Discovery Bible Study

What Kind of Dirt Are You?

Oct 5, 2022 | Stories

Matt lives and works as a movement catalyst in a remote region. He wanted some of his local Christian friends from traditional churches to think about discipleship as Jesus does. So he asked if they wanted to look over the parable of the sower with him.

After reading through the passage together, Matt asked which kind of soil their respective churches represented. They both felt their church was the third kind of soil – where thorns choke out any fruitfulness or maturity.

They read Jesus’ last command to his followers: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” They agreed that if Christians are in the third kind of soil, they are likely not keeping Jesus’ final command, and probably also not keeping many others.

Finally, Matt asked, “In which of the four soils does Jesus want his word to be planted?”

“All of them!” they replied. But they added that Jesus wants his followers to grow and reproduce like seeds in the fourth soil, producing crops of one hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.

Matt’s friends decided to invite others to join them in studying some Bible stories about Jesus. Please pray that they persevere in their seed sowing, and pray for a 100-fold harvest.

You Hate This Man But He is Good

Sep 28, 2022 | Stories

Rajbir* is a fruitful disciple maker in North India. In 2012, he gave his allegiance to Jesus, was baptized, then quickly dedicated himself to making disciples of Jesus who would make other disciples. Through Rajbir’s spiritual lineage, thousands of churches have begun, and tens of thousands of people baptized. The churches and disciples are healthy and strong.

Rajbir makes his living as a farmer. He spends his days in physical and spiritual fields. Harassment and persecution from local Hindu radicals are unrelenting. When they warn him to stop talking about Jesus, Rajbir simply responds that he will continue to obey Jesus.

Last year, right before the harvest, some local men repeatedly warned Rajbir to stop talking to Hindus about Jesus. When he didn’t, they decided there had been enough “talk.” They came to his farm, restrained him, then plowed up his harvest. The police refused to help.

Through it all, Rajbir’s “Timothys”, those he was discipling, were watching him. They took note of his response. He didn’t lash out or back down. He continued reaching out to his neighbors.

A few weeks after the attack, Rajbir visited a house church in another village. On this visit, the village leader, Pallab, approached him and said, “I sent men to cut your harvest to stop you from doing this work, but you are not stopping.”

“You have done your job by finishing my harvest,” Rajbir said. “But I cannot stop. This is truth.”

Pallab had no response. He thought about Rajbir’s answer for days. Finally, he went to speak with the house church, “Why do you call this man to visit you?”

“Rajbir is a man of integrity,” they replied. He carries no ill will for others. He speaks truth. We used to be bothered by many evil spirits, and we did bad things, but now we are healed. We feel safe and happy.” Once again, Pallab was rendered speechless. He turned and left.

A few weeks later, Pallab’s sister-in-law became ill. The family paid doctor after doctor to no avail. Finally, Pallab’s wife said, “I have heard many good things about the man whose harvest you destroyed. If we call him to pray, I think my sister will be fine.”

“No way,” Pallab said. “I won’t call him. He’s my enemy.”

His wife replied, “See our sister. She is in poor condition. He can pray, and she will be fine.”

With all other options exhausted, Pallab finally asked the local church to send for Rajbir. They did. Rajbir was afraid. Was this a trap? Even so, Rajbir and one of the local disciples went to the village leader’s home. Rajbir asked, “Why did you call me here?”

Pallab said, “I hate you, but my wife says good things and wants you to pray for her sister.”

Rajbir replied, “We have no magic. Our loving God heals people. If you want prayer, bring your sister-in-law to the next village where a house church meets. We will pray for her there.” [Writer’s note – We do not fully understand why Rajbir didn’t pray for the sister-in-law that day. We can only surmise that he was listening to the Lord, and this was His direction.]

Two weeks later, Pallab and his entire household went to the village, entered the home where the church was meeting and sat down. They participated, then went home. They attended every week for two months. The sister-in-law improved as they prayed for her each week. Eventually, she addressed her brother-in-law: “You hate this man, but he is good. You have seen the miracle of my recovery. You should invite him to visit us.”

“OK,” Pallab said. “I do love this man. I will call him and bring him to my home.”

Soon after, Rajbir and several others visited Pallab. They prayed for the family. After a few visits, Pallab apologized to Rajbir: “I am sorry for your harvest. I did wrong. I cannot give you money right now, but when I get my harvest in, I will give you some.” Then, he asked, “What do we do next? You prayed for my sister-in-law, and she is better. I know people in nearby villages who have similar illnesses and need prayer. Can you go with me to pray for them?”

To date, 11 families have given their allegiance to Jesus, and Pallab is now a spiritual leader.

Praise God. His Kingdom is advancing. Sauls still become Pauls. God is unstoppable.

*pseudonyms

When the Wheels Literally Came Off

Aug 12, 2022 | Stories

As Luke* drove back home after visiting a remote village high in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia, the front right wheel came off his vehicle.

While he was making repairs, the jack toppled, causing the vehicle to fall on him. Thankfully, a ministry partner was there and able to free him, but Luke suffered broken ribs, a broken back, and separated shoulder ligaments. He needed immediate medical attention, but the closest decent hospital was many days’ journey away.

After arduous hours of driving through the snow, they finally found a place to rest, at a location Luke had previously visited. He asked about Dache*, a man who used to work there, but people told Luke that Dache had moved away. So everyone was surprised when Dache arrived shortly after that!

“We started catching up right away,” Luke says. “I found out that we now live in the same city. Later, he asked, ‘Are you a Christian?’ When I answered that I am, he asked me to disciple him. I asked.‘If I disciple you, will you disciple others?’ He agreed that he would!”

After focusing for a time on physical recovery, Luke began discipling Dache. In their first few Bible studies, Dache discovered so much: that God created everything, that family was God’s creation, that suffering began with sin, and sin makes God sad. As a result, Dache has committed to following God’s word, loving his family, and sharing God’s story with others.

Dache is growing strong in faith and obedience. He and Luke currently meet three times each week for a Discovery Bible Study. He retells the Bible stories to his coworkers and relatives. Luke is hopeful that Dache will want to be baptized this summer, and prays Dache’s family will join him in baptism.

Out of Luke’s accident, God brought something wonderful! Pray that God will bring about a disciple-making movement in this region.

*pseudonym

He Taught a Communist Rebel to Study the Bible

Jul 22, 2022 | Stories

Two years ago, Ethan and Nicole* led an introductory disciple-making training in the Philippines with 14 seminary-trained pastors. Honestly, they had doubts about the outcome. Would traditional, denominational pastors be willing to go outside the walls of their church, outside the walls of their own traditions, in order to obey Jesus’ command to “go” (not invite)?

Sure enough, months later, they’d barely heard a word from any of the participants. Then, nearly a year after the training, Jacob, one of the pastors, contacted Ethan. “I am mentoring a group of young pastors in Manila,” he wrote. ”Would you and Nicole spend a few days with us, doing what you did last year?”

After praying together, they decided Ethan would hold the training with Alex, a BEYOND colleague who lives in the Philippines. After the training, Alex could coach those wanting to apply what they’d studied.

Since then, Ethan has occasionally wondered if anyone was applying the training and, if so, how it was going. In May, he received an encouraging email from Jacob.

“Three months ago, “Pastor G” taught a former Communist rebel how to study the Bible in his home with his family. He has been doing this for several weeks. Last week, the rebel’s son became severely sick, to the point of death. The father remembered the story of the woman who touched Jesus and the story of Jairus’ daughter. At his son’s death bed, he prayed, “Lord, we surrender our son to you if this (his death) is your will, but can you please heal my son as you have done for this woman and for Jairus’ daughter?

His son immediately sat up and asked for water!

Thank you for this life-changing experience (the training and coaching). Today, our group has 45 non-Christian families studying the Bible in their homes.

Alex adds that since March, when the COVID-19 lockdown started, Pastor G’s church has transformed into eleven house churches, and it is still growing! They have many more people involved in these house churches than they had in their “building” church before the lockdown.

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it.” Jacob and these pastors are discovering the joy and fruitfulness of simple obedience to Jesus. The Lord is building his church among the nations (the ethnic groups) of the earth! “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him” (Ps. 22:27). Hallelujah!

*pseudonym

“I’d Hit Them Back!”

Jun 22, 2022 | Stories

As Job* sipped hot tea and puffed on his cigarette, he asked, “Did Jesus really say, ‘Turn the other cheek’?”

“Yes, he did,” Frank* replied. “He also said if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. And if anyone makes you carry their stuff for one mile, carry it for two miles.” (Matthew 5:38-41)

“Do you think he was being literal?!” questioned Job.

“That’s a great question. What do you think?”

“I’m not sure it’s possible to ‘turn the other cheek.’” Job responded. “Why would someone do that? If someone hit me, I’d hit them back.”

Job peppered Frank with honest questions about Jesus and Christianity for several hours. Job is from a minority Muslim people group that has experienced a great deal of repression and persecution.

Job teared up as he said his goodbyes. “I just can’t believe the statement about ‘turning the other cheek.’ If [my people] turned the other cheek … we wouldn’t be around anymore. These ancient churches are empty because Christians turned their cheeks. Look at the [other people groups who used to live here]. Where are they now? They turned the other cheek, and they are no more. I can never turn my cheek.”

Frank sensed that Job wasn’t seeking answers but only wanted to express his pain. So Frank simply said, “I understand your feelings. Let’s talk more about this next time.”

Since then, Job and Frank have begun reading the Bible together. Pray that the Father would continue to draw Job to Himself and that Job would become an obedient disciple of Jesus. Ask God to bless Frank with spiritual wisdom and to use him to start a disciple-making movement among this Unreached group.

*pseudonym

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