we have been discipling for more than 30 years now and these are what we have seen

in our context, we have planted almost 70 churches in the slums

many experts say that the most effective method of evangelism today is planting new small churches

also the new frontier for mission today is the slum. as globalization grows, more and more people migrate to the cities looking for jobs but then housing in the urban areas are very expensive, thus, millions end up in the slums each year

we have recruited trained and mobilized more than a hundred workers, mostly from the slums

expert study also showed that the elitist approach before has failed. the first one hundred years, the missionaries targetted the best, the educated, the rich and powerful

but none of these would go to the poor

Mao and Flavier famously taught that to reach the whole nation, one must go directly to the masses

so we target and disciple mainly the poor and they are cheaper too, they respond to Jesus’ call faster, it takes them no time to adjust to slum conditions

to begin a discipling program, look for results

Those we disciple must

Be actively preaching the gospel to save the lost and forming the believers as the church the body of Christ

Be engaged with the world as salt and light that all things, institutions and all peoples submit to Jesus as Lord and King

Growing in maturity in Christ’s likeness daily in his/her work, family, neighborhood and interior life

Actively engaged in the community of God as a holy people living out the kingdom showing the reality of God in their midst, as the alternative to the system of this world, thru its common life and economics

Being made perfect thru the members and the gifts of the Holy Spirit

how do we do it

we do mainly community discipling. long ago we did one on one, where one was superior and the other, inferior. but that is almost over now.

the old model used an expert model, one was an expert or knew at least more than the one being discipled.

the expert model is extensively discussed by Dr Larry Crabb who advocated for counselling to be done by laymen, not professionals

long ago, the professional model took over the church in the monastic movement, creating a beast where laymen were segregated from clergy. it was the clergy who did ministry, went on mission. the laymen just sat in the pews.

what are the standards

our main theological model is Becoming Human, taken from Jewish theologian Abraham Heschell who said the more human be we become the holier we get

the goal is to make the disciple more human and we are most human in community

also

Sin is defined as refusal to love 
A life of solitude trained to be present to God 
Harmony between inner and outer life 
Interdependent with other believers 
Goal of maturity is brokenness 
Maturity means being set free to live for others 
Daily seeking to do the will of the Father and in joyful competition with other believers to do the will of the Father
participating in liturgy as sign of God’s presence and as lens with which to see Christ in others

must be aligned with the poor, directed towards the poor who are 80% of our people