God Is Up to Something

By Ron Hunter Jr.

Two regular-looking guys, dressed in European styles, stand in the hallway of the Dallas convention center in 2009. One remarks, “God is doing something, and we need it.”

Runar and Gunar flew from Norway to experience what God might be up to at the D6 Conference. These European visitors caught the D6 vision and asked if they could take the principles, approach, name, and even the D6 Conference back to churches across northern Europe. Little did we know God would bring many others to ask the same question.

Randall House helped design a logo for Norway, which oddly enough was 5M6 (which references the “Fifth book of Moses” as it is named in the Norwegian Bible). In complete transparency, we were not prepared for what God was doing during the first two or three years of the conference. Each year, God assembled strategic thinkers and leaders from all over the world and used the sacred Shema passage from Deuteronomy 6 to convict hearts and help them rediscover what God has always intended—generational discipleship in church and home.

Through friends in the academic and family ministry world, I was asked to join an international think tank designed to coach leaders in Southeast Asia regarding discipleship. The goal was not to emulate growing churches in the western world but to follow biblical principles of generational discipleship without repeating the mistakes of the American church. In April 2014, ten leaders gathered at Concordia Seminary over two days and discussed ways we could assist and mentor leaders from Southeast Asia. Ben Freudenberg facilitated and hosted this meeting where I met Matthew Ling, a gifted Malaysian leader in family ministry. While many future goals came from this meeting, representatives also decided to push for an international meeting at the 2015 D6 Conference.

The D6 Conference has attracted international leaders from year one. When people discover God’s heartbeat in His commands in Deuteronomy 6 then discern how to live out those commands relationally, passing along passionate worship of Christ to all generations in all places becomes vital. Beginning in 2009, people heard about ministry leaders gathering in Dallas because they care about the healthy revitalization of the church through family ministry. Randall House promoted this event in the States but the message also spread globally. From 2009 to 2015 the number of attendees from other countries continued to grow:

Randall House does not map out strategic geographical places to launch an international event. We wait for God to send a champion to inquire about hosting a D6 event in his or her country. While many have requested, not all have passed the vetting process or have done the work required to earn the D6 branding.

When a leader inquires about hosting a D6 event, that leader usually has attended at least two D6 Conferences in the States. We use this time to assist in an 18-month ramp-up to launch in any new country. The global leader receives access to all D6 themes, graphics, programs, promotional videos, and even speaker videos. The Randall House design department shares cloud storage conference files for their use. I spend 20-plus hours on video conference calls with these international leaders, preparing them for the event to launch. More than one international event has used our speaker videos of people like Phil Vischer, Richard Ross, Lydia Randall, Josh Griffin, Doug Fields, and David Platt, among others. The videos, if not in an English-speaking country are translated with subtitles. Thanks to our gracious speakers, 99% of our speaker videos are available for international use.

Randall House has been instrumental in launching D6 into five countries. The brand, and even the D6 logo, has been extremely popular since its release in 2007, and hundreds of churches use it with permission. Randall House mapped out a similar way to license the D6 brand with the D6 Conference to be used by global leaders who champion the principles of generational discipleship through church and home. The relationship is straightforward; we grant usage of the brand, the conference, and provide support. But the global leader assumes all financial responsibility. We also request (but do not require) the international host to pay-it-forward by sending Randall House 10% of the total income from the conference to support other countries launching D6. The Randall House board of directors has set aside $10,000 to help pay for travel to these international events and asked me to attend as many as feasible. Attending three events in 2018, travel expenses totaled $7,500, as some travel was underwritten by the events.

Reflecting on D6 Norway, our first international event, as I said earlier we were not prepared for what was happening. We gave our blessing, offered video support, but did not attend. Another evangelical organization did attend the meeting and reshaped the Norway event. If we see the need for all generations to be discipled, and for these efforts to be sustained, we must look at the long-term strategy and be present to support them.

The third year of D6 (2011) introduced us to Romain Denis, the leader of the second international D6. This businessman felt convicted to host the D6 Conference in his home country of France and underwrite the expense himself since he did not have a larger Christian ministry to cover the expenses. Multiple ministries participated in the process. I connected Romain with Clint Morgan, who connected him with Robert Bryan, Matt Price, Joel and Lydia Teague, and one of their friends. Nothing is more special than being part of God orchestrating events to grow His Kingdom.

As planned, we hosted 21 countries at D6 in Louisville in 2015. Matthew Ling and Ben Freudenberg arranged for leaders to meet for two days, one before and one after the conference. Again, God raised up at least three more leaders to host global events. One leader, Fung Fong Chea, told me that she wanted to launch in Singapore the following July. Without showing any skepticism, I explained it would take 18 months to prepare. She countered by listing relationships and support coming from the Bible Society of Singapore. After numerous Skype sessions, with a 13-hour time difference, we agreed her team was ready and in 2016, the first annual D6 Singapore met with 320 in attendance followed by 550 attendees in 2017 and 780 attendees in July 2018. This year, Singapore should surpass 1,000 attendees.

Herbert Tan from Malaysia also attended the 2015 meeting. He now serves as D6 Conference director and successfully attracted 590 attendees to the first annual D6 Malaysia. Fung Fong and Herbert Tan have agreed to host back-to-back weeks in order to share any featured speaker who travels to Southeast Asia from the States. Both are English-speaking countries, and speaker videos work well, although Singapore also translates videos into Mandarin Chinese. I had the privilege of speaking at both conferences in 2018 and to help launch both Singapore and France in their inaugural years.

Paul Kim, a pastor from South Korea, traveled to Nashville with his family to discuss hosting D6 in Korea and also publishing Randall House books and curriculum. Pastor Kim wanted to duplicate the entire concept in his home country, with a website offering family ministry resources focused on church, home, and school. Fast-forward to September 2018 when 450 people gathered for the first D6 Korea. It is fascinating to see every international event also has multiple countries attending.
Our global partners run their own events. Randall House does not micro-manage or dictate the details, but rather models principles while they focus on contextual implementation. Most international events look similar but all have unique features, like tea served morning and afternoon in Singapore and kimchi at every meal in Korea.
Why do we do international events? First, we did not initiate but responded as God created opportunities. Everyone who has attended D6 in the States can attest to the unique way God is using D6 within the greater Body of Christ. Randall House and Free Will Baptists have been chosen to lead and steward this movement. We understand “discipleship is not an event, it is a way of life,” and therefore, our goal is not just to help global leaders “do” another event. We also help find a publisher to support the effort as each D6 Conference launches with several of our core book titles translated and ready to sell. We see these events as an inspirational training catalyst to move people in the correct direction and provide books to train leaders within the church and ultimately provide curriculum to facilitate daily discipleship. D6 Curriculum has been available in Singapore since the second event as it will be for Malaysia and Korea.

Our publishing partner, Bible Society of Singapore, has translated ten Randall House family titles and curriculum. CEO Ezekiel Tan and I have met multiple times along with Fung Fong, and we are discussing, at Ezekiel’s request, the possibility of a D6 Conference in China. We will explore the possibilities during a summit held in China in 2019 after D6 Singapore. God is up to something, and we are grateful to be part of what He wants to do.

About the Writer: Ron Hunter Jr., Ph.D., has served as CEO of Randall House Publications since 2002. He coaches the international D6 Conference directors. For more information about the D6 Conference, visit www.d6conference.com.