In this episode of the DMM Podcast, we hear from Sam Turner of Northland, New Zealand, as he shares at the DMM Connect gathering. Sam tells his story of moving from traditional church leadership to embracing Disciple Making Movements (DMM). His journey leads to a deep shift—from extracting people into church programs to empowering believers to reach their own communities. In the second half, two leaders from Sam’s team, Roland and Jim, share how they are using Discovery Bible Study (DBS) in their own contexts to see multiplication.

Sam’s Journey into DMM

When Sam arrived in New Zealand, he was struck by God’s heart for a “fatherless nation.” While serving at a local church in Paparoa, Sam felt a deep dissatisfaction comparing the book of Acts with his church’s reality. This led him to a year of daily prayer, seeking breakthrough.

During this season, God gave Sam a vision of a match striking a box, igniting a fire that spread across New Zealand and beyond. The match represented a people who would stand unapologetically on God’s Word and not limit the work of the Holy Spirit.

This only deepened Sam’s longing—until he encountered the DBS tool and the book Contagious Disciple Making (Dave and Paul Watson). Applying DBS first to a men’s group, Sam saw it multiply quickly. Other groups followed, and soon the church was learning principles of simplicity, modeling, and multiplication. This marked the beginning of their transition from traditional church models to a disciple-making movement mindset.

Rethinking Church and Leadership

Over time, big questions emerged: How does DMM relate to church? What about teaching if no one person is “leading” a DBS?

Sam shares that Jesus often taught through questions—over 300 in the Gospels. Their team learned to respond with Scripture and good questions rather than top-down answers.

A major paradigm shift also occurred around evangelism. Rather than extracting people into church programs, Sam’s team began empowering believers to go, serve, and invest in others. Like Jesus in John 13:3–5, leaders are called to wash feet—not gather followers to make them “like us,” but to release them to reach their own communities.

Roland and Jim: Using DBS in Their Contexts

Roland, from a Tuvaluan background, opened his home for Bible study. What started as two families soon grew to over 40 people—so many that everyone couldn’t share. When his wife gave birth, the large meeting stopped, but what seemed like an ending actually multiplied. The big group naturally broke into 15 DBS groups meeting in homes across the community.

Jim first encountered DBS in a men’s group at Paparoa. He shares how the Holy Spirit became the true teacher, and how he wished he had this tool earlier while discipling at-risk youth with his wife. Now, Jim facilitates DBS among men, often through ManUp groups—a 10-week program for men dealing with family dysfunction, trauma, and addiction. Many of these men take DBS and pass it on to others, finding it far more effective than traditional street evangelism.

Final Encouragement for Church Leaders

Sam closes by urging church leaders to notice who God has placed on the hearts of the people they lead. For Roland, its forming communities that can multiply. For Jim, it’s reaching men who are struggling. For others, it will look different. The role of leaders is to serve, empower, and call people to see God’s bigger picture.

Watch this episode as a video here: