MAKING THE BIBLE KNOWN

“Everything Jesus did was done with the Twelve in mind.”
—Robert Coleman, in his book The Master Plan of Evangelism

Discipleship is essential to the Christian life—and Jesus Himself gave us the perfect example. Before returning to the Father, He left a clear mission for all believers: to go and make disciples.

With this in mind, the World Discipleship Association (WDA) has remained committed to equipping churches and leaders with practical tools and a clear discipleship framework—modeled after the way Jesus trained His own followers.

On May 14, the WDA, in partnership with the Philippine Bible Society (PBS), conducted an Introductory Seminar at the PBS Ministry Center. The event introduced WDA’s discipleship framework, designed to help church leaders guide their members toward spiritual maturity—from new believers to mature disciples.

The seminar was attended by pastors and church leaders from various denominations and places, all willing to deepen and strengthen their commitment to the calling of discipleship, just as Jesus did.

“You really need to invest in people. And you really need passion and compassion when it comes to discipleship,” said Ptr. Leoneil Bondad of Jesus is Alive – HIMJCI Plaridel, Bulacan, as he reflected on the event.

Ms. Jennifer McClin, Executive Director of Operations of WDA, shared an illustration during her talk:

“If you think of a seed…that seed is not supposed to just stay a seed. But when it’s planted, nourished, and given the right conditions, it is able to grow.”

Other WDA team members also shared and introduced the WDA’s mission and ministry. One of the main topics was the different phases of spiritual growth that believers go through and how disciple-makers are called to walk with them at each stage. A key emphasis was on building genuine relationships before expecting people to commit to a church or ministry.

The seminar also featured Restoring Your Heart (RYH), one of WDA’s ministries. RYH is a healing-centered discipleship experience that helps individuals process pain, trauma, and emotional wounds within safe, gender-specific small groups.

Ptr. John Erick Dura from Harvest Outreach Church (HOC) Cainta, shared his insight about how the RYH helps in discipleship:

“Restoring Your Heart allows us, disciple makers, to see that there are multiple layers behind the actions and mindsets [of the people] we are handling. [It] allows us to see that we are on the right track. [That] we are doing the right thing to actually include the heart in the discipleship [process] because it is fully relational, not just intellectual in a legalistic point of view. We have to go deeper to what are the struggles, what are the traumas, what are the things that our disciples are going through. Now, it will allow me to be an effective disciple maker.”

On applying the WDA framework in local churches, he added:

“It will not destroy their existing discipleship strategy, but it will allow them to analyze where they are. I encourage them to see and use the [WDA’s discipleship framework] because it’s a system that they could analyze themselves and their discipleship strategy within the church.”

Ptr. Mark Rima from HOC Angono also shared:

“I believe in what the WDA is doing. [They are] teaching the churches to push for the right process of discipleship.”

WDA’s discipleship materials are available on their website, while some are also available at PBS’s BibleHouse.

We pray that through this partnership with WDA, more leaders will be equipped and empowered to disciple others. As shared during the seminar, if seeds are planted, nourished, and given the right conditions, it is able to grow and bear fruit—this is also true for disciple-makers, they help in making that growth happen to their disciples. Because behind every flourishing believer is someone who chose to walk with them, guide them, and help them grow.