I’ve been thinking about Christian discipleship. What does it look like for a follower of Christ in America today? What is and is not part of discipleship? When does it start?  

As a college student I thought I understood discipleship. It would start when someone made a commitment to Christ. A more mature Christian would meet regularly with a few younger believers. They would study the Bible, pray and take part in evangelism and outreach activities together. If all went well, the younger believers would mature and start leading others.

When I moved into adult life, I tried to replicate that model. I met with three other young men when I lived in the Philippines. Together we studied The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert E. Coleman. I saw that the model from college was a start, but would not be sufficient for adult life.

Over the years, I’ve continued to consider how discipleship should work. I recognize that in a community or a church, many people are involved in discipling any one person. It isn’t a matter of me making a few disciples, but my influence and example will influence many people. But they all also need to be influenced by others in order to be discipled fully.

About a year ago we began discussing discipleship in our local church. We asked some of the same questions from my first paragraph, above. We recognized that discipleship begins before someone makes a commitment to Christ. It did for me. I was raised going to church, and what I learned early on led me toward Christ.

Recently, I attended Creating Options Together, sponsored by the Inner City ministry of Cru. There I heard more about discipleship. Adam Edgerly, a pastor from Los Angeles, said, “We think we make converts, then the Holy Spirit makes disciples. We have that backward.” We need to begin discipling people to help them move toward faith in Christ. Then at some point in that process, the Holy Spirit will draw them to a personal response to Jesus.

As you think of us this month, please pray that we will be effective in making disciples in our church and community. (In the photo above, Bethany, Michael, our friend Gala, and Anne Marie enjoy a moment during our multi-generational Sunday school class, one way we are making disciples.)

Also, please pray for Michael and Bethany as they return to college. Michael will begin his senior year at the University of Central Florida. Please specifically pray he’ll find an internship. And this week, as we send this letter, we are preparing to drive to Nashville to take Bethany to Trevecca Nazarene University for her junior year.

As always, we’re grateful for your partnership in our ministry. We thank God for you.

Last week, while I was editing a story for an upcoming issue of Worldwide Challenge magazine, I recalled an event from several years ago.

 I had been praying for a way to explain the gospel to an acquaintance. We talked often as his company printed our magazine. Our conversations focused on the work—what paper should we print on, how well was the ink on the page replicating the images, and what was all of this going to cost. In the midst of these discussions, a transition to eternal questions eluded me.

 Then he asked for advice that allowed a connection. He hoped his teenage son would willingly join the family in attending church. Since I worked for Cru, he expected me to have a persuasive answer. If only it were that easy.

 I asked why church attendance was important. I don’t recall his words, but it amounted to his saying, “Going to church is a good thing, right?”

 I asked, “Would you say you or your son have a relationship with God?” To explain what I meant, I used an analogy. As a teen, I occasionally visited nursing homes. Youth group Christmas caroling, a newspaper route my brother and I shared and a Boy Scout project took me to such places. Every visit made me uncomfortable.

 The sight of people in pain or with limited mobility was troubling, as were some of the sounds and aromas of so many lives sharing limited space.

Then something changed. My grandmother moved into the place where I’d delivered papers. Suddenly, visiting was enjoyable. I had a relationship with someone there. I wasn’t going because I should—I was going to visit Grandma Winz.

 The environment hadn’t changed, but the motivation had.

 I then shared with my friend how he could have a real relationship with Christ, and how his son could as well. I asked if he thought that might change going to church from a duty to a delight.

 I was reminded of that conversation as we edited a story about Carrielyn Lund. She shows Christ’s love to people overlooked by most of us, in places we avoid. One of those places is a long-term care home. When I go to church, I do so because I have a relationship with God. When I visit a nursing home, I do so to enjoy and build relationships. Carrielynn has a lot to teach our readers.

 As you think of us this month, please pray for Anne Marie’s continued adjustment to working in the office. Much has changed in the twenty years since she was last a full-time writer.

Thank you for your generosity and prayers. You play an important part in our lives. And please let us know how we can pray for you.

It’s 1:00 p.m., and we’ve just finished lunch in the cafeteria of a Kyung Hee University in Southeast Seoul. The students who earlier filled the tables have left to go to class and study for exams.

Photographer Tom Mills is taking pictures of Yura meeting with one of her disciples. They watch the short films, the Black Hole and Falling Plates together. Yura asks her disciple what she thinks the film is about. She transitions into a discussion about how Jesus is unlike any other person in history.

Earlier this morning, she and her teammate Rachel showed The Black Hole to two students sitting together outside of the library, a stone building with turrets on the top. Great architecture on campus.

Here’s a link to The Black Hole. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5_Msrdg3Hk

After watching the Black Hole, Yura and Rachel each started a conversation with the students by asking what they thought the film was about. Correct answer: Greed. Some great questions followed.

Q: What would you do if you had this kind of paper?

A: I don’t want it. I’m afraid of what might happen.

Q: Would you want to throw it away?

A: No, I want to keep it, just in case.

Q: What if everyone had this kind of paper?

A: There would be chaos.

Q: What if people used it for a good purpose?

A: People are evil.

Q: How can people solve the greed problem?

A: They can think within themselves and try to control themselves.

Q: Is there some other approach to solve this problem?

A: I don’t know.

Q: There is a film that explains where greed came from and how it can be solved. Would you like to watch it?

A: Not right now.

So, Yura was disappointed that she didn’t have a chance to show the second film called Falling Plates, but I was excited for her because she started a spiritual conversation.

Rachel had a similar experience. She ventured into questions about faith.

Q: Do you go to church?

A: My parents attend church. I attended when I was younger, but I don’t go anymore.

Q: Why do you think people go to church?

A: Some go to have relationships with people, but others go so they can meet people they can network with during the week. Maybe there are people who go to grow in their faith.

They carried on a conversation about how believing in Jesus can solve the greed problem. She asked if she could show him the second film. He also said, no thank you.

In the past, when our staff members used a printed presentation of the gospel, these conversations would have been much shorter, and students would not have answered as many questions. For now, the short films strategy is opening doors for both students and staff members on campus to start conversations.

Our staff are absolutely energized. One of the leaders told me that previously he explained his faith to other people because it was his duty. Now, he enjoys starting conversations and he finds himself more easily caring about the person he’s talking to as he’s asking questions and listening to their answers.

We’re off to a great start. Can’t wait to see what happens next. More to come.

My mouth was dry and my heartbeat increased in anticipation and hope. For the first time in three years, I would be surprised to learn if Worldwide Challenge had won any awards from the Evangelical Press Association. After presenting the awards the last three years, I listened as my friend Paul announced the winners.

I gratefully accepted six awards on behalf of our team. We received three photo awards, one writing award and one design award, in addition to an award of merit for the magazine as a whole. Every member of our team had something to celebrate.

While the awards presentation was fun, other parts of my time at the EPA convention were more valuable. Every year that event helps me become a better magazine editor, team leader and communicator in general. Last year at the convention I heard about a ministry focused on helping orphans called Back2Back.

The current issue of Worldwide Challenge features a couple who are part of Back2Back and who adopted 34 children in India. You can read the whole story on our website at http://worldwidechallenge.org/content/out-fire.

While most of our stories focus on the work of Cru staff members, we also acknowledge the work of people who staff members influence. And Cru played a role in Back2Back’s start. Beth and Todd Guckenberger were part of Cru at Indiana University. Beth said, “I majored in Cru, which is not really a major, but I spent a whole lot more hours doing that than in any library.”

They went to Albania for a Spring Break mission trip. On the way home, they began talking about the plight of the orphans they had met. “Years later, with a picture of an Albanian orphan in our hands, we crossed the border into Mexico and began Back2Back Ministries,” Beth said. They now help with children’s homes in Mexico, Nigeria, India and Haiti.

We’re grateful to be part of an effort to take the gospel to people who need Christ, like these orphans. And we’re grateful you’re playing a significant role in our ministry. You’re part of putting the good news about what God is doing in India into people’s hands, and you deserve a piece of the awards our team won.

As you think of us this month, please pray for our communications planning, and that we will be able to find and tell great stories of God working around the world.

I stood on the ground, looking up in amazement; 40 feet up. After 25 years of marriage—our anniversary is this week—Anne Marie is still surprising me. She was walking on a pole over more open space than I wanted anything to do with. (That’s her in the red coat.)

We were at the Athletes in Action headquarters in Xenia, Ohio, to train 13 fellow Cru staff members and interns to be better writers. Less than a mile from our meeting room; past the soccer, football, softball and baseball fields; is a ropes course. Our host there pressed us to make that part of the week. I’m glad we gave in and did so.

Hesitantly we all set out, promising to give it at least a try. Anne Marie got farther than many of her trainees, and farther than me, and was one of the last to come down—by a swing from 25 feet up, no less—when the afternoon ended. She felt a great release in taking risks and succeeding.

The next day, back in the training room, we guided class members through more instructions. By the end of the day, each had written three items including one about the experience on the ropes course. The writing the students produced in just a few days encouraged us.

Some of them work on magazines and web sites, some write devotionals, some plan to write books and three have books completed. Now they know more about gathering material before writing and how to sort and organize the material after they gather it. Their writing will be stronger, and all of them left with at least one specific action to take to be more effective.

I wish you could meet each of them, but I’d like to simply offer  their first names and ask you pray for Colleen, Kate, Kathy, Shannon, Nan, Steve, Eva, Katie, Joel, Tim, Courtney, Susie and Karen. As you think of us, please pray for these writers as they continue to learn how to communicate more effectively.

Thank you for playing a role in our ministry. Without you, this training and our work in publishing wouldn’t be possible.  We’re grateful.

When is the last time you felt brave? That word has been echoing in my mind over that last few weeks.

Bethany chose “brave” as her word for the year. She’s had a tumultuous semester and a half in college, and it’s taken courage to face some unexpected challenges.

She’s preparing to travel to thee countries in Europe for a school trip this summer that will include study and helping girls who are escaping from human trafficking. She will need to stay brave —and so will we—as she takes that trip.

Author Madeleine L’Engle wrote, “We have to be braver than we think we can be, because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are.”

In Deuteronomy chapter 31 God directs first Moses and later Joshua to “be courageous” as they led God’s people into the Promised Land. In John 16:33 Jesus explains why we can be brave. “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” The Amplified Bible says that “take heart” means “take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted.”

In our work on Worldwide Challenge we see people show courage. For example, in the issue we’re editing now, we tell the story of David and Meg Robbins who left Mississippi and moved their family of five into a 1,000 square foot apartment to help take the gospel to New York City.

Over the last year I’ve especially enjoyed seeing Anne Marie show courage as Writing for Life has changed from classes for middle- and high-school students to adult education. Each new class has needed adjustments.

This month has brought several new opportunities. She’s teaching two weekly classes in our office, each with about a dozen of our staff members, and we’re preparing for our training in Ohio the week after next, March 25-28.

Over the next two weeks, please pray about these things.

• Ask God to help Anne Marie, me, and our coworker Amber as the three of us prepare to teach the sessions in Ohio. We’re working on our presentations this week and next.
• Pray for good connections with the 16 staff members who will be participating in the training. We want to work with each one to help them become more effective writers.
• Pray for safe travel and health for everyone who is coming, including the three of us traveling from Orlando.

We hope you find opportunities to be brave. As always, we’re grateful for your friendship and your part in our lives.

Indian-Girls taken by Beth Whitman at wanderlustandlipstick.com

Previously, Subha Shini had sent me a story she had written, asking if I could help her make it better. You read about the response I sent her.

Here are the two drafts she sent back to me.

Draft 1

Even when a pastor prayed and delivered her mother from demon possession; Manjula a 1st PUC student was not serious about her relationship with Jesus.

Manjula met our staff Mrs. Kumari in her neighborhood conducting Bible study for the youths: Manjula started attending the group regularly and the truth that she learnt from the Word of God helped her to grow in her relationship with Christ.

A few months latter Manjula attended a camp conducted by Campus Crusade: unlike her initial response to Christ  she met Pavithra a Hindu girl and shared about Chrisr to her; ‘since we both belong to the same religion and community. I could relate well with her ‘ says Manjula.

After attending the training in Evangelisim and Discipleship camp conducted on 12th to 14th January Manjula says i had a desire to share gospel with others and I am glad I could do that during this camp. ‘I now realize that it is my responsibility to let my friends know that Jesus is the true living God.’

Either draft works, depending on the point you are trying to make. Erik (taught with us in India) has taught me something more about writing stories. He says find the motivation for why people do what they do. In other words, why is each person in your story behaving the way they do. Sometimes you have to look at which person you have the most information about. Think with me. Who is this story really about?

Is it about Manjula? She’s the student who shows up in every paragraph. Her life changes so that she becomes more serious about her relationship with God.

Is this story about her mother or the pastor? Not this time, even though the pastor prays with power and authority and her mother’s life change, we only see them in the first paragraph.\

Is this story about Mrs. Kumari? God uses Mrs. Kumari to train and to disciple Manjula, but we don’t know enough about Mrs. Kumari’s life to make the story about her.

Is this story about Pavithra? Her life changes, but we know more about why Manjula shares the gospel with her than we do about Pavithra and her story.

So, let’s decide this story is about Manjula. We want to show how and why her life changes. Events tell how her life changed. Background tells why her life changed.

So the focus is something like: Manjula moves from not being very serious about her relationship with Christ to becoming serious enough to actually experience the good news of the gospel and share it easily with someone else. How did it happen? Your story will explain it.

While both drafts tell this story, and, depending on your audience, either one could work, I like draft one the best because events happen in a beginning-to-end sequence. I can follow the progression logically without having to look back and then look forward again.

Your second draft starts at the end where Manjula is sharing the gospel with Pavithra. In my opinion, the part that’s missing is why it is so significant that this event is happening. On first look, Pavithra’s life is the one that is about to be changed. To make this work, you would have to include a sentence like: Explaining the gospel didn’t always come easily to Manjula. In fact, there was a time when she didn’t care about her relationship with Christ.

Then you could move into the story about the pastor praying for her mother followed by the training Mrs. Kumari gave her in her neighborhood. Then end with with her saying the quote at camp.

In this case, draft one is done. It accomplishes everything you want it to.

There is always more than one way to tell a story. If you were given the same information Subha Shini had been given, how might you have told this story?