Why We’re Changing The Fellowship

I have watched a lot of young adults receive good teaching and still wrestle with one important question:

What does following Jesus actually look like in real life?

I started learning the answer as a freshman in college working in Christian camping.
We lived ministry together all summer. We worked, served, studied Scripture, ate meals, solved problems, got tired, changed plans, and learned from each other along the way.

One phrase was drilled into us:

Campers don’t remember your actions. They remember your reactions.

People notice what happens when the schedule changes.
They notice how you treat someone when you’re tired.
They notice whether what you say you believe about Jesus actually affects the way you live.

More than four decades later, I still believe some of the most important discipleship happens that way.

The discipleship itself isn’t changing.

What is changing is how people can enter the experience.

Our previous model required everyone to fit one schedule for one particular length of time. We still believe time matters.

You can’t hurry discipleship.

But we also know there are people hungry for deeper biblical and practical ministry training who simply cannot give us nine months.

We don’t want the calendar to keep the right person from coming.

Now qualified Fellows can spend an intentional season living, learning, and serving alongside Disciple Daily.

Fellows will spend meaningful time digging deeply into Scripture, while also receiving customized training shaped around what they need to learn and where they hope to serve.

But that training won’t happen apart from ministry.

They will step into the discipleship and ministry already happening every day through Disciple Daily.

Sometimes the lesson will happen around an open Bible.

Sometimes on the drive to an event.

Sometimes around the dinner table.

I don’t transform anybody.

A program doesn’t either.

Only the Holy Spirit can change a heart.

Our job is to make room for Scripture, intentional training, relationships, practice, service, and enough shared life for someone with a willing heart to grow—and then send them home better prepared to help someone else follow Jesus.

For those of you who pray for and support Disciple Daily, you are helping us make that room.

Maybe you need a season like that.

Or maybe someone came to mind while you were reading this.

Who do you know that might be ready for The Fellowship?

That is what excites me most about this next chapter of The Fellowship—making room for the right people to learn discipleship in real life.

— Keith

p.s. checkout our webpage for more on The New Fellowship program.