{"id":263318,"date":"2024-04-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/?p=263318"},"modified":"2024-05-08T08:05:52","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T14:05:52","slug":"life-to-life-discipleship-from-a-google-search-to-the-ends-of-the-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/blog\/life-to-life-discipleship-from-a-google-search-to-the-ends-of-the-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"Life-to-Life Discipleship: From a Google Search to the Ends of the Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jesus\u2019 Great Commission gives all believers the responsibility to spread the good news of the gospel to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:19-20<\/a>). For centuries, we\u2019ve seen the world powerfully reached through missionaries and church planting. However, in recent years, with the rise of technological advancements, a new and unexpected way to reach the nations has emerged \u2014 through digital networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yusuf* is a pastor living with his family in a country in Southeast Asia. Though it is not illegal to be a Christian in his homeland, he is forbidden from openly evangelizing, and Christianity is certainly not valued or affirmed in the culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the opposition of his surroundings, Yusuf was seeking new ways to teach and disciple young believers in his community. Many of the young adults around him were feeling discouraged and worn down, wondering what\u2019s the point of being a Christian when everyone else is involved in a different religion. He wanted to spur on the next generation, building them up to live out their faith even when it is challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day, Yusuf got on the internet and put in a Google search for \u201cdiscipleship.\u201d A resource from The Navigators popped up in the results, and he discovered The Navigators Digital Discipleship Journey\u00ae<\/a> (DDJ) course, a series of eight to 13 emails designed to inspire and equip believers to grow spiritually and help others do the same. Yusuf signed up for the DDJ, completed the course over a number of weeks, and then requested to connect with a Navigator at the end of the journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Digital Connection for Discipleship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This connected Yusuf with Navigator John Hess<\/a>, the director of Nations Within<\/a> (a Navigators ministry that focuses on people within the United States whose primary, national identity is distinct from majority culture), whom Yusuf began connecting with over video. After a couple virtual meetings, John and his wife Liz decided to visit Yusuf\u2019s family in person in Southeast Asia for five days. The timing couldn\u2019t have been better, as they were returning from The Navigators International Staff Conference overseas, where they met other disciplemakers from Yusuf\u2019s part of the world. During his visit, John learned more about Yusuf\u2019s family, culture, and passion to know Christ and make Him known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYusuf moved out of his neighborhood to live in a community that is more hostile to Christianity, which is very unheard of for Christians there,\u201d John explains. \u201cSo they\u2019re learning how to live in that community and love them well. It\u2019s the cost of true discipleship.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reaching the Ends of the Earth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

John has continued to follow up with Yusuf in the months since his visit, and he\u2019s been encouraged to see how \u2014 through one simple Google search \u2014 the Lord has instilled a heart of discipleship for new places and people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen The Navigators launched the Digital Discipleship Journey email course, I don\u2019t know if we had the ends of the earth in mind,\u201d John says. \u201cBut He put it on a believer\u2019s heart to research us, and we are in a place where the ends of the earth are coming true. Not because we are perfectly getting into these lost places, but because God is already working there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Names changed for privacy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Start Your Digital Discipleship Journey<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To date, over 45,000 everyday people around the world have completed The Navigators Digital Discipleship Journey, connecting believers like Yusuf with Navigators like John in amazing ways. The rise of new digital networks has opened creative pathways and opportunities for discipleship to happen on a global scale that\u2019s never been done before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the Digital Discipleship Journey, you have access to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n