Thank you to all who read my blogs!
Thank you to all who have shared thoughts and words of encouragement!
Thank you to all who have partnered with me, in funds or in prayer!
Thank you to all who live on mission, the mission of spreading the Kingdom of God each and every day!
You are the living embodiment of the gospel and I admire and rejoice with you!
For those of you who don’t know, I am about 3 month’s into an 11 month/11 country mission trip through Adventures in Missions called The World Race. This is a trip not only for missions (the pouring out of God’s Love) but also for discipleship training (the deepening of the understanding and experiencing of God’s Love). And many of you may be wondering how this is done, So let’s talk about it!
I believe we must start with WHY we are doing this! And the obvious place to start is with the Great Commission:
Matthew 28:19-20, ”Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that i have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Wow! How I greatly enjoy this passage! So let’s break down what it really says.
For now, I will be focusing on the first line, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” there is so much in this opening phrase and I will make an attempt to unpack it. I have now heard many people, much wiser than me, say that this first line is better translated to “As you go, make disciples of all nations…” And I like this for a few reasons:
- “As you go” indicates that “Go” is not the main verb of this, rather “ make disciples” is.
- It also indicates that this is not some separate activity that you do as a chore to check of but rather it is something that should infect and effect every part of your life
- Through this thinking you then are lead to lead to understand that life is ministry and ministry is life.
Now once we see these reasons, we can see the true call of this line, “make disciples”. This calling can lead to 3 questions.
What is a disciple?
How do we “make disciples”?
And who are we to “make disciples” of?
The definition of a disciple is “a follower or pupil of a teacher, leader, or philosopher.” in this case Jesus Christ. So we are to make a follower (someone who believes in) or pupil (someone who searches to know more) of Jesus. So how do we do this?
There is but one way! John 13:35, “By this all people shall know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We are called to Love one another just as Christ Loved us and through this we bring them before Christ, which is the only way they can become a disciple because, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Finally, who are we to “make disciples” of? Just look at the next part, “of all nations… “!
That means the Chinese, Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists, Prisoners, and the poor. But it also means your neighbor, coworker, friend, and siblings. This is why the “As you go…” translation is so powerful, because we are call to “make disciples” of anyone and everyone we meet (“of all nations”)!
This is what I have been learning to do these past 3 months!
Specifically, these last 2 months my team has not had a “ministry host” set up for us. Meaning we have no prearranged missionary, church, or any other form of ministry that we are being plugged into. Rather we are doing, what the World Race calls, “Ask The Lord” (ATL).
This is what that looks like:
Each morning my team and I wake up and gather in a common space to pray for guidance throughout our day.Then, we share what we got, if anything. This could look like an image, word, or desire that is put on our heart and/or mind in this time. We then head out to search out these things.
Sometimes, we feel we have a clear view of what God wants from us that day. But more often, it means we go about our day ready to be obedient, looking for an indication of where He wants us to be or what he wants us to do, being interruptible, being courageous in His name.
It means I played worship music over a speaker while playing basketball in China.
It means befriending Chinese teachers at the school we found to teach English at or the yoga teacher at a studio we did yoga in and being bold to talk about Jesus with her.
It’s telling a Chinese friend you have made why you aren’t eating dinner because of a fast you are on because God so loved you he gave his only son and you want to experience that love more deeply so you give up something to, in my case food.
It’s sharing what we are in Kazakhstan for (to spread the Love of Jesus) with our bunkmates at our hostile.
It’s talking to our Muslim barista about how Jesus is more than just a “good prophet”.
It’s sharing testimonies with friends we make at an English Club here in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
It’s giving food to someone on the street or money to the man in the subway.
These are just some of the ways my team and I have sought to make disciples as we go!
And always remember, we can only expose people to Christ, He is the one who must move to change their heart.
If you would like to hear any more specifics on something I have been doing, PLEASE read out and let me know. Through here, facebook, instagram, or iMessage. I would love to tell you more. Thank you!
Remember, Jesus and I love you.
