Years ago in a university lecture hall, a student asked the well-known theologian Karl Barth if he could summarize his life’s work in theology in a sentence.

Barth replied, “Yes, I can. In the words of a song I learned on my mother’s knee: ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’”

In a very different world, Sina discovered that same truth.

She grew up in Rwanda in a family of seven children. When she was 9 or 10, the terrible Rwandan genocide began. Her father participated in one of the many massacres and he’s still in prison. Sina fled with her mother to the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. While there, she was raped and became pregnant.

When she returned to Rwanda, misunderstandings separated her from her mother, and Sina became a prostitute—so she could feed herself and her child. That was her life. 

One day, Sina met a group of people talking about Jesus and sharing God’s Word in her community. They were disciple-makers trained in a local discipleship-mission training program launched with the help of Global Disciples. And visiting Sina’s community was part of their outreach.

As they talked with her, she asked if it were true—did God really exist? And if He did, did He really love her?

Because, Sina said, “I have never known anyone who loves me.”

“Jesus loves me.” This simple yet profound truth reached into Sina’s heart and touched her soul. She saw Jesus as the One who loved her so much that He died for her. And she surrendered to Him as her Savior. Now she says she has peace in her heart. And Jesus is beginning the work of transformation in her life.

So many people in our world are like Sina. The details of their stories may change but the reality remains: They need to know that Jesus loves them. That He laid down His life for them to give them new life here…and for eternity. That’s the message you and I are called to share today.

Juba was troubled by what his friend had to say—that the Koran says Isa a ‘Masih, Jesus the Messiah, was born of a virgin. That Jesus is “the Word of God” and “the Spirit of God”, and more. Born and raised a devout Muslim in the horn of Africa, this news shook him to the core.

After long struggle and prayer, Juba surrendered his life to Jesus as his Savior and Lord. He soon attended a discipleship-mission training that several local churches had launched with Global Disciples’ help.

During outreach after his training, Juba led many more Muslims to faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Miracles were common as the Holy Spirit transformed devout Muslims into dedicated followers of Jesus Christ.

As word spread about Juba’s effective outreach, other churches wanted him to teach them about leading Muslims to faith in Christ! Such an event would be risky—if the wrong people found out, the churches could be attacked. So, the church leaders planned quietly, put security in place, and then invited their people for training.

When the first day of the training dawned, a group of Muslims waited at the church door, carrying an older woman on a couch. The church leaders wondered if it was some kind of trap, setting them up for an attack.    

Juba stepped out to speak to the visitors, led by the shek, the region’s key Muslim leader. The woman on the couch was his wife; she had not walked in three years! But she had a dream in which Jesus told her to come, that a teacher would pray, and she would be healed.

So, Juba prayed. And the shek’s wife stood up, completely healed by Jesus! Today, those who carried her couch are among thousands of Muslims we’ve seen become dedicated disciples of Jesus and disciple-makers.

You know, you can be part of stories like this. When you support Global Disciples through your gifts and prayers, you help equip effective disciple-makers like Juba.

Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday—why not make Global Disciples part of your giving plans now?

Thank you for giving and for praying for disciple-makers like Juba, fully equipped and perfectly placed to reach least-reached people.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

The word Christian appears only three times in the New Testament. We all may have heard various explanations of what the word Christian means. Clearly this term was first introduced when followers of Christ were no longer only Jewish, and the movement began to sweep out into the Gentile world.

The word disciple appears 261 times in the Bible. It is used to designate those physically present with Jesus while He was on earth.

“To be a disciple was to have been with Him, learning to be like him. That is the foundation of discipleship. To be with someone and learning to be like that person.”[1]

This is one of several thoughts I’ve pondered as I’ve read the book, Renovated: God, Dallas Willard, and the Church That Transforms, from neurologist and theologian, Jim Wilder. It has much to say about what makes someone a disciple.

“For Jesus, to disciple someone was to teach that person how to live their life in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is God in action. So, to say ‘Seek first the Kingdom of God’ is to invite us to be caught up in the action of God and the kind of righteousness that comes with that… the basic idea of being a disciple, in the New Testament, is being with Jesus, learning to be like Him.”

Of course, after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, “with Him” takes a different form. But the meaning of disciple is still the same. A disciple is someone who is with Jesus and learning to be like Him. “Disciple” is a status. Spiritual transformation is a process toward becoming more like Jesus.

If a disciple of Jesus is defined as one who is “learning from Jesus how to lead my life as He would lead my life if He were I,” then we must ask ourselves, “Is that me? Have I chosen that? And if I have chosen it, what am I doing to carry through with it?” And how am I inviting others along on that journey with me?

“Discipleship is not for the church; the church is for discipleship. And discipleship is for the world.”

But we can’t do the things Jesus said without learning to act in God’s power – the Spirit is indispensable. “We have to stop trusting ourselves and what we manage and manipulate and learn to trust God.”

Trying to become more like Jesus will lead to failure and frustration if it is only a matter of our will or a decision we make. So, we must start by seeing salvation as more than a ticket to heaven. Salvation is rather an invitation to begin a life with Jesus and to keep growing in our love attachment with Him.

–Galen Burkholder, Founder, Global Disciples

[1] Renovated: God, Dallas Willard, and the Church That Transforms, by Jim Wilder, NavPress, 2020.