Discipleship is an important part of what we do! A large part of discipleship is strategic.
Think about planting a garden. When you begin to plant, you don’t go out and buy heads of lettuce and carrots and stick them in the ground as if that’s where they came from. You actually don’t even start with the seed. You start with the preparation of the soil.
You think:
- What does my soil need to help nurture living plants?
- What are my long-term goals for this garden?
- What types of harm can come to my plants and how can I protect them?
You get the idea…it’s all about preparation and strategy for your garden to be successful.
Discipleship is similar:
- What is it that those you are disciplining need?
- What are your long-term goals for these new believers?
- What harm can you protect against?
We at Missions Partners know that we cannot show up in a region and plant a seed without tending the soil. For us, the “soil” is the physical condition of our brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s difficult for people to come to know Christ and care for themselves spiritually if they are hurting physically from things that WE can fix!
Sure, mature Christians should always put their spiritual health before the physical, but these people don’t know Christ. We can’t have the same spiritual expectations for them.
We are told to be God’s hands and feet, and that’s exactly what we do on our mission’s trips. We disciple by tending the “soil”– healing their bodies before planting the seeds.
Here are the answers to our discipleship strategy:
- What is it that those you are disciplining need? We know that those we disciple on our mission’s trips need medical care first. We also know they need to find their hope in Christ!
- What are your long-term goals for these new believers? We have longterm goals that those we impact can pass on the Word of God, by becoming disciples themselves, and bearing fruit!
- What harm can you protect against? We want to protect against toxic views of Christianity and spiritual threats.
Let’s meet our brothers and sisters where they are and learn to be strategic in our discipleship! Will you join us?
