During those trips I learned how to read a state road map. I still carry an old-school atlas with me in the car, just in case. But today we can open an app on our phones or on the car dashboard to provide us with cues for our travels. The GPS tells us when to exit, merge with traffic, and change lanes. It can provide alternate routes based on traffic, suggest the closest coffee shop, or exclaim “Recalculating route!” when you miss your turn.

But what’s the one thing necessary for a GPS system to function as it has been designed?

A Destination.

When it comes to raising disciples, we should set our eyes on the destination.

I believe that one of the reasons parents and caregivers struggle to disciple children well is that we haven’t clearly identified the destination for their discipleship and the directions that guide them toward that goal.

How would you describe a child who is entering adolescence as an active disciple? Would you choose words that describe their character: loving, joyful, obedient, self-controlled? Or would you choose words that describe behaviors: reads the Bible daily, asks spiritual questions, worships God? Perhaps you would choose words that describe their depth of knowledge and understanding about God and His Word.

Public and private education systems have stated objectives when it comes to student expectations. Lists of student learning outcomes articulate the goals for students at the conclusion of each grade level. Each child is unique and develops at their own rate, so there are those who will exceed the expectations and others who will struggle. But teachers begin each year knowing the goals and guiding students along the path toward achievement. Like a GPS, they might have to find alternate paths for some or help others get turned back around, but with a clear goal and markers on the way, teachers are able to guide their young disciples.

This is what we’ve been missing in our homes and churches — a discipleship map that states the goal for raising disciples and provides directions toward that goal.

In some Christian traditions, the goal for children has been a public confession of Christ; in others, submission through the act of baptism. In yet other traditions, it has been the completion of confirmation classes. Regardless of our tradition, our goal for raising disciples should be the same as the goal for all disciples: to become more and more like Christ every day.

For three years, Jesus taught the crowds, His enemies, and political leaders, but most often, He was teaching twelve ordinary men from various backgrounds, vocations, and experiences. When He chose the Twelve, He had a goal in mind. Jesus knew that at the conclusion of His earthly ministry He would redeem the world through His death, return to God the Father, and equip His followers with the Holy Spirit to disciple others. He needed a core group of leaders who would follow Him daily (Luke 9:23), continuing His mission “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10) and to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

As Jesus prepared to leave the Twelve to continue His mission, He met with them to give them some final encouragements and admonitions. Woven through Jesus’ conversation in the upper room (John 13–17), we find descriptions of what it means to become like Christ:

• Follow His example (John 13:14-15),
• Love others (John 13:34),
• Believe in God (John 14:1),
• Keep God’s commands (John 14:15), and
• Remain in Christ (John 15:4).

These descriptors provide some direction toward the goal for all disciples.

With the destination of becoming like Christ as our goal, we can utilize childhood development information from the fields of social science, learning theory, and psychology to create a map for discipleship from infancy to adolescence.* Beginning at birth, there are seven directional discipleship markers — approximately one for every two years of life — that parallel the biological, cognitive, social, and moral development of children. Just as Jesus discipled the Twelve from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity, we can use this map to raise disciples who become increasingly more like Christ.

Did you like this article? Check out Teresa Roberts’ full book, Raising Disciples, as well as the accompanying free 8-week parenting curriculum today!

Discipleship Tip:

When discipling someone, consider verbally setting discipleship goals. With a destination in mind, you can orchestrate milestones and implement accountability, making sure that you both are progressing forward in their discipleship journey.

*The faith research of James W. Fowler (Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning, San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1981) and insights of spiritual development from John H. Westerhoff III (Will Our Children Have Faith?, 3rd. ed., Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse, 2012) has also informed this discipleship map.

Meet the Author

Teresa Roberts is Professor of Ministry and Christian Formation, Program Director of Children’s Ministry, and a vice president at Ozark Christian College. She is an expert in children’s spiritual formation training with more than 25 years of ministry experience.

Dr. Roberts holds a Master of Arts in Family and Youth Ministry, a Master of Divinity, and a Doctor of Ministry. She serves in children’s ministry at Carterville Christian Church where she attends with her husband and step-daughter. Learn more at discipleshipguides.com/.

The Holy Trinity is a mystery to me, with its three in oneness and its oneness in three, and I can just barely grasp the deep relational nature of how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit touch and spin and dance off each other and with each other. Hospitality — that generous making room for others and giving and receiving to and from each other from our plenty and sometimes from our scarcity but we do it anyway — seems to flow out of that communal and relational and so generous nature of God. Being holy as God is holy, if we can believe it, catapults us into relationship with others and the practice of hospitality. Holiness is relational, and that is why hospitality fits holiness like a soft leather glove.

Hospitality involves the holy practice of gratitude.

All of this is made easier alongside the holy practice of gratitude. I have this place, this food, this book; please take it and enjoy it as well. We try to believe that everything we have comes from God, and so it is ours not to own but to share. So hospitality is almost always best when it is gratitude adjacent. However, the discipline of hospitality can happen also while you are still a grouchy, miserly mess. Disciplines take discipline. Not everything is easy or feels good right away, but that might mean it’s even more worth doing, and not less.

Hospitality invites humility.

In Luke 14:12-14, Jesus tells us how to throw a dinner party. Dinner parties are, after all, what most of us think of first when we think about hospitality: “‘When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,’ he said, ‘don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you’” (NLT). In Luke 14:8-10, He even discusses seating plans: “When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor … Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table” (NLT).

Jesus knows me so well. He predicts my thirst for status. When we practice hospitality as part of our holiness, we will come face-to-face with our desire to invite first our friends, the people we especially like or those whom we want to especially like us, along with the relatives we are most comfortable with, and, of course, our rich neighbors. We might strut around like a peacock in our own dining room and not even realize we are doing it. Again, our intentional moves toward holiness will show us how far we have yet to travel. Our efforts to do good on the outside will show us how far we are from good on the inside, and in that gap, we learn again of our need for the forgiving, restoring love of God in our own lives and hearts, and how much we need him, even when we are serving macaroni to friends.

We learn something about ourselves — and therefore move deeper into our holiness journeys — when we pay attention to whom we want to welcome in and how we want to welcome them to our homes, our tables, and our lives.

Hospitality helps us to examine our hidden motivations.

As we consider ourselves, we can confess ourselves to God and ask for help. Why am I making this so fancy? we can ask our inner hostess, in an examination of motivation that is a daily part of pushing into our holiness. What is my motivation? Also, Why am I talking about myself so much? And why can’t I stop?

Our honest answers do not bring the dinner party, the coffee date, or the open house to a screeching halt, but instead provide us another opportunity to be honest with ourselves and with God — who is the ultimate and gracious host of heaven and earth now and the new earth that is to come. Make me holy in my hospitality, we might pray. Kill off my show-off-ness, we might ask. Help me listen more than I speak, as my blunt spouse has said I need to work on.

Help me not to be so needy, I can pray as I juice blood oranges for udon noodles with fried tofu and orange nam jim from my expensive hardcover Ottolenghi Flavour cookbook propped open on the counter. Perhaps for a little while, as part of our own healing, we will make a simple spaghetti Bolognese, accept the offer of our guest to bring store-bought garlic bread and let Maureen help with the cleanup, like she always wants to do. We will resist the temptation to offer our guests a tour of our new barbeque and satisfy our thirst for thanks by turning it outward to gratitude to God. What if whenever we yearn for someone to say, “Thank you, you are marvelous for all you have done,” we accept that as a prompt to whisper, “Thank You. You are marvelous for all You have done.”

Hospitality exercises a variety of spiritual disciplines.

Food is just one expression of hospitality. Conversation is another. When we practice holiness through hospitality, we create a space in which other pursuits of holiness can be practiced, such as listening well and not interrupting, putting others first, and offering encouragement and companionship to the person God has placed and we have invited in front of us. From the way Jesus tells us to invite, and the humility presumed in His recommended seating plan, we can assume that we don’t invite people to our table so we can imprison them to hear all and only about us. We don’t tie them to their chairs with our story and our glory.

We can stretch our ability to put others first, and to forgive.

We can practice patience, a fruit of the Spirit we get to work with, toward friends who arrive late (or even worse, early) and those who stay too long. We practice not biting off the heads of those with whom we disagree. If we do bite their heads off at dinner, we can practice the art of unequivocal apology. Apologizing is a holy act. I’m sorry are holy, healing words. Through hospitality’s gift of space opened up and time slowed down, we can “be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep,” which Paul told us to do only two verses after he reminded us to “always be eager to practice hospitality” in Romans 12:13-15.

Discipleship Tip:

Hospitality isn’t about impressing others — it’s about making space for them. This week, invite someone into your home or life with gratitude and humility, focusing on listening and encouraging rather than showcasing. Ask the Lord for opportunities to be hospitable in your community in order to point others to Jesus.

About the Author

Karen Stiller is a senior editor of Faith Today magazine and writes frequently for magazines like Reader’s Digest, Ekstasis, In Trust, and other publications across North America. Stiller is a three-time winner of the prestigious A.C. Forrest Memorial Award from the Canadian Church Press for excellence in socially conscious religious journalism. She is author of The Minister’s Wife (2020, Tyndale Momentum); co-author of Craft, Cost & Call (2019), Shifting Stats Shaking the Church (2015) and Going Missional (2010); editor of The Lord’s Prayer (2015) and coeditor of Evangelicals Around the World (2015). She lives in Ottawa and has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Non-Fiction from University of King’s College, Dalhousie.

This article was originally published on the DiscipleMaker Blog by NavPress. You can also hear more from Karen Stiller through her book Holiness Here and NavPress’ new podcast, “Good Books, Big Questions,” where Karen hosts bold, loving, and sensible conversations about faith.

Several years ago, Dave’s friend did a 21-day challenge to read the entirety of the book of John with The Navigators at Penn State. Years later, Dave was considering his own ministry in Nashville, and he was talking with a pastor in the city about what it would look like to do a similar challenge there, inviting local colleges and churches to work together to reach students with the gospel.

“My friend got pretty fired up about doing it in Nashville,” Dave remembers. “But it was a big undertaking. Having another person excited about doing it was motivating, and it pushed the challenge from an idea that we might do one day to something we want to do right now.”

The idea was simple, yet effective: print 10,000 Gospel of John booklets and hand them out to students across all the college campuses in Nashville. Each interested student would receive two booklets — one for themselves and an extra copy to invite a non-believing friend to do the challenge with them. The student and their friend would read one chapter of John a day for 21 days, completing the book within a month.

“The challenge mobilizes Christians to reach their friends for Christ in a simple way, seeking those who are hungry and thirsty for the Word and can engage with Jesus through grabbing a tiny booklet,” Dave says.

Partnering with churches rooted in Scripture

Dave decided the perfect time to launch the challenge in Nashville was February 2024. However, to spread the word and distribute as many booklets as possible to the student community, he needed help.

Over 25 churches and ministry partners came out of the woodworks to join The Navigators, helping fund the purchase of the 10,000 booklets and share the challenge with their communities. Dave was surprised to find that many of the churches he worked with were already leading their congregations through the book of John or were preaching sermon series on courageously reaching friends for Christ. It felt like the Lord had already been preparing a way.

“We’ve always had a heart for partnering with churches and Christian organizations to do something evangelistically, whether that’s outreach oriented to campuses or a sense of stewardship between us and the larger body of Christ in the city,” Dave explains. “So when we connected the dots and worked together, it was a win for all these Christian ministries to partner over something that was focused on advancing the gospel.”

When the challenge officially kicked off, Dave was surprised with the response. Almost everyone that was invited to read the Bible said yes. “People had excitement and eagerness to jump in,” he says. “It stood out that, man, God’s on this.”

Softening student hearts for Christ

Almost all of the 10,000 copies were handed out, meaning that nearly 5,000 students and community members in Nashville were inspired and dedicated to read the Bible with a friend for 21 days. Throughout the challenge, Dave saw the Lord move in incredible ways as students formed relationships and doors were opened for non-believing students to take steps closer to Jesus.

One of these stories comes from two students named Dylan* and Kyle*. Dylan is a student with one of The Navigators campus ministries in Nashville, and he met Kyle on the bus going to the airport for Christmas break. Knowing about the upcoming challenge, Dylan invited Kyle — a stranger — to read the book of John with him. Kyle, curious about the Bible, said yes.

After doing the challenge together in February, Kyle felt drawn in by Scripture, though he was still hesitant to fully give his life to Christ. For spring break, he ended up joining a Navigators trip to Glen Eyrie, where he learned more about discipleship. “Throughout the trip, Kyle kept saying he felt so alive to be around our group and the conversations we were having,” Dave recalls. “We told him, ‘Kyle, that’s the Spirit of God among us.’”

After the trip, Dave met up with Kyle to share the Bridge to Life Illustration and gospel message. “I asked him, ‘Kyle, is there any reason why you wouldn’t pray to receive Christ?’” Dave says. “He said, ‘This is going to change everything for me, so I need to make sure I’m ready before I make this decision.’” Dave is still praying for Kyle to lay down his life for the Lord, but he sees so clearly how God is working in his heart.

“There’s something about the way that doors are opening that is highly relational,” Dave says. “We’re reading together, discussing together. Relationships with other disciplemakers are being established and strengthened, and they are being built for the next step in their journey.”

Looking ahead to the next challenge

As Dave looks back over the 21-day challenge, he is encouraged by the ways the Lord worked in the lives of students like Kyle and impacted the greater Nashville community. Looking ahead, Dave is envisioning replicating the challenge with a broader scope.

“We’re interested in doing this again in the fall of 2025, but reaching even more college students,” Dave says. “We’re praying and dreaming about ordering 25,000 copies of the Gospel of John. I think this is something that could be used really anywhere to mobilize believers.”

Join us in praying for The Navigators in Nashville, that the Lord would continue to bless their ministry on college campuses and in the community. Pray that students discover a heart for reading the Bible, discipling their friends, and growing Christ’s kingdom.

Discipleship Tip:

Through the 21-Day Challenge, thousands of students were inspired to not only read the Bible, but also invite non-believing friends to read with them. Sometimes, a simple invite like that can change someone’s life, like Kyle. Think through your networks and community — who could you ask to read the Bible with you?

Now, you can join in this incredible movement!

With a gift of $25 or more, we’ll send you two copies of the same booklet that sparked change in Nashville – 21 Days in John. One copy is for you, the other is an invitation for a friend to join – just like the students in Nashville did. Let’s continue to spread the gospel, one relationship at a time.

SEND ME TWO COPIES

The glow of thousands of faces lights up the room, a powerful testament to the spread of the gospel from generation to generation. 

This was one of the many special moments from The Navigators 2023 National Staff Gathering.

Last month, over 1,300 Navigator staff came together in Irving, Texas. The theme of the weekend was Heartbeat: A Vital Movement of the Gospel, focusing on 2 Timothy 2:1-2: “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (NIV).

The gathering held five plenary sessions, which were designed to inspire, uplift, and challenge staff attendees to continue the work to which they’ve been called. Staff heard insights on the Lord’s vision for grace, necessary aspects of prayer, and how He works through each and every one of us to reach the nations and spread His mission.  

Staff members also enjoyed times of fun and laughter, along with encouraging ministry stories from new and old friends, breakouts to equip and multiply disciplemakers, precious times of prayer and worship, and motivational messages from fellow Navigators and international leaders. 

For many, the National Staff Gathering was a reminder of why they became Navigators — to be a part of a vital movement of the gospel by connecting, resourcing, and developing everyday disciplemakers. 

Though this conference looked back over the past four years since our last National Staff Gathering, we also took time to look forward to the work that is ahead of us as a ministry. You can partner with us as we continue this work for years to come! 

Pray that the Lord works through The Navigators to reach the unreached and create new disciplemakers. Come alongside us to spread the gospel and disciple those in your circles, from family members to coworkers to neighbors and beyond.

Whether you serve on staff or through your everyday life, we are excited to see how the Lord moves through this next season of ministry!

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV).

Discipleship Tip:  

Pull out your phone and find a photo of someone you’re discipling or have discipled. Pray for that person and reach out to offer them encouragement.

Editor’s Note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. 

I’m Vicki Gatchell and I’m with The Navigators Church Ministries, which is part of Disciplemakers For Life. I live in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area. 

However, I grew up on a farm in northwest Ohio where I raised sheep. I was in 4-H and I didn’t come from a big family, so often in the summer if I wasn’t in school you would see me outside in the sheep pen playing and leading my sheep. I really enjoyed being a shepherdess growing up.

In high school, I came to Christ through Youth for Christ and then when I was in college someone recommended I get in touch with The Navigators. My meeting with The Navigators turned out to be a meeting that changed my life. 

The equipping and learning I did during my time in Navigators Collegiate is really what I’ve built the rest of my spiritual life on over the years. In fact, the other day I got out my first Bible from a bookshelf at home, I opened it up, and near the back was my first attempt at drawing The Navigators Wheel illustration.

The Wheel illustration is one of our primary tools used to understand disciplemaking. Christ is at the center, our relationship with God being the vertical spokes of The Wheel and our relationship with others being the horizontal spokes. The rim represents being obedient to Christ. It was really fun to find that from my college days! 

I started to look back and think about my time in Navigators Collegiate. During that time, a fellow student of mine gave a presentation on having a heart for people. Until then, I had thought, I’m going to do veterinary medicine! I want to work with animals all my life. 

The more I grew to know and love the Lord and identified with having a heart for people, I realized I’d much rather be shepherding people. 

What Shepherding People is Like

Over time, I realized that the most important work of my life came in those spiritual conversations. The thing I loved most was seeing people grow! God has allowed me to know, love, walk, and shepherd so many people. Shepherding people has been the joy of my life. 

I began to pray and think about what it is I really love. I realized that shepherding people was what I wanted to give the rest of my life to. 

Long story short, in 2020 I onboarded with The Navigators working with Navigators Church Ministries—helping bring every church to help everyday disciplemakers transform their everywhere. 

Discipleship Tip:  

Regardless of how long you’ve been following Christ, can you recall something you initially learned that helped you grow spiritually? Step out in faith and share this discipleship resource with someone you’re discipling. Can’t decide what to share? Check out these Navigators Discipleship Resources.

When we read the gospels and observe Jesus’ life and ministry we most often notice what he did for the crowds.

He taught them, fed them, healed them, and even John noted that if every work Jesus did while on this earth was written down, the world could not contain the books that would be written (John 21:25). There’s no question that Jesus had and still has a heart for the world! 

Because of that, it comes as a surprise to many that amidst all that Jesus did for the masses He spent approximately 85% of His time with just 12 men.

It wasn’t because of a lack of care for the masses that Jesus focused on the few…but rather quite the opposite!

Jesus focused on the few for the sake of the many! His method for reaching the world was through building deeply into a select few and teaching them to do the same.

Jesus loved everyone, helped many, but invested in just a few. If we hope to take the gospel to the ends of the earth His method must also become our method.

“Ask God to give you one.” The same challenge that Dawson Trotman gave to Les Spencer in 1933 that started The Navigators can be our starting point today.

Q: Your new book is titled Walk with Me: Simple Principles for Everyday Disciplemaking. Why did you choose the phrase “walk with me”?

The word “walk” has three meanings for me. One, walking usually implies a relationship. When we walk with people, we talk with one another. Walking is also something that almost anyone can do. Also, in the New Testament, “walk” can be translated as “live.” In Colossians 2:7 and other passages, it can read as “walk” or “live” in Christ. “Walk with me” uses an everyday life picture to intentionally invite one, two, or three people into a small circle of relationships to learn together how to live as Jesus’ disciples.

Q: Simplicity is one of the themes of your book. Why is simplicity so important?

I think we’ve over-complicated disciplemaking and placed it in the hands of ministry professionals (like me!). I want to help everyday believers get engaged in discipling others. Doing it “simply” means clarifying or synthesizing a subject to get to the essence or the basics of something. I want to get at the basics of disciplemaking so that many can be involved in the Great Commission.

Q: How do we complicate disciplemaking?

One book I’ve seen on the topic has thirty-two areas to disciple someone in—this is way too complicated! I learned the importance of simplicity with an experience with a fitness trainer. The first trainer I employed to get me into shape showed me a bunch of different exercises and then kept adding to them with each session. I couldn’t remember or implement all those exercises! Now I’m working with a trainer who shows me a few exercises and repeats them until I’m confident in doing them on my own.

Disciplemaking takes a few simple practices and uses them again and again. In Walk with Me I write about how to build relationships, what it means to walk simple and slow, how to develop depth in people’s lives, and what it means to live on mission. I focus on some essential biblical principles rather than providing a step-by-step approach.

Q: One of the provocative principles in your book is that we must “walk slow.” Tell us what you mean by this.

The Scriptures teach that often God is not in a hurry. He took forty years to teach Israel some lessons about trusting Him. Disciplemaking happens within the context of walking with people through health, employment, or family challenges. Our rush to complete a class deadline may blind us to what God is doing in a life outside the program. Following Christ is not done in a minute but is learned through a lifetime. We must learn to go slow, following God’s pace in someone’s life.

Q: One of your repeated themes in the book is intentionality. Why is this important?

The New Testament is pretty clear that there are some really important things that disciples need to know, be, and do. We can’t approach disciplemaking in a haphazard or totally spontaneous way. Walking “simple” means having a clear picture of a New Testament disciple and intentionally helping someone live out this picture in their lives. This picture is always in the back of our minds as we walk with others. A great picture of a disciple is The Navigators Wheel Illustration. The Wheel gives some basics that every disciple should know, be, and do.

Walk With Me: Simple Principles for Everyday Disciplemaking by Bill Mowry is published by Moody Publishers. Available at moodypublishers.com and wherever you buy books.

Connect with Bill Mowry at alongsider.com

Navigators John and Jessica Payton have devoted their lives to seeing everyday people planted “next door to everywhere”—workers for the Kingdom bringing Jesus’ light into every corner of the world.

“During the last 17 years we have worked with countless students who have been reached, equipped, and launched from the campus, with varied vocational callings, to live as fruitful insiders among the lost,” Jessica says.

Ordinary young people, put to glorious use by an extraordinary God.

“In many ways, these ‘sent ones’ appear like many of their peers,” John says. “They work hard at their jobs, serve at church and in civic organizations, live in neighborhoods or apartments, and get married and have families. Yet in other ways they are living extraordinary lives of Spirit-empowered influence for the Kingdom.”

*Jeff and *Susan are just one couple to whom the Paytons have passed on their faith through Life-to-Life^® discipleship.

“Jeff works for Boeing in St. Louis, and Susan delayed career advancement to invest deeply in immigrant families in partnership with their church,” Jessica says. “They are studying a foreign language and purchased a home in a neighborhood with many immigrants who also speak this language in order to be a light in their community. On the lookout for spiritually hungry people, they are developing friendships with Jeff’s coworkers, and Susan recently began discipling a student volunteer.”

Another former student, Phil, an Iowa State (ISU) Navigators engineering grad, met aspiring young missionary Olivia several years ago.

“Today they are growing a new marriage overseas while working with a locally-led Christian community development organization that trains and empowers impoverished communities,” John says. “Phil engages his vocational training while also supporting their local discipleship initiative.”

Preston and Shelby, ISU alums, settled in the Washington, D.C. area, where Preston works in engineering.

“Six months after graduating from ISU, they joined a campus-focused church and are receiving encouragement in generational disciplemaking from a local Navigators 20s ministry,” Jessica says. “Preston and Shelby have engaged in leading and discipling college students with their church, and they remain connected to Navigators working in their city.”

What seeds are planted during these students’ time on campus that compels them to live with such intentionality?

“As freshmen, most are encouraged to read the Bible with a friend who doesn’t yet know Christ, and this skill of sowing the Gospel through the Scriptures is reinforced often,” John says. “Students are challenged to make housing decisions based on Godly values and mission, rather than defaulting to personal comfort or convenience. Many also invest a summer in a cross-cultural missions experience with profound personal impact. ‘Courage takes practice,’ and the campus is an ideal place to practice courageous life decisions.”

Jessica and John love the opportunity to invest in these former students not only as individuals but as couples.

“Jeff and Susan rented an apartment just four blocks from us, which let us overlap life in some special ways,” Jessica says. “Meals together, walks in the morning, and playing sports with our kids were a part of the discipleship relationship.”

Phil and Olivia invited the Paytons to be a part of their dating, engagement, and early marriage. 

“Zoom has allowed us to stay in touch to intentionally encourage and cheer them on,” Jessica says. “We also walked closely with Preston and Shelby during their last couple of years as students and during their engagement and early marriage. We love coming alongside students and young adults during this incredible ‘trajectory setting’ time in their lives. People need champions—someone who knows and loves them deeply and who by faith will help them move toward their true identity as disciplemakers.”

For Jessica and John, who have moved on to serve with National Staff Recruiting, watching their disciples go on to disciple the next generation is a deep joy.

“Through investing in Life-to-Life relationships, God has given us a spiritual family that has been sent and scattered all over the world,” Jessica says. “We love to disciple, but it is even more fun to meet the spiritual children and grandchildren of those whom we’ve poured out our lives for. Some of them surpass us in faith and courage, and we are so proud of them!”

*Names changed

Pray for fruitful discipleship relationships across the world and for the gospel to shine through their lives.

“Over the years we have seen scores of young people come to Christ,” Ernie says. “Last school year alone, 71 students trusted Christ as Savior. We’ve even seen school staff come to Christ and grow as disciples. As we train volunteers from local churches to lead the clubs, they become disciplemakers. This is a community approach. It’s churches, it’s workplaces. And it’s thrilling.”

Ernie says this ministry reaches young people at a critical time.

“According to Barna Research, worldview is developed by age 13,” Ernie says. “This ministry is absolutely critical to the advancement of the gospel. We have an incredible opportunity to share Christ with kids at the time in their lives when they are most likely to respond to Him.”

The kids—and the parents—are responding.

A mom of three Bible club regulars, Haydee Lopez says the club gave her kids a spiritual home.

“My children have been attending their school for about seven years,” Haydee says. “As a parent wanting the best for her children and knowing that the greatest asset I could ever give them is knowing about God, I was stoked to hear of the club. My kids have both become disciples and are helping spread the gospel to the younger children. It has truly been a blessing.”

It’s tough being a kid—and being a kid of faith can be especially alienating. Bible club builds bridges between students desperate for connection.

“I have seen children of different ages, who normally would more than likely never speak to each other, come together and worship, pray, and laugh together,” Haydee says. “This club reminds them of their most important identity. They are sons and daughters of the highest King, and they are not alone in those hallways. They have brothers and sisters to pray with them in times of need.” 

Marie Dinaro’s daughters have been involved in their school Bible club since last April. She sees their involvement as life enhancement.

“I hope they will stay with it throughout their high school years and college, and let it guide them through their life,” Marie says. “[Faith has] helped guide me—a reminder to turn to God no matter what. That’s what I hope and pray they’d take out of this—that even if they can’t physically see God, He’s there, guiding them.”

Imparting Truth to Kids & Adults

Bible clubs also provide an incredible opportunity to reach and disciple adults. Ernie and his wife have discipled teachers, custodial staff, and parents too.

Recently retired high school custodian Gary Pangione is one of those adults deeply impacted by Bible club and Ernie’s example. Gary even asked Ernie to officiate when he remarried his ex-wife Carol last year on St. Patrick’s Day.

“We kinda hit it off,” Gary says. “I never sat in the club meetings because I was at work, so after Ernie got packed up, he’d stop by and we’d have conversations. He got me looking at things differently. It was a nice thing getting together with him. I would read and we would chat about things. I’d be cleaning classrooms and I’d listen to him teach. When I was younger, I was dragged to church … it kinda wiped me out for a while. He brought me back in to reading the Bible again.”

Since global pandemic closed schools and changed the way we all do business and ministry, Ernie hasn’t skipped a beat, hosting weekly Zoom call meetings with the children. On a recent call, one of Ernie’s clubs discussed how their devotions had been going the previous week, shared what God had spoken to them, did a devotional together, watched a video about Joseph and his brothers, read Scripture, and spent time in prayer. Kids mused about what heaven is like, wondering if there would be video games, clothes, or sickness. Ernie pointed them to Scripture, smiling at their innocence, clearly enjoying their questions.

“We are blazing a new path, and learning as we go,” Ernie says. “It’s certainly a new adventure with God. One exciting development is that with this technology, friends of our students from different schools can also join us. Zoom has no geographical limits. Parents have a clearer window into the clubs, as they are home while the meetings are going on. We also look forward to meeting with students via Zoom in the summer—something we’ve never done before. This crisis has just made virtual meetings a real part of their lives.”

Whether schools reopen in the fall or virtual learning continues for a season, Ernie has God-sized dreams for the future.

“My dream is to see a Navigators Bible study in every school in America,” Ernie says. “Schools are the heart of every community. Everyone is connected in some way. By impacting public schools, we’re imparting truth to families and communities—involving churches, impacting workplaces and neighborhoods, and even sending off our discipled students to college ministries.”

Ernie welcomes others to join him in the hallways of this exciting ministry—physical or virtual.

“I have developed a curriculum for leading a club and training volunteers,” Ernie says. “I want to help others troubleshoot any issues that come up. We’d love to see more people get involved.”

Pray for students across the nation who are walking through an unprecedented and stressful time at such a young age, separated from their friends and needing encouragement.

Pray that disciplemakers like Ernie and Judy will find ways to reach young people even in this new reality, and that God would speak truth and peace to them.

Coming Alongside Church Leaders

In his role with NCM, Alex serves pastors in several different ways. First, he can encourage a pastor in his personal life, as a coach who helps with vision clarity, affirmation, and personal goals. Often pastors feel isolated in their personal challenges, as it is hard to share them openly with church leaders. Also, Alex serves as a ministry partner, coming alongside pastors to help implement next steps in their churches, to move congregations toward a disciplemaking culture.

After more than a year of coaching Pastor Melvin on core values, calling, vision, and mission, Alex was invited to speak to a leadership retreat and cast vision for discipleship to leaders in the church. Since then, the church has embraced growing an intentional disciplemaking culture that multiplies disciplemakers. Currently 70 leaders from Ebenezer World Ministries are working together in triads to practice coming alongside others to help them grow in their relationship with Christ and help others to do the same—they follow the alongsider principles (from the NavPress book The Ways of the Alongsider).

Pastor Melvin reflects on the process, “I appreciate how Alex presented The Navigators discipleship tools and helped our leaders brainstorm how to best apply them in our own church setting. This kind of discipleship isn’t a program but a relational emphasis. It has unified us around discipleship because we used to have several different types of small group programs. I also want to share this disciplemaking process with the 30 mission churches that we resource in Mexico.”

Speaking Into Heart Languages

The next step will be for each of the trained leaders to implement this way of life in small groups. Ebenezer World Ministries has implemented this disciplemaking culture in both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking groups, to serve the heart languages of those in their congregation.

“The heart languages are important, both linguistically and culturally,” shares Alex. “As a Hispanic myself, I find doors open to ministry with pastors serving this community. It is helpful to have discipleship materials available in both Spanish and English, as some congregations have mixed languages. Being able to offer both languages helps us avoid splitting communities, as second and third generation immigrants may be more comfortable in English than Spanish. I myself had to work on my Spanish language when I went to Latin America as a missionary with The Navigators more than 20 years ago. Now I benefit from fluency in both languages, along with cultural insight.”

Along with resourcing pastors and churches in southern California, Alex connects through online meetings and periodic visits to pastors in other areas. Pastor Omar Millan from Calvary Fellowship Temple, in Tempe, Arizona, is committed to disciplemaking in his congregation and uses The 2:7 Series^® in Spanish to grow disciples in his church.

Pastor Melvin, Pastor Omar, and other pastors that Alex equips are attending the 2:7 Jubilee in Dallas, celebrating 50 years of disciplemaking through The 2:7 Series. They are hosting a workshop on ethnic diversity and will also bring the Jubilee message back to Spanish 2:7 Jubilee conferences in Los Angeles and Phoenix this spring.

Alex is grateful for the opportunity to come alongside pastors and equip churches to multiply through disciplemaking. God used The Navigators as a foundation for his own Christian walk starting in 1981 when he enlisted with the Air Force, then through ministry in Latin America, in his career in the aviation industry, and now equipping pastors with NCM.

“This is my calling and my legacy,” says Alex. “It is a privilege to equip pastors to fulfill their ministry calling. These relationships have also become life-giving friendships as we serve together to grow generations of disciples.”

Click here to learn more about the 2:7 Series.