Our History
From a Small Rescue Mission to a World-Changing Mission Pioneer
1957
Lester and Pauline Myers began San Jose Rescue Mission in a banana warehouse in San Jose, CA. Little did they know that it would eventually have a worldwide impact. From the start, the mission had an innovative attitude and a passion for reaching the lost. These values would eventually birth what we now know as New Generations.
1978
Patrick Robertson became the Executive Director of the Mission. Like many of the key staff, he was a graduate of Prairie Bible Institute, a mission-focused Bible college in Alberta, Canada. (Its alumni include famous missionaries like Don Richardson, Elizabeth Elliott, and Ralph Winter. As well as the future founder of New Generations, Harry Brown) Early on, Robertson led a team of staff to Brazil, where they walked the favelas and were reawakened to the plight of the poor around the world.
1978-1985
Responding to the needs of thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodian arriving in the Bay Area, the mission begins meeting practical needs and planting numerous new churches among refugees.
1983
As the ministry to the urban poor expanded across the US, it changed its name to CityTeam. CityTeam clarified its vision, declaring: “We glorify God, serving people in need, proclaiming the Gospel and establishing disciples among the disadvantaged people of cities.”
1994
CityTeam launches an international division with a bold vision: “The new mission is… in obedience to Christ, to passionately transform individuals, families, and communities around the world.”Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, American missionary David Watson and Indian pastor Victor John begin using a new approach to multiply disciples and churches, among the world’s largest unreached people group, the Bhojpuri of Northern India.
1995
CityTeam International begins working in Cuba using a Cell Church strategy.
1996
Harry Brown is promoted to Vice President of International Ministry and launches a global church planting division.
2001
Future New Generations team members Bertilo Johnson and Jerry Trousdale hear David Watson teach about the church planting movements. They wonder to themselves, “Is he lying or is this an answer to our prayers?” In the years that follow, they are mentored by Watson.
2002
Final Command Ministries was launched. Jerry Trousdale, Bertilo Johnson, & David Watson set a goal of 2,000 new churches in West Africa in five years.
2003
CityTeam hires David Watson as Vice President of Church Planting.
In the following years, training is done for leaders in many nations in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
2005
The Final Command Africa Team (Younoussa Djao, Bertilo Johson, and Jerry Trousdale) join CityTeam International.
After leading many short-term teams to Ethiopia, CityTeam leader Dave Hunt moves to Addis Ababa. He begins training thousands in movement strategies but a handful of local leaders take the vision farther than he can imagine.
2006
After a time of prayer and fasting, Bertilo Johnson, Younoussa Djao, and Jerry Trousdale set a goal to start church planting movements among 18 unreached people groups in the world, almost all with over one million people.
2007
CityTeam’s International division was renamed “New Generations International.”
2008
Leaders from 13 African Nations met in Côte d’Ivoire for movement training and signed the Grand Bassam Church Planting Movement Covenant.
2010
On December 4, 2010, the CityTeam International team coins a new term “Disciple Making Movement” to replace the more general term “Church Planting Movement” and to more accurately describe their strategy.
2012
The book Miraculous Movements, by Jerry Trousdale, was published telling the story of how God is at work among African Muslim people groups.
2014
The book Contagious Disciple Making by CityTeam staff David and Paul Watson is published.
2017
The board commissioned the international division to launch an independent ministry focused on Disciple Making Movements.
2022
The story of God’s glory is that since March 2005, the Lord has used New Generations and the Disciple Making Movement (DMM) process to catalyze over 100,000 new churches with over 2 million new disciples—many from places where the Gospel had not sprouted let alone spread for over a century.
However, ‘movements’ of churches planting churches are our main measure of success. We define a ‘movement’ as at least 100 new churches that have multiplied to the fourth generation or beyond. Currently, we are tracking more than 190 of these movements that range between 4 and 27 generations of new churches.
