by the maximum allowed number of Zoom participants is a problem we’ll have to resolve going forward, but what a wonderful problem to have! It’s so awesome to literally see the Spirit of the Lord moving in real time in the lives of these students, and indeed, in all the students taught by our roster of FDMI instructors.

For 2024 we plan to offer all the FDMI teaching modules over the course of four semesters, and publish the semester schedule on the FDMI website. If you would remember to do so, please pray with us and for us for all that the Lord is pleased to do through FDMI to impact the lives of many through our labors, and that we’d be driven to do all this to the glory of God.

Dr. Jonathan King
Executive Director
FDM Institute