2024 Disciple-Making Leaders (Year-Round) Network
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The Disciple-Making Leaders Year-Round Mentoring Network is led by John Musselman and Wojciech Kowalewski. The goal of this initiative is to provide Christian leaders with comprehensive training in disciple-making, including biblical and theological foundations, historic and contemporary applications and methods, and a careful analysis of every stage in the discipling process. This initiative seeks to:
- Foster leaders’ personal development in the context of peer relationships
- Strengthen leaders’ commitment to disciple others in the words and ways of Jesus
- Encourage leaders to be devoted to training a new generation of mature and reproducing leaders for the exponential spread of the gospel throughout Europe and beyond
The 2024 Network at the European Leadership Forum is only one component of the Disciple-Making Year-Round Mentoring group. The full curriculum will include:
- A four-day private Network at the 2024 European Leadership Forum, 25-30 May
- A Pre-Forum meeting with all participants on Saturday, 25 May 2024
- Two one-on-one online Zoom sessions or in-person meetings, one with John and another one with Wojciech
- Six two-hour webinars with assignments between the 2024 and 2025 Forums
- An online or in-person 4-day retreat in early December 2024 (place & dates to be determined)
- A Pre-Forum Conference before the 2025 ELF on Friday evening and all-day Saturday (23-24 May)
Participation in this network is by invitation only. Participants should be men who are spiritually mature Evangelical leaders who are actively involved in evangelism and discipleship and are willing to commit to becoming part of a learning community.
Interested applicants need to first apply and be accepted to the Forum before filling out an application specific to the Disciple-Making Year-Round Mentoring Network. If you wish to apply for the 2024-2025 Year-Round Mentoring for Disciple-Making Leaders, please review the curriculum and complete the online application.
Once you have completed this application, if your experience and responsibilities match this Network’s aims, you will be asked to have online interviews with Tony Myrick, John Musselman, and Wojciech Kowalewski.
What Network Participants Are Saying
- “Being in the Forum's Disciple-Making Leaders (Year-Round) Network has been a very helpful experience for me. It gave me new perspectives how to train new staff and develop leaders across the globe. I was able connect with other trainers and organization leaders which provided very helpful insight into how and what to do. We have agreed to partner with another ministry to run trainings together. This would not have happened without the Forum.”
- Igors Rautmanis, IFES Secretary of Staff and Team Deelopment, Latvia - “The Forum's Disciple-Making Leaders (Year-Round) Network provided a unique platform for learning, networking, and gaining insights from successful leaders across various fields. It is vital to keep on learning and growing. Stagnation would be a slow way to destruction. The Forum offered me practical tools for leadership and making disciples and fanned the flame of the gospel. I had the privilege of connecting with exceptional individuals from different backgrounds and nations. These interactions have expanded my horizons and inspired me to think in new ways. Moreover, the knowledge and skills I acquired during the conference will undoubtedly enhance my ability to make a positive impact in my church community and enable me to inspire and empower others.”
- Lukas Juhascik, Youth Pastor, Czech Republic
Applicants should be leaders who have previously attended the European Leadership Forum Disciple-Making Leaders Network: Foundational Track and who commit to a year-round curriculum of webinars and in-person mentoring meetings.
Network Leadership
Network Programme
Sunday, 26 May
In this opening session, each person will share his story on the following topics: education, marriage & family, life in Christ, and current ministry. Then the European Leadership Forum's vision and strategy will be discussed.
In this session, we will review the Syllabus and Orientation. Then John and Wojtek will share their personal journeys.
Monday, 27 May
Biblical and Theological Foundations of Discipleship: Historically, many organizations have gradually shifted from their original vision and become something quite different in the following generations. The initial mission is forgotten - even scorned; and the new, fully embraced and promoted. Jesus Christ, however, never abolished or modified His strategy for world evangelisation or implied that the task could be accomplished through programs or mass evangelism alone. Any possibility of success would depend on the commitment of His followers who believe in and practice “spiritual multiplication,” the exponential growth of the body of Christ which occurs when mature believers lead others to Christ and then disciple them until they themselves grow to maturity in Christ and are trained to effectively live out their faith before the watching world. Forming a solid biblical and theological foundation for discipleship will help us answer the question that every generation of believers must ask: “Will my ministry be built upon pragmatic and methodological concerns or upon careful exegetical activity related to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ?” Establishing a sound biblical and theological framework for discipleship will ensure that what we do and say in the name of Christ will have lasting value and preserve His strategy for lasting fruitfulness.
The Disciple’s Square, What Jesus’ Disciples Need to Learn: By definition, disciples are learners. The prevalent word used in the New Testament for "learn" has the basic meaning “to direct one’s mind to something.” An intellectual process is always implied. A disciple, then, is one who thinks, who concentrates, and who prayerfully apprehends what his Master wants him to be, to know, or to do as revealed in the Bible.
The New Testament Idea of a Teacher: Once the biblical vision of learning has been established, much that is challenging about discipleship will be easily resolved. The insights gained will provide the context for determining the unique patterns of discipleship that can be embraced by each participant for discipleship groups and movements within their own sphere of influence.
The Relationship Between Evangelism and Discipleship: In this session, we will discuss the Great Commission as recorded in Matthew 28:18-20. After carefully exegeting and discussing Jesus’ well-known command and examining the specific language used in the text, we will consider how the Apostles understood His directive to take the gospel to every tongue, tribe, and nation. Then, we will reflect on the implications for contemporary ministry. Finally, we will discuss how wrong interpretations of this passage directly impact the Church’s mission in and to the world.
The Language of Disciplemaking: During this session, we will examine 13 specific Greek words which tell a story about the process of disciple-making.
The Power of Spiritual Multiplication: There is a great difference between adding people to the Church (even on a daily basis) and building multiplying labourers. During this session, we will advance the biblical idea that the people we disciple can and should become fruitful to the third and fourth generations.
Tuesday, 28 May
The Ten Primary Reasons Christians Do Not Reproduce: At the start of our day, we will address the important question, “What prevents believers from spiritually reproducing?”
Biblical Foundations, Vision, and Outcomes: We will be asking and discussing the question, “What is discipleship?” Definitions are important and are foundational to one’s worldview and lifestyle. It has been said that the word discipleship has as many definitions as there are believers. This session will lay out a biblical foundation and vision for discipleship from which to engage in the process of investing our lives in others until they grow to spiritual maturity and begin to spiritually reproduce.
A Profile of a Discipled Person: An important discussion on the use of your imagination will follow in our afternoon session and is designed to help you learn how to develop a biblical profile of a discipled person. Completing this task will give you a clear picture of the kind of person you are seeking to “build” by the grace of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Preparing to Lead: In our final session of the day, we will consider the character, calling, and commitment of a discipleship leader, examine the costs associated with forming and leading a discipleship group, discuss the key tasks of disciple-makers, and emphasize twelve characteristics of strong life-shapers.
Wednesday, 29 May
The Purpose and Benefits of Discipleship: Why should believers be involved in discipleship? What purpose does it serve? What benefits does it offer? In this session, we will discuss the rationale for discipleship, along with the most important benefits that accrue to those who participate in the discipling process.
How to Use Your Summer Wisely: There are three months between the 2024 Forum and our first webinar in September. In this session, we will consider some practical ways you can make the best use of your time during the summer.
Accountability Partners: What does it mean to have accountability partners and how does it work? We will pair up for support and encouragement during the year.
Sanctification: We urge that every disciplemaker become a student of sanctification, the work of God’s free grace. What do we need to know about the process of spiritual growth and development as given to us in the Scriptures?
Final Considerations: During these final sessions of our Network, we will briefly review what we have learned and discussed during the Forum, form accountability partners within our YRM, complete an online ELF evaluation, finalize instructions for the 10-page strategic paper, offer final comments, and close our time together in prayer.