Read on for some powerful stories about how disciple making across the world. personal healing and see Gods power in action.

Sejun was an illiterate farmer living in an isolated village on the border of Nepal. He was a Buddhist, and no one in his village had ever heard the name of Jesus.

When his wife, Ehani, became deathly ill. Sejun hiked the mountains looking for witch doctors to help, hoping someone would be able to heal her.

But no one could.

Soon, Ehani became bedridden, waiting to die. Their home was a place of quiet sadness.

Around this time, two young men from their village left for seasonal work as Sherpas. They would be trekking and helping visitors climb some of the highest Himalayan peaks.

One expedition took them into the foothills and to a town close to the Everest base camp.

A Christian medical doctor in town found out about the visitors. He invited them for a meal and asked if they had ever heard about Jesus the Messiah. As they ate and talked, he shared freely, telling stories of Jesus that amazed these young men.

During their conversation, a couple came to the door, seeking the doctor. Their young daughter was very ill. The doctor asked them to place her on a cot. He then went back to the Sherpas to explain the situation.

One Sherpa asked the doctor if his Jesus could heal the little girl in the next room. If all the stories he had told were true, it seemed a small thing to heal the girl. The doctor replied that sometimes God heals with miracles, and sometimes God heals through surgery and medication. “But we can ask Jesus to heal her,” he concluded.

The three of them went into the other room with the little girl and her parents.

The doctor knelt by the bed, laid his hands on the girl, and prayed … and she was healed!

When the Sherpas saw this, they were convinced, and they decided to become followers of Jesus.

The doctor taught them a few simple songs that would help them remember the truth about Jesus. Having encountered something new and amazing, they left with joy in their hearts. They sang the new songs as they traveled on their expeditions. They continued singing them when they returned to their village after the expedition season.

Once home, these young Sherpas went to Sejun’s house to tell him what they had learned about Jesus and how they had seen the little girl healed.

“Do you think this Jesus could heal my wife?” Sejun asked.  They told him what the doctor had told them—sometimes Jesus heals with miracles, and sometimes he heals with medicine and surgeries.They knelt and laid their hands on Ehani, praying for healing in the name of Jesus.

Ehani sat up in her bed, something she had been unable to do for weeks. She was hungry and began eating and regaining her strength. Sejun was beside himself with joy! She was completely healed—without the help of any medicine or witch doctor.

Soon after, she conceived and gave birth to a son they named Basta.

After Ehani’s healing miracle, Sejun was so amazed he couldn’t pull himself away from his wife to go work in the rice fields. But after a few days, he returned to farming, working all morning and then spending the afternoon marvelling about what this Jesus had done for him.

Having seen God at work so powerfully, Sejun got an idea. Hhe would walk through the village and look for sick people to heal in the name of Jesus. He knew many people had family members who were unwell, and he wanted them to experience what he and Ehani had experienced.

So, Sejun worked the fields in the morning, ate lunch at home, and then went out looking for people who were sick. He would tell them all he knew about Jesus (which wasn’t much and came from the songs the Sherpas had taught him) and then he prayed for them. They would be healed and subsequently accepted Jesus as their God.

It didn’t take long before the sick people in Sejun’s village were all well, so he started trekking the mountains, visiting neighboring villages, and doing the same thing. A foreign missionary who lived in the city heard that many people in the mountain villages were being healed in the name of Jesus and coming to faith. The missionary tracked down Sejun—the 5’1” illiterate rice farmer who was preaching the good news and praying for people.

The missionary introduced himself to Sejun, took him under his wing, and taught him all about the Bible. The teaching immediately began to impact Sejun. One day, they were studying and came to Ephesians 5:18, “Do not get drunk on wine.”  

“Wait! I didn’t know that!” Sejun exclaimed. When he prayed for people and they were healed, the family would often give him a rice brew—the traditional way to thank witch doctors after they healed someone. He would stagger home after enjoying the gift, go to bed, and sleep it off. But from that point on, he never accepted any rewards for his prayers for healing.

Sejun and other Christians in his village were persecuted, beaten, shackled, and warned harshly not to speak to anyone about their faith. Ultimately, this persecution drove them away from their home.

Forced to settle in a new town, Sejun vowed he wasn’t going to tell anyone about Jesus because he wanted their children to grow up in peace. Shortly after they arrived, however, the mayor knocked on the door and said he had heard that Sejun was a healer. Sejun couldn’t lie, so he reluctantly admitted that yes, he served a God who healed.

The mayor said, “Okay, come with me.” He took Sejun out to the field where several cows were lying on their side, foaming at the mouth. “Heal my cows,” the mayor insisted.

Sejun had never prayed for animals before—he didn’t know if Jesus would heal a cow or not, but he knew the mayor could hurt him if he didn’t agree, so he prayed for the first cow. They watched as it shook the froth from its mouth, stood up, and walked away … healed! The mayor then insisted he pray for the next cow. Sejun did, and it, too, was healed.

With the mayor’s blessing, Sejun was now able to remain in the village, preach the gospel, and participate in even more healing.

Sejun’s son, Basta, was one of the first children from his village to go to school, hiking an hour over the mountains to another village in order to attend. Basta learned to read, and then accompanied Sejun on healing trips, reading Scripture while his father preached and prayed for people. This went on for years, and over time, they began to see the miracle of multiplication taking place.

[Through a connection], Basta reached out to Global Disciples and asked for our help—they had more than a hundred churches within a five-day walk from where he and his father lived, but no way to train their people.

We [Global Disciples] invited Basta to attend a meeting of discipleship-mission directors we had equipped. It was there I met Basta, and we talked about the wonderful things God was doing in his community and surrounding villages. He prayed long into the night about how Global Disciples might be able to support what he was doing. The next morning over breakfast, Basta came back to me and said, “God spoke to me last night … God told me we are supposed to look to him to provide, not depend on support from the West. So, I won’t be asking for any money or seed funds from you.”

I knew their resources were limited. “How are you going to collect the money you need to run these training courses?”

“We don’t have to collect money,” he said. “We’ll put baskets by the church, and the rice farmers can contribute rice, and when the baskets are full, we’ll fill bags, and when the bags are full, we’ll have enough food to start the training.”

“Do me a favor,” I said. “Let me know the market value of the rice, when you’re ready to start.”

Basta agreed, and I told him we would like to send a gift toward their startup costs. The people in this church supplied chickens and rice to feed the participants. We considered the value of their gifts of food in kind to be 51 percent of their training expenses, and we sent a gift for the remaining 49 percent—$137 for Bibles, mats to sleep on, and some supplies. And their first discipleship-mission training was launched. And more trainings have followed their lead, primarily sustained by the local resources God provides!

On it goes. What began many years ago with two Sherpas and Basta’s father—a solitary, illiterate farmer desperate to help his wife—has become an influential disciple-making movement—most of it supported by local resources. And now assisting many groups of churches from various tribes and regions to multiply new fellowships of believers all across Nepal.

Above is an excerpt from the book, Ordinary Disciples, Extraordinary Influence: Stories to Fuel a Life of Unshakable Faith, by Galen Burkholder and Brother Tefera. For more stories like this, get a copy of Ordinary Disciples, Extraordinary Influence, available in print and ebook from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Global Disciples Canada is a Christian mission organization that trains local leaders living near least-reached communities to multiply disciples for Christ. One-third of our world hasn’t heard the Good News of Jesus. Yet. Global Disciples refers to these as “least-reached” people, and fewer than 10% of all missionaries work among these groups. We live in a time where many of these people are within reach of a local church. Through our simple and effective training and coaching strategy, believers share the Gospel in their own nations and cultures. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” and we’re committed to doing just that. If you are looking for a Christian mission organization to partner with to become a better disciple and help make disciples, connect with us today!

In simple terms, local sustainability refers to a venture-funded or supported by local means and not dependent on external sources. For example, a restaurant generates income from its customers or closes. At your church, the annual budget is supplied by those who attend.

Global Disciples believes local sustainability means indigenous churches around the world can fulfill their part in the Great Commission. They may need assistance to launch (and we help) but the goal is to see a discipleship-mission program, a church planter, an indigenous movement, thrive and multiply through the resources they have or develop.

In Nepal, local sustainability is the backbone of the growing church movement. From the outset, Pravir,* the Nepali facilitator, wanted the church to fund as much of the discipleship training as possible. He started by asking his own congregation for support. One woman, the only believer in her village, traveled 1½ hours to attend services. Her village needed a church and the discipleship training would make that possible.

Out of the little she had, she made the first gift—two tiny bags of salt. Her generosity inspired the rest of the congregation to also give, mostly donations of rice or other produce.

In this case, Global Disciples assisted the launch with a special gift of $137—the dollar equivalent of what the church raised in rice donations. While $137 may seem like very little to us, it’s nearly 3 months’ salary for a Nepali family! The cash bought paper and pens, a pot to cook the rice, and straw floor mats for the participants to sleep on. With that, they held their first discipleship training!

From this humble beginning, trainings in Nepal have multiplied into a movement supported by local sources. Some church planters use their small business to fund trainings; others plant vegetables to feed trainees. The village where the woman gave the first donation remains the most generous in the region. As Pravir says, “It multiplies a generation of generous disciples who will go to least-reached areas.”

That’s the beauty of local sustainability—generous groups of churches empowered to accomplish their God-given mission!

Global Disciples Canada is a Christian mission organization that trains local leaders living near least-reached communities to multiply disciples for Christ. One-third of our world hasn’t heard the Good News of Jesus. Yet. Global Disciples refers to these as “least-reached” people, and fewer than 10% of all missionaries work among these groups. We live in a time where many of these people are within reach of a local church. Through our simple and effective strategy of training and coaching, believers share the Gospel in their own nations and cultures. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” and we’re committed to doing just that. If you are looking for a Christian mission organization to partner with to become a better disciple and help make disciples, connect with us today!

In Acts 18, the Apostle Paul arrived in Corinth and went to work, making tents side-by-side with new friends Aquila and Priscilla. The business supported him while he preached the Gospel to the Jews and Greeks of the city.

This model—using business to give access and support ministry—is one that Global Disciples uses in training disciple-makers and church planters. It’s key to local sustainability for those who seek to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to least-reached peoples and regions.

Like Paul, church planters often enter new unreached territories. A business provides an identity or reason for being there. Instead of arriving with their hands out, asking for help, they come with their hands full, providing a service or product while they preach the Gospel. This is a novel approach in cultures that believe “holy men don’t work”—they can be seen as glorified beggars, exchanging a message or prayer for money or food.

For many, the biblical permission to combine ministry with business enables them to continue serving God while providing for their families. One Nepali church planter shared how he and others considered leaving the ministry because there was no money to support them or feed their children. In India, several pastors from untouchable or ‘dalit’ castes reflect on how they can now provide a daughter’s dowry, a gifted son’s education, or help a daughter learn useful accounting skills as she assists the business.

Some Christians view using business to support ministry as a lack of faith in God’s provision. A young evangelist at a training in Uganda argued that ministry and business were incompatible and should not be allowed. However, after studying the Bible and Paul’s methodology, the young man said, “Why didn’t anyone tell us this before?” God’s Word had changed his mind. When he returned to the refugee camps where he ministered, he used a small business strategy and trained refugees to use business in ministry.

The biblical model for local sustainability worked for Paul and it’s still working to support God’s people as they seek to fulfill the mission He gives.

Global Disciples Canada is a Christian mission organization that trains local leaders living near least-reached communities to multiply disciples for Christ. One-third of our world hasn’t heard the Good News of Jesus. Yet. Global Disciples refers to these as “least-reached” people, and fewer than 10% of all missionaries work among these groups. We live in a time where many of these people are within reach of a local church. Through our simple and effective strategy of training and coaching, believers share the Gospel in their own nations and cultures. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” and we’re committed to doing just that. If you are looking for a Christian mission organization to partner with to become a better disciple and help make disciples, connect with us today!

“I give thanks to God and Global Disciples,” Chetan reported. “Since we started our leadership training in 2011, we’ve trained 675 leaders, pastors, and church planters.”

Chetan directs leadership training and discipleship-mission training near his home in Nepal.

He’s seen tremendous growth as they reach out and share the Good News of Jesus.

Through the discipleship-mission training, he’s trained 6 groups of disciple-makers, averaging about 15 participants per group, and so far, they’ve planted 32 churches in nine different areas of Nepal.

The leadership program has multiplied too – planting another 27 churches.

Chetan said, “In our district, there are one hundred fifty churches; our vision is to have a church in every village. In one place we preached, 11 people came to Christ.

Another group wanted to have a church there so we gladly handed the new believers over to them. In another village, 40 people believed. It’s very far from our base and so the follow-up was going to be difficult. But a nearby church offered to help and they are now looking after these believers.”

But it’s not been easy. Chetan reflected on the challenges they face. “When one person believes, there is persecution,” he said, “When one family believes, there’s opposition. At one place we planted a church, and a local police officer gave us land on a lease to establish a church. Our prayer is to purchase the plot. But the community is circulating a petition to keep us from building a church there.”

At times, those participating in the training were difficult to deal with, Chetan says, “With spiritual training, we must humble ourselves and serve. We spent much of our time in prayer. I have 11 prayer warriors who prayed for 72 hours, and God blessed and worked in this area. The Holy Spirit has helped us develop workers for the ministry.”

With prayer, persistence, and a God-given vision to reach those still waiting for the Gospel, Chetan and those he serves are seeing the Lord do great things in their area of Nepal.

Global Disciples Canada is a Christian mission organization that trains local leaders living near least-reached communities to multiply disciples for Christ. One-third of our world hasn’t heard the Good News of Jesus. Yet. Global Disciples refers to these as “least-reached” people, and fewer than 10% of all missionaries work among these groups. We live in a time where many of these people are within reach of a local church. Through our simple and effective training and coaching strategy, believers share the Gospel in their own nations and cultures. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” and we’re committed to doing just that. If you are looking for a Christian mission organization to partner with to become a better disciple and help make disciples, connect with us today!

As we hear the Good News stories about how God is at work, we’re reminded over and over again that we can never underestimate who or what He may use to accomplish His mission.

Kiran works in Nepal and part of his job is to train and mentor the leaders who direct discipleship-mission training programs.

When he went to visit a church that wanted to start a training, he was surprised to see who they had chosen as a director. Kiran said, “I saw a young man—only 22 years old—and I was disappointed. I expected someone mature, like the pastor!” The young man comes from a group of 35 churches and they decided he was the man for the job!

Since the young man started their training program, he’s trained five groups of disciple-makers—that’s about 75 people! And they’ve planted 8 churches, with between 60 to 90 members.

During one training, some people in the village heard about it and brought a paralyzed woman to them for prayer. When their prayers were answered, the woman was healed, and her family accepted Christ and became hosts for one of the new churches!

Evidently, God was not worried about the age of this young leader, even if Kiran was!

Kiran also told of a woman who came for small business training to provide support as she helped to plant a church. However, she was shy and felt awkward talking to people in Nepali, which was her second language. But her tailoring business required her to talk to people!

A year later, Kiran said, “I was amazed to hear she had started two new fellowships with about 16 to 18 people attending. And 13 are getting ready for baptism!”

You know, it doesn’t matter if you think you’re too young, too old, too shy, or afraid…never underestimate what God can do with you! Who knows what He may empower you to accomplish? And who you may surprise along the way.

What excuses have you been making about your inability to be used by God?

Global Disciples Canada is a Christian mission organization that trains local leaders living near least-reached communities to multiply disciples for Christ. One-third of our world hasn’t heard the Good News of Jesus. Yet. Global Disciples refers to these as “least-reached” people, and fewer than 10% of all missionaries work among these groups. We live in a time where many of these people are within reach of a local church. Through our simple and effective training and coaching strategy, believers share the Gospel in their own nations and cultures. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” and we’re committed to doing just that. If you are looking for a Christian mission organization to partner with to become a better disciple and help make disciples, connect with us today!