Many have said that if you aren’t making disciples where God has you right now, that isn’t going to change if you go onto the mission field. Increasingly, Christians are losing the ability and even the desire to share the Gospel.
In a recent study, Barna found that almost half of Christian millennials believe it is wrong to share their faith with someone of a different faith, even though over 70% of them claim they feel equipped to do so. Many Christians feel equipped and called to share their faith, but simultaneously they fight a feeling that it is forbidden, wrong, and offensive to do so. On the other hand, there are many faithful followers who eagerly desire to share their faith, but don’t feel equipped.
No matter which end of the spectrum you fall in, we all agree that faith in Jesus Christ is essential for everyone. We want every person to have the chance to hear and respond to the Gospel. With a little bit of guidance, some community, and a bit of accountability, we can all become effective disciple-makers, no matter where God places us. If you want to overhaul your evangelism toolbox and feel fully equipped and free to share the Gospel, D-Course is exactly what you’ve been looking for.
D-Course, Immersive Discipleship Training
Here’s a convicting question. Are you a disciple worth multiplying? If you begin sharing your faith and discipling others in following Christ, do you want them to imitate you? This is where D-Course starts, with becoming a disciple worth multiplying. We want to make disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples. To do this, we must begin with a strong foundation. D-Course will help you establish that foundation.
D-Course is a 12-month immersive discipleship experience. Participants move to Louisville, KY and live in community with Louisville’s diverse refugee and international population. D-Course utilizes a combination of community living, classroom and online sessions, interaction with veteran coaches and mentors, and cross-cultural implementation of ministry skills. A typical day of D-Course includes 1 hour of corporate prayer, 3 hours of instruction, 3 – 4 hours of ministry implementation, and 1 – 2 hours of preparation.
The course will give you a thorough understanding of missions, evangelism, and discipleship that can be applied to any setting.
D-Course Will Prepare You for Your Field
If you already feel called to the mission field, D-Course is the perfect launch point. Your time in D-Course will prepare you with vital skills and give you a clear runway to reach the destination God has called you to serve in. This was the case for the Rolston family, now serving in Tanzania.
We heard that the D-course was great, but I thought “this just isn’t for us. We have 2 young kids at home and I’m 8 months pregnant with our third. How would we have the money to do it? Plus, we want to get to the field as soon as possible.” But one night I couldn’t sleep and I was talking with God. Work had been slow for my husband. I felt God say to me, “You can keep doing this your way or you can do it my way. Trust me. Let me handle it.” I knew God was saying we should do D-course.
Thankfully, God also spoke to my husband. So, we signed up for D-course and we were literally addressing support letters in the hospital after having our third child. My husband stopped working one month later so we could start D-course together. God was amazingly faithful and provided abundantly. (Also raising support for D-course, gave us a jumpstart on raising support for the field.)
It was a little tricky doing it with young ones at home, but I loved the family time together and how we could involve our kids in the outreach opportunities. I love how my husband and I grew closer together. I love how it challenged my own faith. I was able to wrestle with some things that I would encounter later while on the field. We constantly refer to the D-course material while we are on the field. The material covers a broad range of topics and is very practical. It was really imperative that we had practice making disciples in the US before going overseas. I’m so thankful God nudged us to do D-course and we obeyed.
Retire with Intentionality
For the first time in history, we have the knowledge, manpower, and resources to fulfill the Great Commission. What’s holding us back? While millennials feel that it’s wrong to share their faith, the same Barna study found that boomers and elders feel less-equipped in sharing their faith. Retirement years can be some of the most fruitful years for a Christ follower to multiply disciples and D-Course could help set the trajectory of your retirement to be Kingdom-focused. This was Jim’s Story.
At age 60 I was able to retire, and I knew that God wanted me to do something in missions. I had been on several mission trips and that led me to want to know how to be a missionary. I began to search for training. I called probably every mission training organization in the country and the best school I could find was Missions Training School with Global Frontier Missions, located in Atlanta. But after praying for two months about attending this school, God showed me D-Course.
D-Course is an immersive discipleship training, offered by Team Expansion. It was the same amazing training I was looking for, but right where I lived in Louisville, KY. D-Course has been a fantastic experience, giving me a holistic understanding of cross-cultural missions with hands-on experience engaging the refugee and international community of Louisville with the Gospel. I can’t recommend D-Course highly enough for anyone who wants to be a missionary, locally or abroad.
Make Disciples Right Where You Live
Making disciples of Jesus doesn’t have to feel wrong. We were called to do it by the ultimate authority. It’s the most loving thing we can do! It’s just not something we’ve practiced or seen practiced. When you participate in D-Course, you will learn to live with missionary intentionality and find discipleship opportunities that you never noticed before. It will become a more natural part of you. If you’re ready to begin living with that kind of intentionality, let’s start a conversation about D-Course, today.
Thanks for inviting for the Discipleship making Classes. Yes, i would like to be part & parcel.of the Disciples making.Following Christ means making disciples. His words echo in the back of our minds, “Go therefore and make disciples . . . ” (Matthew 28:19).Discipleship making at its core is to teaching others – how to pray, why attending church is important and pertinent, sharing the Gospel and the impacting others the sovereign knowledge of God in Jesus name.Making disciples is important because it is the Lord’s chosen method of spreading the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ.I have a burden in my heart & calling for he lost souls of men and women. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field” (Matthew 9:37-38).Here aim ,Lord, send me .The Great Commission of Christ is centered on the command to make disciples (Matt. 28:18–20)I am raring to come and start the D- classes. Apostle Paul taught that the church’s mission is making disciples who make disciples (2 Tim. 2:2 Discipleship is nothing less than the complete transformation of the believer’s heart, mind, affections, will, relationships, and purpose.Discipleship means correcting others.Sometimes discipling requires us to warn others about the choices they’re making.Jesus is the ultimate example here; he “left us an example that you should follow” (1 Pet. 2:21).It’s worth noticing Jesus didn’t just command his disciples to teach people. He told them to teach people to obey. The goal of discipling is to see lives transformed, which means it involves more than reading a book or even the Bible with another person. Ultimately, discipling involves living out the whole Christian life before others Together we learn what Paul means in Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.”
Together we work to fulfill Hebrews 10:24–25: “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Am in humble prayers that i be considered’ the skills, experience as a pastor, evangelist here coupled with your training will work wonders. Hewho win souls is wise.