How to chart the steps to faith

MISSIONARY LIFE
April 2018

By Carl Kresge, SEND Eurasia Regional Director — SEND’s vision is to see a global movement of Jesus followers who are making disciples among the unreached. We are all about discipleship. This global movement is not limited to missionaries! Jesus calls all of his people to make disciples.

We encourage our missionaries to thoughtfully consider what they and their teams are doing to help that vision become reality. Though some missionaries serve in support roles and others in front-line evangelism, every missionary can be developing relationships with unbelievers and cooperating with the Holy Spirit’s work to move those friends toward Jesus. Indeed, every Christian can be developing these relationships.

Making disciples takes intentionality and community. A few things to consider:

1. We are busy people, and we are working among busy people.

We must establish priorities and patterns that help us resist the tyranny of the urgent in order to protect the time we devote to relationships focused on evangelism and discipleship. And we must not allow busyness to distract us from prayer — prayer for specific individuals and prayer for guidance as we work together with the Holy Spirit to move them toward faith in Jesus and becoming mature followers of him.

2. We work better together.

When God prompts us to begin praying for and becoming intentional with a particular unbeliever, it is far better to bring others into the process. Don’t think of that new relationship as only your responsibility, only your focus. Ask one or more of your believing friends (or teammates, if you’re on the field) to pray with you and to think with you about how you can be a tool in God’s hand to draw that person to himself. Work collaboratively to intentionally move people toward Christ.

3. We can recognize (and celebrate!) steps forward.

In most cases, the Holy Spirit takes an unbeliever through several levels in his journey toward Jesus. A contact may start as a mere acquaintance, then attend some common activities with you, then become a trusted friend. In the process, he may become open to discussing spiritual matters, then show an interest in studying the Bible before finally placing his faith in Christ.

If you sense that God is prompting you to become more intentional with a particular unbeliever, it is helpful to think about that person moving through a step-by-step process toward becoming a follower of Jesus. An awareness of where that person is in his spiritual journey has at least two benefits — it will help you prayerfully determine what might be most effective at helping him move forward, and you can celebrate and be encouraged when he moves to a new level.

Once a person becomes a believer, there are also identifiable levels in the process of becoming more like Christ. This may start with some signs of spiritual growth and obedience, followed by serving others, sharing the gospel, taking leadership responsibilities, and finally participating in evangelism and discipleship. Some of these levels in a person’s spiritual journey may be more simultaneous than sequential, but they typically will be identifiable.

 

As you seek to make disciples, I would encourage you to shift in your thinking from a focus on the “product” (things like conversions, baptisms, churches planted, etc.) to the “process” of coming alongside people in their journey to and with Jesus. And then, celebrate as you watch God move people along that path!


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March 7, 2025 Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution only to break it in less than a week? On March 1, 1.8 billion Muslims began their annual fasting month called Ramadan. They are supposed to fast completely—no water or food—during daylight hours from March 1–Mar 29. It begins with much fanfare, promises, and declarations, as fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Muslims believe that faithfully keeping the fast ensures one’s place of favor with God. But many Muslims won’t be able to keep the fast through the whole 30 days. The reasons and excuses are myriad. Sometimes they will continue to claim to be fasting, but in reality, they are eating behind closed doors. To gain God’s favor, they must fast through the whole month, not just part of it. So, they live with the guilt and shame of not fulfilling the requirements of Islam. What was supposed to help gain their salvation now stands in condemnation. A Feast Within the Fast To complicate matters even more, Persian New Year’s Day is March 20, right in the middle of the fasting month. Persian New Year is one of the most important cultural holidays for most Iranian and Afghans, as well as many others with a Persian background scattered throughout Central Asia and the Middle East. In fact, many people with Persian heritage don’t just celebrate on one day. Their New Year’s celebrations extend over two weeks! How do they reconcile these two weeks of festivities within Ramadan? For Arab Muslims, it is a non-issue. But for the Persian world, it IS a struggle. The hard-core Taliban will try to push people to keep the fast. However, many will lean more towards keeping their more ancient pre-Islamic traditions of New Year’s. I would encourage you to take time to explore with your Muslim neighbors and colleagues why they fast. Then share why Christians fast. Perhaps read Isaiah 58 with them, summarize it, and ask for their thoughts on this passage. One more thing to note during Ramadan is the Night of Power. Each year, during Ramadan, on or about the 27th day of the month, there is a special time called the Night of Power. This year it will happen on or around March 26. Muslims believe the Night of Power is when Mohammad first received the revelations of the Quran from the Angel Gabriel. Prayers offered up by Muslims during Ramadan—especially prayers in a mosque—are believed to be weightier than prayers at any other time. However, prayers on this special Night of Power, prayed in a mosque, are considered infinitely more valuable than any other prayer. Many Muslims will stay up all night praying on the Night of Power to earn extra points with God. There is a small problem in all of this, though—Muslims can’t agree on which night is actually the Night of Power. It is sometime during the last ten days of Ramadan, with tradition stating that it is on the 26th or 27th night. There are several resources to help Christians and churches pray for the Muslim world through this month of Ramadan. I would encourage you to connect with some or all of them. Please make others in your church aware of these resources. Perhaps you could even host a special prayer time at your church, utilizing these resources. Ramadan 30-Day Prayer Guide Booklet – This can be purchased as a hard copy or PDF. Prayercast – A wonderful website with many videos on the Muslim world. If you sign up, you can receive daily prayer videos that also work great during a Sunday worship service to help raise awareness of the need for prayer for the Muslim world.
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