Disciple-Making in Action

May 2013

To our Partners in Disciple-Making,

When we work really hard for something we believe in, great joy ensues when it becomes reality. Most of my time and energy goes into equipping people to make disciples the way Jesus did. I believe that the lack of doing that keeps the church from powerfully influencing our culture. So it brought me great joy to see disciple-making in action at Lee Grady's Bold Venture gathering.

Felipe, Lee and Me

Barry & Lee

Lee and I became friends 40 years ago. When he was 14, I began a discipleship group of young men. Lee says he was shy, confused and lost. Through our group, he met Jesus and his life changed. In times past, I have written about Lee and our long friendship. Speaking at his Bold Venture experiences has enhanced that friendship. At Bold Venture, with the theme "Real Men Make Disciples", men catch a vision for making disciples like Jesus did. They can easily envision disciple-making when they see Lee and me--that I discipled Lee, and then that Lee has discipled many others--including Felipe.

Felipe's Clear Focus

As Lee and I enjoyed a disciple-making

Felipe (right), Pedro & Guga

relationship, so Lee and Felipe Amorim, 23, have enjoyed a discipling relationship. Felipe, Lee and me--our disciple-making connection illustrates what happens when people embrace, and then apply disciple-making in their relationships.

Two years ago, I spoke at Bold Venture on "Real Men Make Disciples" in Concord, NC. A group came from Ministerio Seara (Harvest Ministries), a Brazilian church in Orlando. The Lord spoke clearly to Felipe: "Focus your life on making disciples." He had never discipled anyone before, but he knew what Lee had done with him. So he ordered our resources, and prayed about whom to invite to join the group. The Lord gave him the names of five guys. As the group met and hung out together, they became fast friends, intensely pursued their relationship with Jesus, and became bold in sharing their faith.

Brazilian Multiplication

Felipe's Group

Since then, their small group of Brazilians has begun to multiply.

Felipe continued with his original group--João, Marcus, Pedro, Guga and Arthur. Each one began to disciple others: Nathan, Vitor, Josh, Michael, Lucas and Rafael.

A few months later, Pedro moved to Miami to begin college and play soccer. He started a discipleship group that includes...Isaiah, an African-American who received Christ 4 weeks ago; Edrei, a Puerto Rican/Mexican on Pedro's soccer team; Nick and Destiny, African

Pedro's College Group

American and Hispanic/Americans, studying culinary arts, who randomly asked Pedro about the Bible; Chris ("Cyprus"), who recently moved to the USA from Cyprus, speaks Greek, and invited Jesus into his life 4 weeks ago. Chris said "I believe I did not come to America to learn English, but to learn the Truth and take it home!"

Guga, Pedro's brother, and Marcus started a middle-school discipleship group with Josh, Jonathan, Brandon, Pedro and Lucas.

The girls, not to be left out, caught the vision, and they have started two groups--one with 8 girls and a new convert group with 4 girls.

Girls Discipleship Group

Lee's Vast Network

Lee with his spiritual sons and grandsons

Over the years the number of people and the international scope of those Lee has discipled has multiplied exponentially. Those who gather at Bold Venture come from

Lee's vast network of disciples, people in whom Lee has invested or people in whom

those people have invested--spiritual fathers, sons and grandsons, if you will. Like Paul, they have produced and will produce multiple generations of disciples--"Paul... Timothy...reliable men...others also" (2 Timothy 2:2).

Now I pass that challenge on to you, whatever gender or age you are. If you have not done so already, will you prayerfully consider investing in a discipling relationship with three or four younger people? Potentially, in a couple of years, you too will have produced fruit similar to what the Lord has produced through Lee and Felipe.

Thank you for supporting Reach Out so we can continue to do what Jesus has called us to do--to "go into all the world and make disciples" of leaders, who make disciples of others.

Jesus is Lord,

Barry