Growing the Ministry in LUSAKA and Beyond…

Written By Bart Physioc

by Esau Phiri

Making Disciples - Body, Soul, and Spirit

Greetings! I’m Esau from Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. I come from a family of 10, five boys and five girls with me as the last born. I received Jesus as my personal Savior in 1984. My wife, Ethel, and I have 5 children: 3 boys and 2 girls. I serve as Pastor of New Life Pentecost Church and Outreach Ministry. The main church I serve is in Lusaka, but we also have other branches in other provinces of Zambia e.g. five in the Southern Province; four in Copperbelt Province; three in the Central Province. In addition to pastoral responsibilities I serve as a Ministry Partner with Disciplers International. I am committed to share the gospel of our Lord Jesus with everyone, everywhere, and to make disciples in accordance with Matthew 28: 19-20.

Step-by-Step… Week-by-Week…

I have developed a weekly program on Sundays through which I teach every church member about discipleship by taking them through the Step-by-Step Guide to Spiritual Intimacy. This training is possible because of the training and excellent resources that I have received from Disciplers International. In effect, DI trained me to train others who do likewise, generation after generation. This is 2 Timothy 2:2 in action!

Meet Danny Shakayuma

During my Step-by-Step training I am learning that discipleship is not just about gaining knowledge but so much more, to include growth in character development, faith, and obedience. Understanding the Great Commandment and the Great Commission has touched me deeply because of how they fit together - God wants me to love Him, to love others, to share the gospel and to make disciples. That’s it!

Discipleship training has helped me become more committed to following Jesus and living according to His will. I thank God for the opportunity to learn from Pastor Esau who is helping me grow in faith and serve the the Lord.

Meet Steria Mwinga

Before going through the Step-by-Step Process I was distant, short-tempered, and spiritually immature, not knowing how to express myself to others. The training I’ve received has helped me grow from spiritual infancy to maturity, and protected me from deception and false teaching because now I know the truth and am grounded in Scripture. Instead of just being a hearer of God’s word I’m now a doer of His word.

These photos are of residents from a rural area who are going through Step-by-Step Discipleship Process and a building that has been constructed to serve as a place for worship and training.

Disciplers International has also provided financial assistance in our joint effort to construct a multipurpose facility that will serve as a home, a ministry office, and a Discipleship Training Center (DTC). The photos above show that it’s a work in progress, but we are patient in the process. When finished, the DTC will serve as a space where Disciples and Disciplers can gather for fellowship, training, and growth - spiritually and numerically. Those trained in this center will then be equipped to others (2 Timothy 2:2).

The training provided by Disciplers International has multiplied my leadership in these ways: Every Sunday for one hour I am providing discipleship training to church members and then following-up with more training for those with more interest. For Disciples who live nearby, we meet for a day of training in person; for those living far away, we meet online. I have introduced the Step-by-Step Process to our church branches country-wide, training pastors and church leaders in one-on-one and small group settings. Thus far we have planted two churches in the southern part of Zambia through our discipleship training. 21 Disciplers who have finished the training are now Ministry Associates.

Support of our Ministry Partners and Associates is much needed and greatly appreciated - to make a tax-deductible donation, click the button below

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Bart Physioc

Bart’s interest in discipleship began at the time of his conversion in 1978, while serving in Guam as a Coast Guard officer. After reading the four gospels in the New Testament, Bart was moved to accept Jesus as Savior and follow Him as Lord. He wanted to be a disciple, but didn’t understand how discipleship was supposed to work, and no one took the initiative to mentor him. Bart’s early discipleship experience was limited to reading books on the subject and going through study guides. Although examples were evident throughout Scripture, but Bart did not have such an experience personally.

While attending Golden Gate Theological Seminary in California, Bart took several courses on discipleship. From those classes, he took the most useful and practical elements of each model and produced a guidebook of his own that was comprehensive in scope, yet concise in presentation. After graduating in 1983 with a Master of Religious Education degree, Bart spent three years developing a discipleship model specifically for college students at the University of Idaho, where he served as Campus Minister. Upon returning to Golden Gate Seminary for his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees, Bart tailored the discipleship model for church plants and then instituted that model in the church he planted and pastored in California. As an Army Chaplain, Bart used the Discipler/Disciple model which led many service members to Christ and provided new believers with a set of tools to disciple others.

Convinced that disciple-making requires a relationship between a mentor (“Discipler”) and learner (“Disciple”), Bart created the 14-Step Discipleship Process, which was launched in 2000 and has been used worldwide to grow Disciples of Christ into Disciplers for Christ. In 2022 he launched a new presentation of the discipleship process called Step-by-Step.

While still serving in the military, Bart helped to establish Disciplers International in 2006 to provide free Discipleship Resources and Training for all who follow Jesus, and obey His call to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

https://disciplersinternational.com
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Making Disciples - from PAKISTAN to MALAYSIA