Fishing with Disciples

Just the other day, I was standing on the bank of a lake watching an older gentlemen cast his line out in hopes of catching just about anything from the lake. In my time there, he hadn't caught anything that I saw. But as I was standing there thinking, being the good bible college student I am, a verse came to mind. The verse is Matthew 4:19, "And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.""

As I was thinking through this verse it is amazing to me how interesting this verse can be with just a few words. First off, Jesus was calling his disciples. To do what? Make disciples. And Jesus used the analogy of "fishers of men" to call them to His mission.

The disciples were ultimately being taught how to make disciples and how to go about discipling others and Jesus compared that to being fishers of men. And when I sit back and apply the knowledge I have of fishing to discipleship it makes a lot of sense to me why he would do that.

Baby Fish. While I was standing on the bank of this particular lake, you can see this basically in any body of water with fish present, there were tons of baby fish close to the bank and they would not leave that area except for maybe a foot or so out. The baby fish in this area were very skittish and timid of venturing out into the deeper waters of the pond.

I think this is how "baby Christians" as we call them some times can be. As we begin discipling a new believer we can want to force a huge overwhelming lifestyle change onto them and that can make them very nervous about their Christian walk. Rather I think it is better to give them practical and manageable habits to develop and learn as they begin their new life in Christ. Those doing the discipling should help them understand what they believe, why they believe it, and what that means for them on a daily basis. It can be a scary thing for a new believer and I think it best when they have someone to keep them under their wing and close to their bank.

Watch the bobber. I was never one to pick up on the whole constant casting style of bass fishing that some are phenomenal at doing. Rather I was one that would attach the bobber to the end of my line, cast it out in the water, and wait. Sometimes I would have to be much more patient than other times where I would toss it in and immediately have a fish on the hook.

Discipling has the same idea. We want the new believer to immediately be like Christ in all aspects of their lives. But in reality, this rarely happens instantly. Discipling is a process of constant pouring into the life of someone and being patient as they grow and mature in their faith. This is a person by person basis on how quickly they grow in their faith. Likewise, the bobber will go under in certain lakes faster than it will in other we just have to be patient.

It Can Be Messy. One of the most frustrating things for me as a young fisherman was when my fishing line would "bird nest" in the reel. For those not as familiar with that term, it is when their is a problem with the reel and the way the line is fed into it (I think!) and it balls up into a huge mess of fishing line. It is nasty and requires tons of work to get through this issue.

Discipling will inevitably have issues and problems come up as you walk alongside the individual you are discipling. These issues will take patience as mentioned earlier but likewise will need extra time and attention given to them before you can move on with the discipling process. This could be a number of things of personal sin issues or even issues from their past when they were a nonbeliever that still has consequences or ramifications for present day. If the situation gets too difficult or messy I don't think it is incorrect to rule out "cutting the line" as a last resort. Maybe it is better for you to take a step back from the situation for a period of time or to recommend and connect the individual with someone with more experience or expertise in the area of their struggle.

We all swim our own path. My grandpa lived in Florida when I was younger. His house was maybe 100 feet from the water and so it was never a surprise to have a Manatee swim up into his cove and eat the lettuce we would throw out for them. I always hated seeing the scars on the back of those such gentle creatures that results of being hit by the propeller of boats. But none the less they were there and they were still living the life they had been given.

This is similar to our unique Christian walks. We all have a story we all have scars in our lives be it small and hard for some to see or something deep and very evident to others. As we are discipling it is important to explain to the individual we all have a unique story in our life that God has given us to share with others. We all want to have that incredible testimony of overcoming an addiction or a radical lifestyle change. But even if it is just a "normal" testimony as we tend to label them. It is important for us to share and live the story God has given us because God choosing to send His Son to die for us is a miracle in itself for us to share!

Vision for Nicaragua

I am beginning to reach the point in my life where I constantly find myself ready to "jump the gun" and I begin placing myself in various types of "real jobs" before I have even received my college diploma as I will in May of this new year. Though I get excited about every potential job opportunity and begin placing myself and my future wife, Miriam there. My mind is always on my first missional love, the country of Nicaragua.

I feel God has put this passion for this country in my heart and given me Miriam to better equip me to serve Him and those in Nicaragua. It is obviously not the first place a typical American would desire to go to. It is hot year round with most places not having air conditioning and it is also third-world country with the daily struggles that come along with that status evident in everyday life of those born there.

I have recently been thinking through some thing God has placed on my heart for my work in Nicaragua in the future. I believe this will be further down the road as I try to manage my student loans and all of the changes that come with the transition from college to newlywed life and a new job.

But I would just like to share this idea and vision for you to begin praying through this alongside of me that I bring glory to God wherever he places me today, tomorrow, or forty years down the road. I have been called to vocational ministry for three years now. But with that said, I have never felt called to be a preaching pastor in the pulpit week in and week out. I feel more called to be teaching and "getting my hands dirty" alongside of believers and unbelievers.

God has recently put on my heart to begin exploring options of teaching pastors in the area of youth ministry and outreach in the local seminary just outside of Managua. Nicaragua has huge numbers of young people and teens but very rarely have I seen them in the churches there. I believe this is due to the lack of tailored programs and ministries for them. In Nicaragua, the young people are some of the strongest supporters for the political parties and elections. They want something and someone to believe in. As far as I know, there are very few if any classes being taught. I would like to teach classes to better equip the pastors to reach the young people in Nicaragua.

As well as teaching the pastors youth classes, I feel another strong way of equipping the pastors to reach out to the unchurched in their communities is by teaching the pastors English in the seminary or having lessons in my home. English is such a desirable language for people to learn in Nicaragua. It opens a world of opportunities in the job world and around the world for them. As these pastors begin  to learn English they can then go back and begin offering and teaching what they have learned to their church family and the community in which they live and their church is located.

In the United States our churches have staffs of five pastors to up to one hundred different paid ministry positions in the same church. In Nicaragua, this is not the case and the pastors are normally bi-vocational to be able to provide for their families. This can some times limit the amount of time these pastors can spend in their communities visiting houses, though these pastors are very diligent in doing so. The opportunity for these pastors to learn English as well will allow them to offer these to their members and unchurched members to bring them into the church not only to teach them English but to build relationships with them. And what better material to give them to practice their reading than the Bible itself!

When I dream big, I know my God is bigger and He can make a mountain move. My prayer is this small vision can bring change and a revival to the churches and people of Nicaragua. My God is faithful and His will is always done! I just hope to be one of his many tools in completing His will in the country of Nicaragua.

Making Disciple-Makers By the Numbers

As Christians, we are called in Matthew 28 to make disciples but I feel we are not called to make only disciples but we called to make disciple makers. For example, I would like to take your typical evangelist. Let's say they make one disciple per day per year, this is what it could look like on a thirty year timeline:

End of:
1 Year: 365 disciples
2 Years: 730 disciples
3 Years: 1,095 disciples
10 Years: 3,650 disciples
20 Years: 7,300 disciples
30 Years: 10,950 disciples

In summary, this is a very fruitful method and a very rapid moving method in the beginning stages.

Now, let's look at what a disciple-maker will look like on a thirty year timeline, with a disciple-maker timeline we will assume the disciple maker pours into two people for one year and then we send them out and they make disciples.

End of:
1 Year: 2 disciples
2 Years: 4 disciples
3 Years: 8 disciples
10 Years: 1,024 disciples
20 Years: 1,048,576 disciples
30 Years: 1,073,741,824 disciples

In summary, this is a slower moving method in the beginning but if each disciple-maker continues to disciple and pour into people lives this is a much more impactful method. I know this is a big numbers thing but more important than the numbers is each individual life change this numbers represent!



*Numbers adopted from Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries.

Hardin Day 1

After a late night arrival of Hardin Team 1 we spent yesterday in the community of San Judas in Belen Baptist Church. We we went to the normal Sunday service and Sunday school afterwards. 

After lunch a few of the men on the team went to La Panama school to start brainstorming and getting our plans together for the weeks work projects. 

It was really amazing to walk the campus of La Panama and hear about each project Hardin has done throughout the years. From the school walls, to play ground equipment, to running water. It is exciting to be a part of a ministry and teams that invest in the same people and communities year in and year out!

Following the time there we came back to the house made and ate some of Jimbo's famous guacamole and returned to Belen and San Judas to evangelize in the community before the evening service.

We are headed to La Panama again this morning to begin sharing the gospel with each class and student! Please be praying for these times.

A Huge Change in La Chureca

Sometimes on the mission field with short term mission trips alone you very rarely get to see huge changes like the one I was able to see today. My first year I visited Nicaragua I was here for one week not realizing I would plan to spend all of the following summers here. The first time I visited what here is called La Chureca it was a scary, dangerous place. As you turned the corner and began to drive down this road in the bus the kids weren't playing or smiling, rather digging through trash and giving the cars and visitors the middle finger with smug faces.

This place was hopeless and one could easily think that once you have arrived here there's no way out and no way to change your situation.

But any answered prayer came via Spain and over the last few years they had been working on and funding a project in La Chureca to change the image of this place and make it a terrible situation something good. I was able to see the final project of this today. After some back and forth begging between Miriam, I, and the security guard we were granted access into the now recycling factory that is La Chureca. It's incredible! Check out these photos of before:

And now the finished project and new look of La Chureca: (note these two photos are the same exact locations.)

Just know that prayer and perseverance can change something or someone without hope and turn it into an opportunity for growth, progress, and something beautiful!

Interns!

Tonight is an exciting time as we add two interns to our summer staff. It also means that our next team is very close to arriving in the next week (June 15th). Please be praying for Taylor and Kaela as they'll be flying in and arriving here in Managua in the next few hours! I'll leave you with this boy walking his pig! 

And pigs being pigs in the mud:

Back to Nicaragua

Today marks my second trip to Nicaragua this summer. This trip will be much busier with missions arriving in about a week and a half. Once the first arrives June 15th the mission house will be full until the end of July! This is a very exciting time of the year for Partners in Christ and I. We have been working and planning very hard and we know God has amazing things planned for these groups as they do His work here in Nicaragua. I will be writing more often now that there's much more activity kicking up with the teams arriving. I will keep you posted on Facebook and Twitter (@kegandewitt) each time I post a new blog! Thanks for reading and God bless!