mission:world News

In 2003, after having been married for only four months, Wendy and I left Guatemala. Today there are still wedding gifts packed in what used to be Wendy's room in her parents’ house in Guatemala. We officially arrived in Ripley, Mississippi, in September of that year. I started doing everything I could to attract people. We rented a place, put up a sign, got chairs. I created flyers and cards to put in Hispanic and local stores.

“Shadi is an excellent discipler.” This is the first thing BMA Missionary Charlie Costa said when describing what discipleship looks like in his church in Lebanon. What makes Shadi an excellent discipler? It’s his focus on relationship building, systematic methods, and biblical foundation that makes his approach to discipleship excellent.

Many were the tasks that Jesus left to the church, but one of the clearest tasks was to disciple. The way our church disciples is by taking one person at a time, women to women, men to men. They make a weekly appointment for twelve weeks and they share twelve steps after receiving Jesus. These lessons are complemented by the vital part of discipleship, which is the investment of one's life in another person, just like parents to children.

In 2004 my wife, Daura, and I went to Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for a week of training in Evangelism Explosion (EE). Renowned pastor Dr. D. James Kennedy, the founder of EE, led the training. At one of our intermissions, we engaged in general conversation, and he asked if I was in the ministry. I responded, “No, I’m just a layman.”