We Believe Effective DTS’s Produce Disciple-Makers
By Jeff Patterson
Effective DTS’s multiply the Kingdom of God.
“Be fruitful and multiply…” Genesis 1:28 NIV. “…as the stars in the sky, and the sand on the seashore” Genesis 22:17 NIV. “…and the number of disciples multiplied greatly” Acts 6:7 NIV.
God calls us to exponential growth. How do we get there?
Look up!
Understand God’s story and our part in it. (See the whole Bible, including Rom. 12:1-2 and Phil.
1:12-19.)
Pray (Matthew 9:38).
Develop practical skills such as sharing the gospel (Acts 8:25; 14:7, 21; 15:7; 16:10; 20:24) and leading
discipleship groups/simple churches (Acts 2:42-47).
Maintain peer accountability and encouragement (Mark 6:30, Acts 2:44; 3:1; 4:31; 13:1-4, 2 Tim. 2:2, 1
Thess. 5:11).
Imagine a scenario like the following. Carly had so loved her DTS. She was blown away when she heard
an overview of the Bible and got the big picture of God’s story and her part in it. Then in DTS
small groups, she learned to lead discipleship groups (welcome, worship, Word, one anothers,
and witness), and it dawned on her, “I can do this! Not only that, I can teach others to do it,
and it’s what church should look like…and not only that, it’s a church that I and others want to
be part of more than just once a week! Plus, it’s group that many non-believers would
enjoy joining.”
“Wow, it’s so different than I thought. It’s easy and awesome! Who could have thought a week
of learning to share Bible stories and practicing simple skills together from the website
www.t4tonline.org could change so many lives forever?”
And then there was the outreach. Carly could hardly believe that they had started 5 discipleship
groups/home fellowships/Jesus groups. Two of those groups started new groups in less than a month. Two other groups started additional groups a month after the DTS finished. In total, 83 people had come to the Lord, were baptised, were being discipled, and were leading others to Jesus and discipling them too.
It really did work like it was supposed to: Model, Assist, Watch, Leave (MAWL). MAWLing was
so much better than mauling.
Carly couldn’t wait to do the simple church and T4T principles and practices with friends, family,
and some of the leaders of her home church too. Then it would be easier for them to
understand what she was hoping to do in North India and how they could be part of it.
What if having DTS students like Carly was a common thing? This kind of thing is happening
in some DTS’s. Some DTS’s report these tools have resulted in the most fruitful outreaches
they’ve seen. What if more DTS’s made disciples, who made disciples, who made disciples?
What if DTSers started Jesus Fellowships where believers grew in Christ-likeness and started
other Jesus fellowships from house to house, and it just kept on spreading? What if this was one
of the prayed for and planned for outcomes of most DTS’s?
Watch the one-minute video on this belief.
Watch the videos for other FM beliefs.