In November of 2009, I happened upon a woman named Alice. In my spiritual walk, I had been floundering. I was always a deeply spiritual person, but had been raised with confusing, legalistic religion. Having walked away from it after 25 years, the following few were exploratory of all belief systems. Until Alice. She invited me to her home and once a week for many months, she fed me, physically and spiritually. Our time together was profound in my formation of what it meant to be a follower of Christ. I made the leap from seeker, to believer. (You can read more about my time with Alice here.)
I knew that belief needed depth, and so I continued on in my studies. After a two year course of theology through an extension bible college, under the facilitation of another great influence, I learned about what it meant to be a disciple. I knew that there needed to be more than just a belief and going through the motions - that I needed to help feed the sheep through the gifts that I had been given.
I wasn't sure what that would look like, and as I tend to do, I tried to figure it out for myself. As God would have it, the picture wasn't made clear to me until I was ready and the timing was right. Never would I have guessed that creating a resource and ministry to connect those willing to disciple with those in need of it was part of my plan. But I'm grateful that the events in my life and the lives of those around me led naturally to this path.
I know first hand how transformational one-on-one discipleship is. It is my hope that I can encourage and foster this kind of discipleship within the Body of Christ today. Just as Paul nurtured Timothy, helping him grow into a great disciple for the cause of the Gospel, it is my prayer that all who need and want to can have such a Paul in their lives.
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