Reaching the Poor through Holistic Discipleship

Sep 26

by John Solomon- MUMBAI, INDIA

Our mission in Mumbai, India, is to bring the love of Jesus Christ to the poor, needy, and unreached communities through acts of mercy, ministry, evangelism, and discipleship.

One of our priorities is serving children living in slum communities. Many of these kids come from families that cannot afford schooling. To help, we provide tuition-free classes where they receive academic assistance, personal encouragement, and instruction based on biblical values. Through these classes, we are building relationships with families and sharing the hope of Jesus Christ. Since the ministry of Jesus was holistic (body, soul, spirit), our ministry must be holistic as well.

We also minister among the poor and needy by visiting communities, praying for families, providing practical help when possible, and sharing the Gospel. Our desire is to demonstrate the compassion of Jesus in our words and deeds. Additionally, we are conducting discipleship training programs for pastors and church leaders. These gatherings encourage pastors, strengthen biblical foundations, and equip participants to make disciples in their local churches. We believe that healthy churches must be established on a durable foundation of evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development.

Through these ministries, lives are touched, leaders are equipped, and communities are impacted by the love of God in Christ. We are grateful for the prayers and support of our generous donors who enable us to serve and make disciples among the poor and needy.

We had a wonderful and encouraging time of training in Madhya Pradesh with 25–30 pastors in attendance. The pastors were very encouraged and blessed by the teachings, with many expressing a strong desire to continue learning in order to apply the principles of discipleship in their own churches and communities. We believe that what God has started in Madhya Pradesh will continue to grow and reach many more people through these faithful leaders. We thank the Lord for every pastor who attended the training and for the opportunity to invest in their lives.

**Pastor Pastor Singh (lower right corner)**

One encouraging testimony came from Pastor Chander Singh. After attending the training, he was inspired to begin home-based discipleship training for believers. Pastor Singh has already started meeting regularly to teach and help those under his leadership to grow in their faith. We are thankful to God for this beginning and praying that his small group of students will continue to grow spiritually and, in turn, become disciples who disciple others. This is our vision—to train and equip pastors and leaders who will multiply disciples and strengthen the local church. Please pray for Pastor Singh and for those under his mentorship.

Inductive Bible Study – A Practical Way of Learning God’s Word

In this trio of photos, pastors and leaders learn the Inductive Bible Study Method during one of our ministry training sessions. We start by having them answer the 6 W questions (i.e. Who - the speaker; Whom - the audience; When - the time; Where - the place; Why - the purpose; What - the meaning) to prepare them to properly observe, understand, and apply the selected passage from God’s Word. These participants were very interested and actively engaged in the learning experience. They shared observations, asked questions, and learned from one another. The discussion created an encouraging and interactive learning environment rather than simply listening to a teacher.

**Pastors and Church Leaders in Training**

Most of the pastors and church leaders we train have not had the opportunity to attend a Bible college or receive formal theological education. I am pleased to say that the Inductive Bible Study method presented through the Step-by-Step Discipleship Process has proved its educational value over and over again. Participants were excited to discover that they can study God’s Word carefully, understand the message of Scripture clearly, and teach it to others effectively. We were especially encouraged to see how interested they were in learning a method of Bible Study they can use immediately in their churches and communities.

**Disciples of Christ becoming Disciplers for Christ**

**The future.…**

I close with this photo because these two boys represent the future of Mumbai in particular and the world in general. Sadly, poverty is preventing millions of young people from becoming all they can and should be. Jesus loves the little children and so must we by showing our care in the same ways He did then and does now. *DIsciplers International* views discipleship holistically - ministry to body, soul, and spirit. Your support greatly enhances our ability to fulfill the Great Commission in a Christ-like way. Thank you!

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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

Reaching the Poor through Holistic Discipleship

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