Discipleship Meetings

A Guide to Routine Discipleship Meetings

Before you begin meeting to formally disciple someone

• Pray for them and yourself.

• You should study the topics How to Disciple Someone and A Strategy for Making Disciples.

• Consider how often you will meet and how much homework you will assign. You could meet biweekly but schedule weekly homework.

• Realize that it is possible to meet with 2-3 people at a time. However, the more people, the less intimate or transparent the disciples will likely be. Never meet alone with someone of the opposite sex.

• You could meet at church, a public place, or in one another’s home. If necessary, you could even meet online.

• All of this can be adapted to fit your context.

• Also, remember that there will definitely be life circumstances that hinder your and their ability to meet. There will also be unforeseen interruptions that keep them from finishing the homework on time. It is better that it takes them longer to finish the homework, than if they didn’t finish the homework at all.

• The list of Topics and Truths are ordered in a way to build off of one another, but you can switch it up according to the needs of the person you are discipling.

Concerning the homework

• Remember that you can change the order of the topics based upon the needs and understanding of the person with whom you are discipling.

• Each person is different. Some can handle more. Some can handle less. It should take at least six months to cover all of the topic. It is not a race, make it fit for them in their way.

• Here is a suggested homework schedule.

A General Plan

• During the first meeting:

  • Share your testimony

  • Ask about their testimony

  • Depending on the clarity of their testimony, briefly reexplain the Gospel.

  • Ask about which areas of life that they think they need to grow in most. Then, think through when you can teach them about those things in your future meetings.

  • Talk about what to expect each time that you meet, scheduling, etc.

  • Teach the topic called, “Integrity”.

• Regarding the following meetings:

  • Ask about their week.

  • Inquire about their homework. What were some things that they observed and what impacted them most with each assignment. Inquire about each assignment individually.

  • Ask if they have any questions about what they read and then take the time to answer their questions.

  • The majority of the time should be spent listening to them and their interactions with what they studied and the people in their lives.

  • Each time you want to encourage them to learn more from their pastors or elders.

• Each time you meet, you might consider teaching a topic. Below is a suggested order for someone who has been through the Word of Life Evangelism Ministries evangelism training. It assumes that you will assign the suggested weekly homework and meet with them every two weeks. It also assumes that you have a copy of the Word of Life Evangelism Training Manual. The homework schedule begins after the first meeting.

  • Meeting 1: Integrity

  • Meeting 2: How to Communicate Effectively

  • Meeting 3: How to Represent Christ as a Father and Evangelism Training: Introduction

  • Meeting 4: Evangelism Training: What Is It?

  • Meeting 5: How to Encourage and Evangelism Training: What Do We Tell?

  • Meeting 6: Self-Control (the first part) and Evangelism Training: What Do We Share Next?

  • Meeting 7: Spiritual Gifts and Evangelism Training: How Do We Tell It?

  • Meeting 8: Spiritual Gifts continued.

  • Meeting 9: Evangelism Training: Rope Illusion

  • Meeting 10: Evangelism Training: Protocol, Pamphlets, and Riddles

  • Meeting 11: Evangelism Training: Sketch Messages, Closing the Meeting, Navigating the City, and Leading Teams

  • Meeting 12: Advice

  • Meeting 13: Brainstorm whom they can disciple.

  • Meeting 14: Discuss how they will begin discipling someone else.

  • Meeting 15: Discuss how God has changed them.

    • What previous perspectives and feelings about God, the church, the lost, themselves, and the Gospel did they have before you started meeting with them that they don’t have now?

    • What new perspectives and feelings about God, the church, the lost, themselves, and the Gospel do they have now?

    • What previous habits or lifestyle did they have before you started meeting with them that they don’t have now?

    • What new habits or lifestyle do they have now?

    • What are some lingering areas of growth or possible lifelong weaknesses?

  • Meeting 16: Discuss how they believe they are gifted and wired for ministry. Brainstorm with them about what God wants them to do for Him.

    • What do they believe is their calling and gifting?

    • How does this relate their family, church, neighbors, and people in other countries?

  • Meeting 17: Brainstorm how the disciple can duplicate, in their local church, what God has done in their hearts and lives.

  • Meeting 18: Brainstorm how they can help their church to reach the lost in their community.

  • Meeting 19: Brainstorm how they can play a part in making disciples across the globe.

  • Meeting 20 and following: Answer questions they have encountered while evangelizing and discipling others.