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About
About IEA
We help churches & seminaries all over the world train disciple-makers ...
to personally befriend and equip each new member with the needed ministry skills to enjoy a lifetime of spiritual growth and evangelistic multiplication.
A Short History of the Modern Disciple-Making Movement
In 1926, the founder of the modern disciple-making movement, Dawson Trotman, became a Christian at the age of 20. Early in his walk with Christ, he made a major discovery. If he invested personal time discipling a new convert —the quality of that man’s spiritual life would be radically different from Christians who were simply given a quick handshake with no follow-up when they joined a church.
For this reason, Dawson developed friendships with new Christians & showed them how to grow by reading God’s Word, studying, memorizing, meditating on it, & applying it to their lives.
In 1934, he founded a para-church organization called “The Navigators.” His vision was to equip dedicated men and women around the world to carry out the Great Commission.
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
- Matthew 28:19
About Billie Hanks Jr.
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”
- 1 Corinthians 11:1
Personal & ministry background
Billie Hanks Jr., founder of “Becoming a Disciple-Maker,” was born on May 24, 1944 in San Angelo, TX. He was reared in a ranching family and at the age of 10 received Jesus Christ as his Savior. In his teenage years, he recalls—“Every summer I would go to the revival services at my church and, ‘go forward.’ I always marked the box saying I wanted to re-dedicate my life to Christ. People must have thought I was very worldly! The truth is—I wasn’t—I was just expressing the reality that I genuinely wanted to grow deeper in my faith. The problem was, I needed someone to show me how by their example.”
In 1954, Billie and his family were vacationing in Scotland and several members of the Billy Graham evangelistic team “happened” to be staying at the same hotel. Billie met Billy Graham and Grady Wilson (Billy Graham’s associate evangelist) and they became lifelong friends. Grady discipled him for over 23 years until he went home to be with the Lord.
At the age of 20, Billie became BGEA’s first intern. He traveled throughout the world with the Billy Graham team learning crusade evangelism and became an experienced evangelist in his own right having preached in 29 countries. Later, when Billie was 35, he was invited to serve as a “minister at large” for BGEA. In this capacity he equipped several thousand disciple-makers to minister to new Christians.
As a freshman in college, he read a book that would change the focus of his ministry forever - "Born to Reproduce" by Dawson Trotman. Later in seminary he read "The Master Plan of Evangelism" by Robert Coleman. Realizing the importance of life-to-life training, he began discipling men who had a passion for carrying out the Great Commission. Together, they developed disciple-making materials for churches to use throughout the world. Billie graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth Texas with a Master of Divinity Degree, and received honorary doctorates from California Baptist University in Riverside, CA and Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO.
IEA is born
In 1972, International Evangelism Association was born and today it guides the highly effective ministry of “Becoming a Disciple-Maker.” It implements a relational life-changing New Testament disciple-making process in numerous countries and languages. The shared goal of Dr. Hanks & IEA has always been to work through visionary Christian churches, colleges, universities, and seminaries... seeing spiritual multiplication occur throughout succesive generations.
For the last 50 years Billie Hanks Jr. and the IEA team have been and continue to actively minister throughout the world. The “Becoming a Disciple-Maker” Lead Church strategy and friendship based equipping process is now being taught for credit in Christian seminaries in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Dr. Hanks has followed in Trotman’s steps and is training IEA staff to do the same - teaching and training thousands of Great Commission minded pastors from many denominations how to close their “back doors” and “equip church members” to grow and multiply spiritually.
“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” – 2 Timothy 2:2
IEA at 50 Years, and Beyond...
200
Co-Laboring Denominations
40
Partnering Nations
50
Years of Ministry
1
Great Commission to be Fulfilled - Together
IEA's Spiritual Partners in the Great Commission
The IEA Team
U.S. Team
Billie Hanks Jr.
Founder, President
Billie is currently celebrating 50 years of service as IEA's founder and president - leading in all areas of global ministry direction in 40 partnering nations.
Randy Craig
Vice-President
Randy has led IEA's California office for more than 30 years - providing leadership in product development, writing & editing, international relations, and more.
Randy Ray
Main Office Director, Store Manager
Randy has over 30 years of service with IEA - leading office operations, orders, shipping, book layout, and much more at IEA's head office in Texas.
Matthew Scott
Global Digital Director
Matthew leads IEA's communication, media, digital ministries and is now based in Arkansas after many years as a missionary in Asia.
Melissa Ruiz
Administrative Assistant
Melissa serves as IEA's lead administrative assistant at our head office in Texas.
Gus Perona
IT Structural Engineer
Gus leads a successful real-estate business & volunteers as IEA's structural architect for our digital disciple-making app.
Global Team
Alejandro Fernández
Director, IEA Latin America
Alejandro provides leadership for all aspects of "Como ser un Hacedor de Discípulos" in the entire Spanish-speaking world.
Wilhelm Daiker
Director, IEA Europe & Western Asia
Willi oversees IEA's efforts in multiple languages, in a vast number of countries spanning three continents - primarily focused on Europe & Western Asia.
Ana Jolibeth Rodriguez
IEA Latin America
Ana Jolibeth serves a vital role in supporting the IEA ministry throughout the spanish-speaking world, & in her home Nicaragua.
Drs. Joseph & Rosa Shao
Directors, IEA Global Academic Partnerships
After many years in leadership in the academic world, Joseph and Rosa now serve with IEA in the areas of theological education & Chinese ministry.
Pastor Gerardo Leon
IEA Costa Rica, Central America
Gerardo plays a key role in both Costa Rica and other Central American countries, leading workshops in several nations.
Rev. Ohtiel Morales
IEA Venezeula
Ohtiel is the National Vice President of The Assemblies of God, Venezuela. He is a cherished partner & sets an excellent example for others to follow.
Pastor Giovanni Marroquin
IEA Guatemala
Giovanni serves as Vice-President of the Evangelical Alliance of Pastors of Guatemala, and is a beloved partner in advancing the Great Commission.
Pastor Nelson Fernandoi
IEA Chile
Nelson is a disciple-making pastor who models a lifestyle of intentional, relational discipleship for others to see and to follow.