History

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CDI History

1948
Village Missions Begins

Village Missions Begins

Village Missions, a ministry devoted to sending pastors to rural areas, is launched on September 9, 1948. Rev. Walter Duff, Jr. is appointed the National Director and a Board of Directors is formed.

1977
The Foundation of Contenders Bible School (CDI)

The Foundation of Contenders Bible School (CDI)

Ron Sallee begins teaching “How to the Study the Bible” and “Christian Doctrine” at Camano Chapel served by Village Missions on Camano Island, Washington. These courses form the foundation of Contenders Bible School (CDI).

1979
Ron & Marilyn Sallee Become Village Missionaries

Ron & Marilyn Sallee Become Village Missionaries

Ron & Marilyn faithfully serve the field of Arago, Oregon, for 6 1/2 years.

1985
Village Missionaries Ron & Marilyn Sallee Move to Machias, WA

Village Missionaries Ron & Marilyn Sallee Move to Machias, WA

They faithfully serve this field for 31 1/2 years.

1995
Contenders Bible School Begins

Contenders Bible School Begins

Contenders Bible School begins at Machias Community Church. From this program, God calls people into full time ministry outside of Machias, many with Village Missions. This program eventually grows into today’s Contenders Discipleship Initiative (CDI).

1998
First Contenders Bible School Graduates Enter Ministry

First Contenders Bible School Graduates Enter Ministry

First class of graduates begin serving as Village Missionaries in Tensed, ID.

2011
McKenna Community Church begins CDI

McKenna Community Church begins CDI

Ron Sallee commutes to McKenna Community Church south of Tacoma, WA, and starts a Contenders Bible School there.

2011
Escuela De Evangelistas Alberto Motessi Begins

Escuela De Evangelistas Alberto Motessi Begins

Village Missionary Raul Corona teaches a “Bibliology and How to Study the Bible” class using notes and PowerPoint Slides from Contenders that had been translated into Spanish. This marks the beginning of Escuela de Evangelistas Alberto Motessi.

2012
Servants Bible School Starts

Servants Bible School Starts

Village Missionaries Russ Richardson and Rob Dore start Servants Bible School, which was modeled after Contenders Bible School.

2013
Leavengood Estate Gift

Leavengood Estate Gift

Village Missions receives a generous estate gift, which proves an immense blessing to our ministry. Combined with Executive Director Brian Wechsler’s passionate vision and support to expand Contenders Bible School and make it accessible to people and churches across rural North America – and around the world! – this gift helps pave the way for the official formation of the Contenders Discipleship Initiative curriculum.

2013
The Work Begins

The Work Begins

The groundwork begins for the creation of CDI. Videography: Jeff Haugen;  Project Manager, Web designer & Guidebook production: Cindy Kitts; and a host of volunteers.

2014
Escuela De Evangelistas Alberto Motessi Graduation

Escuela De Evangelistas Alberto Motessi Graduation

The Escuela de Evangelistas Alberto Motessi graduates its first class of 20 students in June of 2014.  Graduates from this program have gone on to minister in Hispanic neighborhoods in California.

2014
First course (“Bibliology & How to Study the Bible”) Available on CDI Website

First course (“Bibliology & How to Study the Bible”) Available on CDI Website

Contenders Discipleship Initiative (CDI) is launched as a two-year program offered by Village Missions to equip Christians for ministry within their local church and to prepare those who are called for full-time ministry as missionary pastors.

2014
Servants Bible School Sends Out First Graduates

Servants Bible School Sends Out First Graduates

Servants Bible School sends out its first Village Missionaries, Mark & Karen Woolbright, to Helix, Oregon.

2016
Ron Sallee Becomes CDI Director

Ron Sallee Becomes CDI Director

After 38 years of faithfully serving as a Village Missionary, Ron Sallee steps into leadership to oversee the development of the CDI program.

2017
CDI Guidebooks Translated to Spanish

CDI Guidebooks Translated to Spanish

CDI guidebooks are being translated into Spanish for training pastors in Guatemala by Servants4Him.

2017
CDI Goes to Africa

CDI Goes to Africa

Retired Village Missionaries Rob & Linda Dore take the CDI (loaded on Kindle Fire Tablets) to Malawi to train pastors.

2017
Ken Ainsworth Becomes CDI Administrator

Ken Ainsworth Becomes CDI Administrator

Ken Ainsworth becomes the CDI Administrator, handling Help Desk and web inquires as well administering the CDI Leaning Management System.

2018
Final Course (“Evangelisim, Teaching,  & Preaching”) Available on CDI Website

Final Course (“Evangelisim, Teaching, & Preaching”) Available on CDI Website

After 4 years, the last class of CDI is finished, thus completing the program with 6 courses.

2018
First CDI Graduates Become Village Missionaries

First CDI Graduates Become Village Missionaries

Rick & Stephanie Sherman, who completed the CDI program at a Village Missions church, are the first CDI graduates to attend Village Missions Candidate School. A few months later, they are placed on their first field of Lookingglass, Oregon.

2019
Work Begins for Closed Captioning in English

Work Begins for Closed Captioning in English

Contenders graduate and Village Missionary David Carr works to assist those with hearing impairments. A generous group of volunteers begin close captioning all the videos into English.

2020
English Closed Captioning for “Bibliology & How to Study the Bible” Completed

English Closed Captioning for “Bibliology & How to Study the Bible” Completed

After several months of hard work, the first course in the CDI program is available in closed captioning!

2020
Work Begins to Translate CDI Closed Captioning into More Languages

Work Begins to Translate CDI Closed Captioning into More Languages

The ambitious work to translate CDI closed captioning into other languages – including Spanish, Portuguese and Farsi.