How to Make Disciples
By Apostle Aje Pelser, Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town

One of the greatest blessings in the Christian Walk of Faith is the opportunity to make disciples.
Our great Commission is to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. Matt. 28:18-20
That is a significant shift from just reaching people similar to you – there is a Godly magnanimous love for all His people across the world that we have to enter into in order to reach them.

Some tools for discipleship:
Music as a tool.
I like to listen to music from around the World and learn how they play and what instruments they use. Just by taking an interest in them and how they celebrate life through music, it opens doors of communication beyond language. All Nations School of Worship seeks to draw from different musical genres and showcase God’s diversity while drawing people to the centre of Christ and His Church culture for their discipleship. That is the balance.
There are evil aspects to culture like demonic worship and trances that you do not need to draw from when reaching them.
Paul becomes all things to all men so that he may reach some, but some of his ploys to reach the Jews didn’t work at all, like when he took the vow to shave his hair in Jerusalem and the Jews ended up arresting him anyway!

Food
Jesus said when we go out on a mission we should eat what they set before you. In Acts they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart. In some places that is easier said than done! You have to pray over your food full of faith that God will keep you healthy!
But show them that you appreciate what they have taken time to prepare especially for you their guest.
When the disciples broke bread on the road to Emmaus, their eyes were opened to see Jesus.
I have different friends – Arab, Indian, French, American, Australian, South African, Ugandan, Zimbabwean, German, Liberian and more through this galaxy of churches that God is allowing us to reach and care for through apostolic synergy of purpose and faith.

Language
Apostle Andre likes to write out some of the everyday words used in local languages wherever he travels. He is beginning to learn Tagalog – what they speak in the Philippines, the destination of his next mission and a hotspot for growth with the potential of becoming a hub for mission in Asia because of its geographical and demographic covering of expatriates across the world.
Even if you just learn a greeting in their tongue they appreciate it!
I learnt to speak English by reading my Bible out loud – because faith comes by hearing – and then praying in tongues by the Spirit to help me! My parents told me to do that when we went to Australia and my home language was mostly Afrikaans. God helped me through school and now I speak a lot of English and write many sermons, Bible College manuals, books and songs too! Glory to God.

Scripture:
“And certain of them were persuaded and were allotted [by God] to Paul and Silas [as disciples], a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few women who were of the very first rank.”
Wuest’s Translation Acts 17:4
Here are some lessons in Discipleship that we can learn from Apostle Paul on his missionary journeys.

What caught my attention here was that God allotted certain disciples to the Apostolic and Prophetic Team of Paul and Silas.

When the team arrived in Thessalonica they did three things:
Lessons in Discipleship
1. They reasoned upon basis and source of the scriptures.
When making disciples be careful to share God’s ways with them. Aquila and Priscilla explained the accurate Way of God to an upcoming preacher.
But how were Aquila and Priscila discipled?
Paul found them – they were of the same trade – they had something in common. First the natural and then the spiritual.

It is easy to teach someone something spiritual once they have related to you on a natural level like sport, or work or interest. The point is you determine whether or not they are ready and willing to receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save their souls.
James 1:21

Act 18:2 And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them.
Act 18:3 So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers.

2. They made these plain to their understanding
Simplify the Gospel story for people, especially when reaching new converts. Do not complicate it to sound clever. The power is in the simplicity. Like the simple Spiritual laws we share in our tracts to save souls.
Gal 2:14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, \”If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?
Gal 2:15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
Gal 2:16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

3. Thirdly they gave proof that Jesus was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament.
Show them Christ in every scripture – to the Jews show them the Passover Lamb slain for the salvation in the Exodus story. TO the Gentiles show them the power unto Godliness to transform them from glory to glory by being fools for Christ – placing yourself out there totally reliant on the Word of God and how He decides to confirm it for them.

Later Paul would write to the Romans:
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
Rom 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, \”THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.\”

The greatest power is unto salvation – for with man it seems impossible to save a soul, but with God all things are possible. Notice in the epistle how Apostle Paul prays for his disciples how often he says: “I do not cease to make mention of you in my prayers…” We should take encouragement from that and continue in prayer for our friends who have the potential to become disciples of Christ Jesus! And that is also important – we connect people with Jesus and His Church, not ourselves. We are just the connecting agent – we disappear in the process like a catalyst and the reaction is that people are seeing Christ formed in them and they become part of a Body of Christ locally.
One plants, another waters but God gives the increase. So let’s do our share and Jesus will show us how He builds the church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!