Mission Accomplished

Years ago, I embarked on a quest to find Bibles in Kinyarwanda and discovered the Bible Society could deliver them to Rwanda; so St. Paul’s youth ministry began raising money for Bibles for a women’s conference in the Diocese of Cyangugu.  This year, St. Paul’s youth ministry not only raised the money for Bibles for the youth conference, they also made special book marks for each participant. What a privilege to hand copies of God’s word to youth in their own language along with a hand-made bookmark.

I felt strongly that we needed to teach the youth an easy way to engage with the Gospel to get to know Jesus, learn to follow Him and lead others in His ways.  Fortunately, I learned how to lead Gospel Based Discipleship at the Canadian Indigenous Leadership Week. It provides an easy way to encounter the Gospel and is designed to have rotating leaders.  A Gospel passage is read three times each time participants are invited to share their response to  a question:

1. Read the Gospel – What word(s), idea(s), or phrase(s) stand out for you?
2. Read the Gospel – What is Jesus (the Gospel) saying to you?
3. Read the Gospel – What is Jesus (the Gospel) calling you to do?

Our translator, Emmanuel added a 4^th question.  How will you live out what Jesus is calling you to do between now and when we meet again?

Every day we split into groups of four so that 1 person could practice leading and the others could take a turn reading scripture.   The first day I led from the front, and gradually decreased direction, allowing participants to lead their own groups.  Some of the youth took it upon themselves to write out the 4 questions on big sheets of paper and posted them around the room. I was amazed at some of the ways they put into practice what Jesus was calling them to do. One young man washed clothes for 6 people. What a great example of servant leadership! Each group ended with a time of prayer.   Without any prompts, the groups huddled and prayed for each other.

My heart leapt when I heard participants share what they would take back to their communities at the closing service.  Each one said they would start a Gospel based Discipleship group in their Parish.  Mission accomplished!  I am so excited for the fruit these seeds spread throughout the Diocese will produce in the coming years.

For more on Gospel Based Discipleship and other Indigenous Ministry Resources, please check out the Anglican Church of Canada Website