Journey Highlights from the 2025 NDI General Board Report

Walking by the sea, Jesus invited some fisherman to join him saying, “…follow me” (Matthew 4:19). These words of Jesus foreshadowed a ministry built around discipleship. Near the conclusion of Jesus’ earthly ministry, on the mountain, he said to his followers, “…go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). Discipleship “bookended” Jesus’ ministry with everything he did intended to turn his followers into faithful disciples. In short, discipleship was priority one in Jesus’ ministry, and it must be our top priority as well.

A couple of modern-day metaphors may help here. If the church, in its beautiful variety of ministries, is a suit of clothes, discipleship is the thread that holds the whole garment together. Without the thread, the suit falls apart; without discipleship, the church suffers as well. Or, we might say, discipleship is the heart of the church, pumping new life into the various members of the Body. A strong heart fuels a strong body. Strong discipleship fuels a healthy church.

Nazarene Discipleship International (NDI) exists 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” (Manual 812). So defined, discipleship engages every function of the church supplying life and strength so that the Body of Christ may flourish.

The Church of the Nazarene continues to thrive under the ongoing influence of the Journey of Grace. Now we are asking, “What would it look like to mobilize Nazarenes to respond to God’s grace?” More simply, if the Journey of Grace is one side of the discipleship coin, what is on the other side? The other side of the coin is our response to God’s grace. The response? Discipleship! A concise and memorable definition we are using is: “Discipleship is a covenant decision to follow Jesus and to include others in our journey.”

We want this clear call to “follow Jesus and include others in our journey” to reach every Nazarene and engage them in mobilizing the Great Commission.

We rejoice in the work of our Global NDI Council with representation from all six world regions. We thank God for our NDI regional coordinators, field coordinators, district presidents, and local church presidents. These sisters and brothers work tirelessly to educate, train, and model following Jesus and including others in their journey of grace.

We celebrate NDI’s discipleship values, one of which is prayer. Will you pray with us that God will help us to truly follow Jesus and include our friends, classmates, coworkers, and family in our journey?