Following Jesus, what does that mean? How do you give prayer and Bible reading a place in your daily life; what choices do you make as a Christian? What is the work of the Holy Spirit? These questions and others are covered in detail in our Walk with Jesus discipleship course.
The course is intended for Christians who want to grow in their faith. Unique to the course is that participants do the course together with a buddy: a friend, family member, partner or someone from the church. In this way, a student immediately passes on what he or she has learned and coaches another to live as a disciple of Jesus.
What are the experiences of the mentors (e-coaches)?
One of our mentors, Elsa, says, “I like the buddy system the most about the course. What the student discovers in the Bible, she immediately passes on to someone else. I regularly hear that by sharing the Bible they gain a better understanding of the Bible and grow in self-confidence.’ Another experienced mentor, Karel, says that a buddy came to confidence through the guidance of the student with whom he did the course.
Both mentors mention as a valuable aspect of the course that you spend a long time with a student. Karel: ‘Life wisdom and religious experience are the points I was allowed to contribute.’ Elsa: ‘You can really build a bond and share difficult and beautiful moments together.’
The story of Adeola from Nigeria proves that the course can have a major impact on the lives of both student and buddy. She did this course very faithfully with her husband. When they started it, her husband was Muslim. He came with questions after each series of lessons. An example: “Why do Christians call themselves children of God, after all, God has no children?” To which Adeola told her mentor: “I tried to explain to him that there is a huge difference between slave and child.”
Four months later, she reported that she had great news: “My husband has finally professed his faith in Christ. We have been praying and reading the Bible together ever since.”
Walk with Jesus is practical, in-depth and aims to pay attention to the cultural context of the students. The student and his/her buddy often have to do assignments together. An example of such an assignment is that student and buddy both find someone in their environment with special needs and help this person with something concrete in the following week.
Our desire is to help people to grow in their faith and to be fruitful in their own church community. The buddy system should ensure that disciples make new disciples again.
We are looking for e-coaches or mentors for this course! Do you have a heart for discipleship and do you speak English at a reasonable level? Sign up! Indicate in the form that you are registering for the Walk with Jesus course.
Photo by Brooke Cagle op Unsplash