General Assembly 2023 was a wonderful way for Nazarene women to connect. The USA/Canada women's discipleship representatives enjoyed all the ways we gathered and greeted one another through our booth, worship gatherings, workshops, or spontaneous meetings in the halls as we celebrated our bond of love in God. We began the assembly with a constant flow of visitors to our booth, Nazarene Women of Grace on the Journey Together.
Prayer is an essential part of being and making Christlike disciples.
In January, NDI, in partnership with Wonderful Works Ministry, submitted a proposal to the Lilly Endowment to provide special resourcing to USA and Canada churches with the goal of equipping our churches to become more accessible to people with disabilities. We are pleased to announce that the proposal was approved, and NDI received a grant to support this five-year initiative.
Nazarene Discipleship International’s mission is to carry out the Great Commission to children, youth, and adults in preparation for a lifelong journey of being and making Christlike disciples in the nations. This path of disciple making, and the church’s co-mission with Jesus Christ, is to reach the lost, establish new believers in their faith, and walk with them into the joyous experience with God called entire sanctification.
Seven weeks after Easter, on May 28 this year, most Nazarenes in our 164 world areas will celebrate Pentecost Sunday. We will remember Christ’s promise to be with us “always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). We will also remember the early believers who gathered in an upper room being filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4).
Hal Perkins’ in Walk with Me insists: “To make Christlike disciples, we must help our disciples make disciple makers.” Fostering and developing disciple makers should be ongoing for healthy, growing Christ-followers. Every Christian should be able to answer these questions: Who is discipling you?
It is important for each Christ-follower to be engaged in a lifelong journey of being and making Christlike disciples. Mature Christians need to be committed to guiding other Christ-followers to become more and more like Christ.
Those who know Keren Chuiza know that she has a passion for children's discipleship that is contagious. Her influence ignited the passion in others for the ministry to children in Cuenca, Ecuador.
The Start
Discipleship has always been an important part of the Church of the Nazarene. However, the titles given to the discipleship efforts of the Church of the Nazarene are varied. During the denomination’s first two decades, discipleship was included in the General Assembly Committee on Sunday Schools. Then, discipleship was championed in the Department of Church Schools, which was organized in 1928.
The Discipleship Place has been at work planning the redesign of the website, filming new courses, and designing an interactive version of the How to Study the Bible course!