Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples, by Francis Chan with Mark Beuving, made the The New York Times best-sellers list at No. 11 in the Advice & Misc. category, in the debut week of its release this month.
Chan has partnered with The New York Times best-selling author David Platt, author of Radical, to spread the message of Multiply. On Nov. 9-10, they held two live webcasts to kick off Multiply Gatherings, events designed to come alongside local churches in training people to be disciple-makers. Over 10,000 small groups and over 950 churches from 100 countries (over half of the countries in the world) registered to participate in the free webcasts.
The webcasts, which may become an annual simulcast, are available atmultiplymovement.com, along with 24 online coaching videos from Chan and Platt. The videos correspond to the 24 chapters in Multiply and provide practical information for newcomers to disciple-making.
“It is evident that this message is resonating with people around the world,” says Don Pape, vice president of trade publishing. “By the numbers we saw participate this weekend, this isn’t something that’s going to fade. It’s a raising up of today’s generation to fulfill Christ’s calling.”
A pastor and church planter based in San Francisco, Chan speaks to tens of thousands of people around the world every year. In addition to Multiply, he has written Forgotten God, Erasing Hell and Crazy Love, which has sold 2 million copies. In Multiply, Chan and Beuving help Christians clarify their understanding of discipleship, including Christ’s requirement of disciples to be disciple-makers.
Chan writes, “God wants all believers—His disciples—to be actively involved in helping our world find and follow Him.”
He also points to the successes of the original disciples—ordinary people—as a reason for encouragement. “Scripture tells us that these men stood before rulers who accused them of turning the world upside down. They did, and we should do no less. The same Holy Spirit lives in modern disciple-makers, and world-changing disciple-making results are still possible.”
