In the Beginning…

The ministry of Global Training Network began in the Spring of 2004. For several years, Paul Madson (then Senior Pastor of an evangelical Christian church in suburban Phoenix) and his wife, Lisa, had sensed a growing desire to be involved in cross-cultural missions full-time. In the 1990s, their church had partnered with Campus Crusade’s JESUS film project to adopt the Borok people group of northeast India, sponsoring the work of translating the JESUS film into the Kok Borok language. This led to several short-term trips to India for Paul and Lisa throughout the duration of the Borok work, and it was there that they were made aware of the urgent need of training for pastors in that area.

This newfound awareness took root in their hearts, provoking study and reflection which led them to the conclusion that the need for pastoral and leadership training was desperately needed not only India, but all over the world. Some of the information and statistics they came across at this time included the following:

In the United States there is one trained Christian Pastor for every 250 people. In the rest of the world, there is one trained Christian Pastor for every 450,000 people.

Christian leaders around the world are predicting (based upon current trends) that in the next decade one billion people will come to Christ around the world. But, as Bill Bright said a few years ago (before he passed away), there is a crisis looming. And that crisis is that there are not enough trained pastors and church planters in most parts of the world to deal with this great harvest. In order to provide healthy churches for all of these new believers, there is an overwhelming need to raise up and train five million new pastors and church planters around the world in the next decade!

Paul and Lisa realized afresh the biblical reality that they had been “blessed to be a blessing” (Gen. 12). After much prayer and consultation with fellow pastors, mission leaders, and close friends, they decided to transition out of the pastorate (where they had spent the past 25 years) and into full-time missions work. In June of 2004, they formed Global Training Network, an organization devoted to training, equipping and encouraging pastors, church planters and Christian leaders around the world.

Two Constants: Growth and Change

Over the next year, Paul and Lisa traveled to India multiple times, as well as South America for several training conferences. In March of 2005, Reverend Sindhu Pani and his wife, Minnie, joined the GTN staff as the Director of India Ministries. The following month, Paul and Lisa were introduced to Reverend John Mugabi of Uganda, whose church is now GTN’s main contact and conference site in the country of Uganda. In August, Tom and Georgia Brewer joined GTN’s staff.

Two months later, Pennsylvania pastor Carl Green and his wife, Patsy, made the transition to GTN. It was also at this time that Global Training Network began supporting several Indian church planters in the state of Tripura. Through various circumstances, Paul began to realize the need to scale down his travel schedule and shift the focus of his time and leadership to the raising of resources for GTN, casting vision and providing leadership structure to the organization.

At the beginning of 2006, GTN welcomed Paul’s brother, Joel Madson, (a pastor for over twenty years in the Seattle, Washington area) and his wife Kathy to the organization. A few short months passed and another couple with years of pastoral experience, Dr. Wilf and Arlene Meeds, joined GTN. That same month, Sindhu Pani came to the U.S. for the first time in order to share about the ministry of GTN in the country of India. In July, Brett and Rachel Schuelke came on staff as GTN’s very first mission interns to the nation of India. They moved to Kolkata in October and spent the next 6 months there, assisting and serving with Sindhu and Minnie Pani.

During this time, Joel Madson was appointed Vice President of GTN, in order to assist Paul with the growing mound of duties and decisions involved with leading the organization. In January of 2007, California pastor Dr. Roland and Patricia Niednagel joined the staff of GTN. Eight months later, Dan and Debbie Smythe (of Lynden, Washington) did the same.

2008 brought another welcome addition to GTN’s staff in the form of Jim and Teri Baugh. In June, GTN celebrated its four-year anniversary and in August, Dr. Jerry and Janet Pryor came on board. Two months later, Dr. Steve and Celestia Tracy joined in a unique role that allows them to train pastors and leaders on the subject of abuse and biblical sexuality, while at the same time allowing Steve to remain on at Phoenix Seminary as Professor of Theology and Ethics. In November, Perry Harris came on in a Vice Presidential role, to assist with various administrative and staff issues. December brought yet another addition with Abby Tracy, in a unique role working with and training children coming off the streets of Kampala, Uganda.

In April of 2009, Don Norton came under the umbrella of GTN’s ministry in order to continue his ministry of training leaders in the Ukraine. In May, John and Caryn Amandola came on staff, training pastors and leaders in New York and internationally. June brought not only the five-year anniversary of the ministry, but also the addition of Dr. Bob and Eileen Edmondson.

In the past five years, GTN staff members have had the privilege of ministering in dozens of countries around the world. The table below shows the countries GTN has ministered in, sites of future conferences, and countries which have extended invitations, but which GTN has not yet had the financial resources or staff to go to.

Since the inception of GTN five years ago, the annual ministry budget has grown from $150,000 to over $3.2 million. In March of 2009, Global Training Network was given full accreditation by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).

As We Look to the Future

GTN is committed to this biblical principle: God is always at work around us. It is our job to find out where and how He is working and to join Him in what He is doing.  In the past five years, GTN has grown from a staff of two (Paul and Lisa) to a staff encompassing over 70 national and international leaders.

Our staff have trained more than 70,000 pastors, church planters and leaders in over 30 countries worldwide.

Our prayer for the future is that God would use us to help train thousands more pastors and leaders around the world so that their congregations are equipped to reach their family and friends for Christ, the ultimate goal being that the Great Commission can be fulfilled, prayerfully, in our generation!

We are responsible for the depth of our life. God is responsible for the breadth of our ministry. We trust Him fully (Prov. 3:5-6) to lead and guide us each step along the way!

All of this is for the glory of God to be spread among the nations of the world!