{"id":260898,"date":"2023-07-03T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/?p=260898"},"modified":"2023-06-28T19:10:06","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T01:10:06","slug":"from-disciple-to-disciplemaker-at-camp-lejeune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/blog\/from-disciple-to-disciplemaker-at-camp-lejeune\/","title":{"rendered":"From Disciple to Disciplemaker at Camp Lejeune"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a new follower of Jesus, Malachi Onwuka<\/a> sought out community when he arrived at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He found it in a Navigators Military<\/a> Bible study.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Malachi, Zachary, and one of his children spend a day together at the beach talking about Jesus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Malachi\u2019s eagerness to grow spiritually was soon evident, and he was invited to join a smaller group of Marines who intentionally ministered to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI started listening to these guys talking about specific people they\u2019d shared the gospel with in their circles of influence. That was such a challenge for me,\u201d he says. \u201cThat was the beginning of me looking outward instead of just at myself.\u201d The next day, he shared his faith with a guy he worked with at the base. It was a lot easier than he\u2019d thought!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the group, Malachi began to understand what laboring looks like: \u201cabiding in Jesus and inviting others into that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Malachi\u2019s time in the Marines neared its end, Navigator staff Zachary Mills<\/a> invited him to stay in Jacksonville for more training in discipleship. The two began to meet every Thursday for dinner at Zack\u2019s house. Malachi loved the challenge of the questions Zack asked: \u201cWhy do you think that? What are you asking God for?\u201d Malachi was struck by how Zack responded to what he shared. He was \u201cquick to listen and slow to respond,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malachi believes the deepest impact of their time together was simply observing how Zack interacted with him and his children. \u201cHe demonstrated some qualities I\u2019ve always wrestled with,\u201d Malachi says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malachi longed to have the same impact on others that Navigators had on him. He saw the power of Life-to-Life\u00ae<\/sup><\/a> discipleship, of watching other believers live out their faith. After Malachi left the military in November 2021, he decided to join The Navigators on staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Zack\u2019s example, Malachi and his housemate open their house to Marines. For some, it\u2019s become a weekend home: a place to hang out, discuss deep life issues, look at Scripture together\u2014and have fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malachi helps facilitate a small group in the Camp Lejeune Bible study and meets with men. He finds joy and purpose in seeing those he is discipling grow in Christ and get excited about reading the Bible together and praying together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life in the military can be a hard road, but God is at work even in the hard places. Jesus acknowledged that \u201cin this world you will have trouble\u201d but He promised hope and peace to those who follow Him (John 16:33 NIV<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Life-to-Life discipleship, Zack and Malachi share that hope in Jesus with those who serve our country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Discipleship Tip:  <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Find someone who follows Jesus and ask them honest and challenging questions about their relationship with God. For example, \u201cWhere are you energized in your relationship with Jesus and where are you struggling?\u201d Then invite them to ask you similar questions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) visual information does not imply nor constitute DOD endorsement.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Walking in the Footsteps<\/em> of Jesus Bible Study<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Explore what Scripture says about following Jesus in this free Bible study, Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus. <\/em>Learn more about Jesus\u2019 purpose when He walked this earth. Then unpack what it looks like to follow in His footsteps and become more like Him. Click the link below to download this study and invite a friend to join you on the journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Download your free resource!<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThat was the beginning of me looking outward instead of just at myself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_helpful_pro_status":1,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6337],"tags":[1483],"mission":[62],"topic":[43,44],"class_list":["post-260898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-disciplemaking","category-ministry-impact-stories","tag-disciple","mission-navigators-military","topic-bible-study","topic-discipleship"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/07.04.23-Article-Web-1.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"The Navigators","author_link":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/staff\/thenavigators\/"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260898"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261023,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260898\/revisions\/261023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260898"},{"taxonomy":"mission","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission?post=260898"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=260898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}