Skip to main content

A Spirit-Inspired Vision.

"At a Tokyo train station, they realized that for every person they gave the Gospel to, ten slipped by them."

In 1946, a young Canadian pastor named Jack McAlister encouraged his radio audience to help provide gospel literature to missionaries through the Tract Club of the Air. In 1952, he founded World Literature Crusade – known today as Every Home for Christ to further coordinate the placement of millions of gospel messages in bulk in countries around the globe. Yet no real systematic distribution strategy began until 1953, when he went to Japan with a fellow visionary.

At a Tokyo train station, they realized that for every person they gave the gospel to, ten slipped by them. That night they prayed desperately over maps of Tokyo and all of Japan asking, “How can we reach everybody and have a measurable sense of what has been accomplished?”  This vision was given to them: Take the gospel to every home. Divide the city of Tokyo in a strategic way, and find people willing to go to every home.

Jack McAllister on the radio
Jack McAllister
Jack McAllister

God planted a similar vision in the heart of Dick Eastman in 1966. Following a five-week, home-to-home outreach in Central America—a decade before he joined Every Home for Christ and 20 years before being appointed its international president—he thought, “Someone should do this all over the world; mapping out every nation, taking the gospel to every home, and implementing a mechanism to disciple each person.”

Since 1953, home by home, Every Home for Christ staff and volunteers have systematically and strategically taken over 4.7 billion gospel messages to over 1.7 billion homes worldwide. Taking the great commission literally, we partner with passionate Christians around the globe in sharing their faith right where they live. The fruit has been extraordinary. Every Home outreaches have been conducted in around 200 nations around the world.

Over 243 million decisions and responses for Christ have reached Every Home for Christ offices and have been followed-up. To continue their discipleship, new believers are encouraged to attend established local churches. In places without an established local church, Every Home for Christ forms new Christ Groups to disciple new believers. Over 400,000 groups have been planted in the course of Every Home for Christ’s history.

In 2009, Tanner and Bethany Peake moved to Colorado Springs to join the mission of Every Home for Christ. At the time, they were a young married couple answering a call to help people genuinely encounter Jesus.  

For over a decade, Tanner and Bethany served in strategic roles, investing in Every Home’s global ministry, administration, and spiritual formation. They have adapted to serve the ministry in any capacity needed and invested profoundly in every aspect and activity of Every Home.

In 2012, Tanner was appointed director of prayer mobilization, following in the footsteps of Dick Eastman. Three years later, in 2015, Tanner stepped into the role of international director. In this role, he spearheaded the launch of Every Home’s Oikos initiative, a strategic plan to reach everyone, everywhere, with the gospel within this generation. Tanner was named executive director in 2020 and helped lead the ministry through the COVID-19 pandemic. In September of 2021, at Dick’s recommendation, the board of directors approved Tanner as Dick’s successor, and in September 2022, Tanner formally succeeded Dick as president.

In the last two decades, the landscape of Christian ministry and missions changed radically. Digital technology and social media play an increasing role in evangelism, allowing for more efficient connectivity between ministries and more accessible avenues of discovery for people who are curious about the gospel. Additionally, the importance of contextualized global evangelism has illuminated the need for new missions strategies that acknowledge the rapidly changing demographics of the global church, utilize new tools, and express the one true message of the gospel in diverse contexts.  

Oikos is such a strategy. Grounded in careful calculations and metrics, Oikos envisions, in practical terms, reaching everyone, everywhere within this generation. It relies on every believer worldwide being discipled and equipped to participate in embodying the presence of Christ to their world, and it believes in faith that God does impossible things through his people.  

While still rooted in the mission to reach every home, Oikos recognizes that many people do not have permanent dwellings or could be overlooked in traditional home-to-home evangelism. Oikos dreams beyond homes, innovating and expanding our mission in practical ways to ensure that every beating heart experiences a genuine encounter with Jesus.  

Today, Every Home’s global fellowship, including over 3,000 staff worldwide and a monthly average of 200,000 volunteers, is working tirelessly toward the vision of Oikos. We continually pioneer new methods and tools while systematically saturating neighborhoods and nations with the good news of Jesus.