Discipleship – May 2026

In our previous update, we had stated we would have a blog post going deeper into discipleship; well, here it is! We want to share more about discipleship for two main reasons: discipleship was at the heart of Jesus’ ministry, and it is at the heart of our ministry, too. I (Christopher) have posed the question, in different settings, from missionaries to the youth in La Carpio, “Why did Jesus come to earth?”  The typical and immediate response I am met with is, “To die for our sins on the cross!” Since I expect that response, I affirm the fundamental truth that Jesus did indeed come to die for our sins, but then go on to explain that His coming to earth was multifaceted. He did not come straight down from heaven as a full grown man of 33 years old, saying, “Okay everyone, I am here, I am going to the cross now!” Rather, he descended from heaven, was born from a virgin as a baby, lived 30 years in relative anonymity, then, at 30 years old he began His public ministry lasting 3 years up until His death, burial, resurrection and heavenly ascension, all of which forever transformed the world. So yes, Jesus came to die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, but what about the other 33 years of his life? Why did He come for that long to the earth and what was He doing? 

In short, he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God (Matt 4:23), He taught (Matt 4:23), and He performed miracles to prove His identity and the validity of His message (Matt 4:23-24). Amidst that, He had a group of young disciples that He invested in. To fully appreciate what that means, let’s step back in time for a moment. In Jesus’ day, and beforehand, Jewish rabbis would have a group of teenagers and young men who they would “do life” with, so to speak. The young followers of a rabbi would observe the rabbi, learn from the rabbi, and mimic the rabbi both in His words and his actions with the hope of becoming like him and making disciples of their own one day. Jesus was a Jewish rabbi and Jesus did not invent discipleship. However, Jesus definitely did things that were contrary to the traditional rabbinical system and radical for His time. As the gospel of Saint Luke tells us, Jesus began His ministry at about 30 years old (Luke 3:23), which was the typical age men were considered capable of beginning their ministry as a rabbi, with the proper training and maturity. As seen in the gospels in a few instances, Jesus invited people to be his disciple with two simple words: "Follow Me."

For approximately 3 years, Jesus ministered with a group of disciples, spending 24 hours a day with them 7 days a week. Within that group of disciples there were 12 whom He primarily focused on, and they were designated apostles by Jesus: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot (Luke 6:14-16). These guys lived with Jesus, observed Him, learned from Him, and by the book of Acts, were mimicking the life of their Rabbi and Lord to make more disciples like Him. Our ministry in Costa Rica, specifically in La Carpio, is focused on making disciples. While imperfect, we try to the best of our ability to make disciples like Jesus did. 

Every Friday afternoon-evening, there is a group of four guys that come to the house for a time of discipleship: Brayan (24), Eddie (23), Benjamin (17), and John (16). Almost every time we get together, I repeat to them the objectives of discipleship: Conocer a Jesús (Know Jesus), Ser como Jesús (Be like Jesus) y Hacer Discípulos de Jesús (Make disciples of Jesus). Some of the ways in which we have strived to achieve those objectives are through the following:

• Prayer. Throughout our time, we have put into practice various forms of prayer, such as intercessory prayer, contemplative prayer, and the laying on of hands. 
• Scripture Memorization. At first, they struggled to memorize Scripture, but I encouraged them that the more we do it, the easier it will become for them, since it is a muscle needing to be exercised and strengthened. Sure enough, they have been growing in their ability to retain the word in their minds and hearts. 
• Evangelism. For about 5 weeks, we had studied what the gospel is, going through the book of Acts and reading the instances in which Peter and Paul shared the gospel. Then, with one of our fellow missionary friends, Jay, we went street evangelizing. While it was necessary for them to understand what the gospel is, it was also necessary for them to realize the value of sharing it.
• Testimonies. Our missionary friends, Brian and Melissa, had us over at their house for 2 nights, and both of them shared their testimony with the guys. Then the guys wrote out their testimonies, shared it with one another, and then shared it with someone else in their life as another means of evangelism. It was a special moment hearing the guys share with one another, as they realized how much they did not know about each other. 
• Fundamentals of the faith. Recently, we talked about what makes a Christian a Christian, what the primary doctrines of our faith are and how they separate us from other religions. They were quite invested and participative in that conversation. It was a great time for asking questions and going theologically deep in discussing what is Christianity. 
• Spiritual Warfare. Currently, we are going through a time of discussing spiritual warfare, with the intention of preparing them to engage in practices and next steps to help them live out their faith in greater freedom and being better equipped to navigate the battles of spiritual warfare. 
• Loving Jesus. Leading up to Holy Week and after Resurrection Sunday, our times simply consisted of reading the Gospels’ Passion of the Christ and being in awe with Jesus. I told them that if our discipleship is not cultivating a greater love for Jesus, and if we are not living out our faith with a genuine love for Christ, then we are missing out on what matters most.

Our hope for all those who read this is twofold: for you to get a clearer picture of the specifics of our ministry and for you to be encouraged and inspired to go make disciples if you are not doing so. Or, if you do not know how to make disciples, ask someone to disciple you! Making disciples is not a suggestion or a highly-esteemed recommendation; it was one of the final commands Jesus gave to His disciples and to US before He ascended to heaven (Matt 28:16-20). If He commands us to do it, then He believes we are capable of doing so. Eddie once asked me, “Chris, do you really believe that, one day, we can make disciples?” I write to you all what I said to him: Whether it is tomorrow, next year, or in 10 years, anyone and everyone who is in Christ has the potential and mandate to become a disciple-maker. The question however, is whether or not we will assume that responsibility and fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). 

Check out this chart and other resources below if you are wanting to learn more about how to make disciples!

Discipleship Multiplication Table

If we made one disciple every year, and that disciple made one disciple, and those disciples made disciples, and the multiplication continued, in 34 years virtually the whole world would be reached!

Friends of ours, pastor Bob and Barbie Magruder, have a discipleship ministry based out of Florida dedicated to equipping all people to make disciples. If you are wanting to grow as a disciplemaker, click here to check out their ministry’s website and get in contact with them!

Another great book we would recommend is Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer. Click here to check it out. 

Another friend and missionary on the field, Eric Gustafson, serves with an organization called Singular, devoted to obeying God by mobilizing disciple-makers according to the principles Jesus modeled for us. They have many free resources on their website both in English and Spanish. All you need to do is enter your email and scroll down on the page to access them. Click here to check them out!