Learning How To Make Disciples in New York City

Ministry in New York City presents the unique opportunity of reaching and discipling people from diverse backgrounds in one place. A unique challenge that goes beyond NYC is people who are interested in growing as a disciplemaker often lack the confidence in how to grow in Christ and help others do the same.

In response, the NYC leadership team created The Navigators Disciplemaking Intensive (DMI). The program has been a labor of love for the team: The Navigators City Director Peter Trautmann, Associate City Director Jim Luebe, Navigators First Responders Staff Beth Luebe, Navigators Workplace Director Kenny Cox, and Navigators I-58 Director Rev. Maurice Winley.

They helped shape the discipleship program out of years of experience in helping others “To know Christ, make Him known and help others do the same.^®”

This year, 60 everyday people from all walks of life are signed up to participate, hoping to grow in their discipleship journey through The Navigators Disciplemaking Intensive program.

Last year, 35 people participated as they tested out the content and need for discipleship training in NYC. “People are hungry to learn and grow, and they want God to use their lives,” Jim says.

Key Training Topics for Disciplemakers

The group meets monthly for disciplemaking training around knowing God better through reading the Bible, praying together, sharing stories of how God is working through them, Scripture memory, and practical steps connected to that month’s theme.

Participants do homework and spend time with God. Each meets individually with a Navigator staff or key laborer for Life-to-Life^® discipleship.

Peter, The Navigators NYC Director, reports, “I’ve been struck by the tremendous diversity of the group; people of so many ethnicities, neighborhoods, vocations, and socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. We’ve had a college president learning alongside some who have trouble reading.”

“People love being part of a diverse group with the same mission,” says Beth, Navigators First Responders staff. “They realized we are a lot more the same than we are different.”

The leaders have been thrilled to see the participants grow in the belief that “God uses simple, everyday people to accomplish eternal purposes,” Jim, Associate City Director of NYC, says. “We look throughout Scripture at the common, ordinary people that God has used and see that we all qualify. We encourage them to trust God to be faithful as they reach out to their family and relational networks.”

Beth says the DMI has been “a beautiful partnership among all of The Navigators’ work in New York City. We’re seeing God doing exceedingly more than we could have asked or imagined. People are catching the vision for disciplemaking and seeing how God can use their lives to fulfill His grand eternal purposes.”

Stories From The Navigators Disciplemaking Intensive

Here are just a few testimonies sharing what God did through this experience from the first year in 2022.

• When it came to evangelism, office worker Vicky initially said, “I don’t know that I can do this.” By the end of the year, she was reading the Bible and praying with a close friend!
• Josh, a teacher and member of the State Guard, has been sharing the gospel with his family. He memorizes Scripture in Spanish and learned to present the Bridge to Life illustration in Spanish in order to talk about Jesus with his father.
• Anna, a police officer stationed in Harlem, began to share Jesus with coworkers. Excited about incorporating her faith into her work, she has even prayed with people she arrested! Though she often faces animosity toward those in uniform and is taunted by the people she serves, she feels called to minister in this challenging area—to hold out the hope of the gospel there.

Discipleship Tip:

Invite a friend to meet and try out a Navigators Disciplemaking Resource. Then challenge each other to pass on what you have learned to one other person.