What is Discipleship?:
This is probably one of the greatest areas of weakness in our churches today yet one of the most important when it comes to both spiritual and numerical growth. Discipleship is the process whereby we help someone grow in their spiritual life to the point that they can then in turn help someone else grow also. This is what we see in key passages like, 2 Tim 2:2 where Paul told his son in the faith to pass on what he had learned to faithful men so that they could in turn teach others. So before we talk about what discipleship is, lets look at what it is not.
What Discipleship Is Not:
Discipleship is not a set of lessons or a program or just something we do from the pulpit. It is also not just getting people involved in the ministry. While each of these things is important and might even have a part in discipleship, they are not in and of themselves discipleship. They all lack the one key ingredient that is a life on life investment in the person being discipled.
What Discipleship Is:
Discipleship is investing in someones life, it is meeting them where they are, it is helping them grow and taking them as far as you can in their spiritual walk. We divide this process into four steps that are, Be, Do, Serve, and Train. You first must work on the Be or private area of someone’s life helping them know how they are in Christ. After you help them understand who they are, they can begin to live like who they are and then they will begin to Do what they should. A person is only going to Do according to who they Are. Then, once they are growing and doing what they should we help them find where they should be Serving in the body of Christ. The last and ultimate goal is that they grow to the point that they can Train someone else in the same way, so that person can do the same. The end result of this, as Ephesians 4:11,12 says, is the edification of the body of Christ or the church. If you have never been discipled or have never discipled anyone else, I would encourage you to get involved today. You can also read my full article on discipleship on our website at www.operationbolivia.com “What is Discipleship?”
The #1 Most Important Job of a Missionary:
We realize that there are many things that a missionary could be involved in, but I believe none of them are more important than training pastors and leaders for the ministry. One of the ways that we do this is through our Bible College. We have established three main goals that we hope to accomplish in the lives of every person that attends, which are, Knowledge, Character, Practice. We want them to have a thorough knowledge of the Bible and how to study and preach it. Also we want them to truly grow in their spiritual maturity, character and integrity. The last thing that we work to accomplish is the practical preparation on how to do the ministry. This semester we are teaching four classes that range from Old Testament Survey to Evangelism and Discipleship. In total we have twelve students that are taking anywhere from one to all of the classes. I am very excited every time I teach to think of the potential that is before me and the possibility that they might be the future leaders in the ministry here.
Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for us as we seek the Lord’s guidance on where to start our next church.
2. Pray for those that are in our Bible College and that the Lord would call many more to serve Him.
3. Pray for pastor Pablo Rojas and his wife as they are expecting their first child in a few months.
4. Pray for the construction at our first church as they are trying to finish the bathrooms and main classroom.