The ministry of SLM International began in 1952 as an outgrowth of a Gospel distribution on the island of Jamaica. Two pastors from Madison, Georgia, had the vision to follow up the distribution of fifty thousand Gospels of John, with Bible correspondence courses. A series of studies was prepared to send to those returning the inserted enrollment cards. The astounding response launched this Bible correspondence course ministry. At first, the lessons were mimeographed; then a Print Shop was established. This phase of the ministry has expanded and developed over the years into a modern printing operation.

In the early years of development, SLM International began providing studies just for our own students. Then an Associate Discipleship School program was established in the late fifties. Through this method, the Bible correspondence courses were made available for other groups to use in their ministries. We now have over 2,500 Associate Discipleship Schools in over 80 countries.

A businessman in Madison gave office space to begin the ministry. Later, he donated sixteen acres of land, five miles south of Madison, which was developed for printing and office space. The first building was constructed in 1958. This space was doubled in 1974, giving a total of 12,600 square feet. A building for housing the Print Shop, with shipping and storage areas, was built in 1986 and in 1995 another section with 3,500 square feet was added, bringing the total area to 26,100 square feet. We expanded the administration building in 2000 to include a new chapel, receptionist area, and entryway.

The ministry started in Jamaica; therefore, a large number of students were from the Caribbean. An Associate Discipleship School was established there to process lessons from thousands of students. A large Discipleship Training Branch was also developed at the Madison location to care for students in the United States. As courses were added and translated into other languages, the ministry of SLM International expanded. At times the demand for the courses almost overwhelmed our limited staff as they worked diligently and frugally to stretch the limited dollars to meet the expanding needs of the work.

In 1957 SLM began developing Discipleship Training Branches overseas. Source of Light now has Branches in twenty-six foreign countries and seven states here in the United States. Each of these Branches acts as a Discipleship Training Center conducting its own outreach through Associate Discipleship Schools which act under their direction. We now conduct these DTBs in the following countries:

In addition, we began expanding the work in this country by establishing Discipleship Training Branches in the U.S. We now have DTBs in the following locations:

NETWORKING

This is worldwide ministry networks with many other missions, churches, evangelists, missionaries, and laymen to reach the lost and mature believers in the faith. Missionaries from over fifty evangelical missions depend on the materials produced by SLM for both evangelism and discipleship. This kind of inter-dependence gives maximum exposure for our materials at minimum direct expense to SLM.

SLM International Headquarters are located in Madison, Georgia. Our Director of Outreach Ministries is responsible for the various Discipleship Training Branches (DTBs). These in turn oversee the work of the Associate Discipleship Schools (ADSs) which are established under their direction. (see chart of organizational structure) The Literature Coordinator is responsible for supplying literature to the Discipleship Training Branches and to any Associate Discipleship Schools, which are not directly under a Discipleship Training Branch. Each Discipleship Training Branch and Associate Discipleship School is directed by Source of Light personnel. All staff personnel are “faith missionaries,” self-supported retirees, or volunteers. SLM has no salaried staff.

First we produce the scores of Bible correspondence courses for all ages for which SLM is best known. The Bible courses are prepared for mailing or delivering directly to the student, who returns the test for grading. The students can then progress at their own pace. The courses are provided free of charge to the student and present profound truths from the Bible in a very simple, but interesting manner. Most of the courses are well illustrated to bring out the truths of the lessons. Students are frequently impatient for the next lesson to arrive. We have Bible correspondence courses available from preschool through the adult levels. These primarily cover salvation and Christian growth. Upon completion of a course, a certificate is issued. This frequently gives the student a feeling of accomplishment, or self-worth, not previously attained.

In addition, we are also providing college-level training materials in our World-Wide Bible Institute and WW-LIT departments to train students for active ministry as pastors, missionaries and evangelists.

Most recently we have begun testing an inter-active small group discipleship course called “Crosswalk 220.” This course has been used in several foreign countries with excellent results and will made its debut in America in the near future.

LANGUAGES PRINTED / PRODUCED

At the home office in Madison, we are printing in English, French, Creole, Hungarian, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Filipino Tagalog. Our Discipleship Training Branches in the Philippines, India, and Kenya have translated, printed, and distributed some of the courses in a number of local languages or dialects. We continue to revise, translate, and print additional courses as rapidly as possible.

Finally, SLM has recently begun an Alternative Media department which is presently creating inter-active digital versions of our materials to reach a new generation - as well as producing audio and Braille versions for the visually impaired.

EFFECTIVENESS

Approximately 15,000 students are enrolled in our Discipleship Training School in Madison. One-third of these are prisoners. All discipleship ministries (both DTBs and ADSs) use the Bible correspondence courses as a basis for their ministry. In addition, some DTBs have other outreach ministries such as Christian bookstores, Bible classes, church planting and radio.

Our Discipleship Training Branch in India has used the Bible correspondence courses to develop Seeker’s Conferences, and Discipleship and Leadership Training Programs. As an outgrowth of these ministries, their church-planting program has founded more than 700 churches since its inception in 1990.