The Solomon’s - from Malaysia to India

Written By Bart Physioc

by John Solomon

John and Priscilla (yellow saree), with their children: Jeffrey and Jenitta

My name is John Solomon, and I serve in ministry full-time together with my wife. We are blessed with two children, Jenitta and Jeffrey, who are growing up in the midst of ministry. As a family, we see our calling not just as individual service, but as a shared mission to advance God’s Kingdom. And we are grateful for what the Lord is doing in our lives and ministry in Maharashtra.

I come from a Hindu background and was raised in a small village. In secondary school I got involved in a wrong way of life that led to feelings of frustration and hopelessness. There was a time when I even considered ending my life. Then one day, when I happened to be sitting on a roadside, a pastor shared God’s love and invited me to church. My heart slowly changed by hearing the good news of Jesus . I repented, accepted Christ, and was baptized. The Lord restored my life and gave me a purpose.

In time, He called me into ministry, and I joined Youth With A Mission (YWAM). I served as a pastor in India for five years before joining YWAM Discipleship Training School (DTS) to serve in their training department until moving to Malaysia. My family and I lived in Malaysia where I pastored for 15 years, giving attention especially to training people in evangelism and discipleship (online and face-to-face in small groups). Then, suddenly, I had to leave Malaysia.

However, before being told to leave by the government and during an extended period of prayer, I believe God spoke to me saying it was time for us to move. Just a few weeks later, the church elders called to inform me that they had decided to close the Tamil service. They also shared that due to increasing government tax regulations and serious visa issues, it had become very difficult for foreigners to continue ministry in Malaysia. Because of these restrictions, they felt it was best for us to return to India.

OUR PRESENT MINISTRY

God has specifically called us to church planting through mercy ministries. We believe the Gospel must be demonstrated as well as proclaimed. In our context, many people face practical struggles — poverty, family challenges, and lack of spiritual guidance. Through acts of compassion, teaching, and discipleship, we look for open doors to share God’s Good News.

Our ministry includes evangelism in local communities, discipleship and Bible teaching, encouraging and mentoring new believers, and doing the groundwork necessary to plant churches.

Our vision is to reach unreached people groups and lead them into a living relationship with Jesus Christ. We long to see Disciples of Christ mature into Disciplers for Christ whom the Lord will use to transform their communities.

The “slum people” of Mumbai reside in small huts or live under bridges or on the streets. Our main goal is to share the gospel with them, but we also do what we can to provide free tuition for the children and covering, especially when the weather is cold.

PRAYER & PARTNERSHIP

We deeply value our relationships with members of the Disciplers International (DI) family, and we appreciate your prayers, which encourage and strengthen us in our ministry. Please pray for open hearts among the unreached, for faithful Disciples who will become Disciplers, for wisdom as we establish new churches, and for protection and unity in our family.

 We are grateful to be part of DI and look forward to growing together through all that God is doing across the nations.

 With gratitude, John and Priscilla - Maharashtra, India

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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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Serving Jesus in KENYA and TANZANIA