During Jesus’ ministry on earth, He didn’t do all of the work. Certainly He could’ve gone into every city they visited, gathered large crowds, and preached the gospel without the help of his disciples. Instead, He included them. “Calling the twelve to Him, He began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits” (Mark 6:7).
Jesus’ disciples were flawed people, like everyone else. They were prone to arguments, jealousy, anger, and frustration. And they had a knack for not understanding His teachings. Despite that, he empowered them to go out and do ministry. After His resurrection, one of the last things He said to them was a challenge to continue His ministry after His ascension to heaven. “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18).
That command is called the Great Commission, and it’s about empowering Jesus’ followers to share the gospel. It applies not just to those original disciples, but to all Christians today.
Empowerment was an important part of Jesus’ ministry, and it’s an important value for Indigitous. We believe that all followers of Jesus are called to share the gospel, but we will do it in different ways. Just as the body has many parts with different functions, we all have different contributions to the body of Christ. Indigitous believes that ministry isn’t just for pastors and full-time missionaries; it’s for all of us who follow Him. Because we all have a unique role to play, it’s important to empower others to discover their place in God’s mission, and to help them reach their world.
Training to empower
Dr. Tina Waldrom worked in Australian churches for 27 years, but found that evangelism was lacking, so he launched her own evangelism training ministry, Evangelism in Australia. Tina often hears from Christians that evangelism is difficult, but she doesn’t think it has to be. “Why is it difficult? Maybe we need to put some new teaching blocks in there so people feel relaxed, so they feel like, ‘I can do this,’” she says.
Her training is designed to make spiritual conversations seem easy and natural. “If God thinks that every person can make disciples, then it’s gotta be doable for everybody,” she says.
Karl Udy, a missionary in New Zealand, agrees that evangelism should be something everyone can do. He also leads a training program to help people get comfortable sharing their faith. “What I try to focus on when I’m doing the training is helping people think about one particular way that Jesus changed your life and being able to put that in a story structure,” Karl says. ““One day you might give one particular … testimony about one way that Jesus changed your life. Another day, talking to a different person, you’re telling another testimony about another way that Jesus changed your life.”
Tina and Karl know the power of all of Jesus’ followers taking part in the great commission, so they empower people to talk about their personal relationship with God. That empowerment helps countless people get comfortable sharing their faith.
Influencers share the gospel
Sami, a digital missionary in Ethiopia, empowered social media influencers to use their reach to share the gospel. In partnership with one of the largest denominations in Ethiopia, his team held a 10-day missional campaign called “I Am a Witness.” They invited 50 Christian influencers, gave them a vision for using their influence, and led them in content creation. As the influencers shared the content on their platforms over the 10 days, more than 1.7 million people were exposed to the gospel content. Around 46,000 people engaged with the content, which resulted in 2,000 connections and 633 people indicating a decision to start following Christ.
Sami saw how God can use those he empowers for the mission. “Our purpose is not to simply utilize these messengers of faith for our campaign, but to invite them to join a flourishing community of Christian influencers committed to expanding the boundaries of God’s kingdom. Their influence extends far beyond the promotion of our content or app,” Sami says.
Online mentors
Priscilla is a Canadian retiree who serves as a volunteer online mentor. Priscilla has long been “focused on putting God’s Word into the hands of other people,” she says, “but becoming a mentor has taken it to the next level, where you are a little bit more into people’s lives and focusing on their needs and helping them to grow.”
Priscilla is one of may online mentors who have been empowered by Power to Change to speak into people’s lives, walk with them through their struggles, and share the gospel when appropriate. Power to Change takes all online mentors go through a training program, where they learn how to read and respond to messages, pray for the mentees, and share their faith.
“We’ll give you evangelism training wheels,” says Sheldon Kotyk, Director of The Life Project at Power to Change. Through the training program, response templates, reading resources, and access to coaching, any follower of Jesus can be empowered to make an impact as an online mentor. “In five minutes, they become a missionary,” Sheldon says.
In Matthew 9:35, Jesus says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” By empowering others to live on mission, Indigitous wants to release more laborers to go God’s work.