The gospel is spreading like wild fire in some of the world’s most hostile places
Some Really GREAT News
A new vision for an old idea
Dear Family,
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About It!
Barked in loud, urgent voices, that’s how newspapers were once hawked on city streets. Well, we have some really big news to share with you, too, and we want you to be the first to hear about it!
Something has been stirring recently in the hearts of the Heaven’s Family leadership and staff. It’s an idea more than 2000 years old but, sadly, it has needed to be reawakened time and time again. This basic-but-completely-disruptive idea is simply this—discipleship.
As a supporter of the Books for Discipleship Ministry, the idea of discipleship probably flows in your veins. You have stood faithfully beside us as we translated many of David Servant’s books into the native languages of hungry believers all over the world. As a director of a Christian non-profit organization, it’s easy stop there and believe that you are doing your part to “make disciples of all nations,” one of Jesus’ most basic commands. But maybe we have fallen short. A desire for more is stirring.
This desire has not come out of some fearful or obligatory service to avoid making our Heavenly Father angry. No, the desire to be better disciple multipliers comes out of some amazing experiences with our Lord. Loving God and being loved by Him is really the best possible life we could ever live, right? Jesus said that He came to give us abundant life, and those of us who have tasted of that intimacy want nothing more than to bring those we love into the same eternal experience!
We are committed to have the disciple process start with us. That’s why the staff at Heaven’s Family is taking time this year to grow in our ability to disciple, and then practice what we preach by making disciples right here at home.
Not only that, we want to be a part of God’s disciple-making movement all around the world. In Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby writes that one of the best ways to experience God is to find out where He is working and join Him in that work. We already know that making disciples of all nations is something central in His heart. Now we are asking Him for open eyes and open hearts to discover where He is working.
Family, He is answering that prayer. And the first areas the Lord is revealing are those where persecution is prevalent and making disciples can get you killed. Despite the risks, brave men and women are offering their lives to see generations become true disciples of Jesus.
In India, for example, a longtime partner is training young missionaries who have experienced horrific persecution after turning from Islam to Christ. These missionaries return to the very people who persecuted them, equipped to lead other Muslims to Jesus. In Pakistan, a young woman is leading a house church movement and training a millennial generation to make disciples among their persecuted communities. The house church networks are connected via technology and are thriving in areas controlled by radical Islamic groups like the Taliban.
Syria, Myanmar, Russia and China are all experiencing the same types of disciple multiplication efforts, and we’ve got a personal invitation to join in their stories.
The Books for Discipleship Ministry wants to be on the front lines of this new initiative. Although we will still be translating and distributing David Servant’s books to leaders desperately needing Christian resources, we are excited to announce that we are expanding our focus to include exciting projects that are equipping our spiritual family around the world to make disciples. To best reflect this expanded focus, we’re changing our name to the Disciple Multiplication Ministry.
And because of our historical ministry commitment to the persecuted church and some of the most desperate areas of the world, we believe we are strategically positioned by the Lord of the Harvest to initiate discipleship multiplication all over the earth—especially in those areas most responsive to the gospel. With your partnership, we also believe we can become an unprecedented catalyst to bring in a record harvest in our day!
We hope you are as excited as we are about this endeavor, and look forward to sharing amazing new stories in the near future. Until then, please keep us and these incredible frontline brothers and sisters around the world in your prayers. May God continue to reveal where He is working so we can follow Him there!
Get Involved
Interested in being on the front lines of this new movement? Your gifts fuel the fires of this incredible movement. Only $42 can help provide training for a persecuted student at the discipleship school in India. Learn more about this opportunity here.
For Jesus’ kingdom,
Ben Croft
Director of Frontline Discipleship
