Ministry Report

Hi friends, 

I wanted to take some time to look back on the disciple-making apprenticeship that I've been involved in for the past year and a half with North County Project and EFM. I want to give an overview of some of the things that I've learned and been trained in as well as some of the things that I am looking forward to moving into in this next season. So, I'll start by telling you some of the things that that I've been trained in that are moving me towards being able to make disciples of Jesus who make disciples of Jesus - obeying the Great Commission that Jesus gave and at the very end of his ministry right before he ascended. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me; therefore, go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I've commanded you, and surely I'll be with you even to the end of the age.” So, this is what I've sought to figure out: how do we do this - especially in the American context where there's such a challenge as apathy runs rampant and this idea that obedience is as a burden or a bad thing? So, how do we engage with this and how do we engage with the non-believing world that's experienced an inaccurate or unhelpful presentation of what Jesus' main message was? That's a huge part of what I've been learning, and the big idea that this apprenticeship has been oriented around.

I want to share briefly some of the big things that we did as well as how I intend to use them and continue obeying the Great Commission. During this apprenticeship, there were some primary tools that I was being taught that North County Project uses in their day-to-day ministry. A large one is called Bible-dialogue. This is a way of engaging with a person and the text of scripture that's through conversation and allows them to better understand what the text says as well as what it means. It's a way of engaging the text that doesn't just give them the answer but allows them to learn how to think and understand so that they can read the Bible on their own - thinking in this way and being able to engage with other people in this same way. It's not the only way to do it, but it's a very helpful tool that North County Project uses. 

I was also trained in how to train other people in these tools. I've led and helped in a number of trainings - teaching people how to engage in this way of thoughtful discipleship and evangelism. Another tool we use is prayer walking, and it's almost as simple as it sounds. If you can pray and you can walk, then this is a very valuable tool for engaging thoughtfully with an area that you'd like to minister to. If that's your neighborhood, an area around your church, a strategic location like Cal State Fullerton for us, or any number of other places. It's a way of connecting with that area and engaging with God asking, “God, where are you at work here? How do you want us to engage and participate with you in your commission?” It's a co-mission. It's not just a mission, so we want to be sensitive to how God is already moving and operating in a place and how we can best come alongside Him. It's also a time of interceding for the people there and asking that God would use us, operate in us, shape us, and form us to better be able to serve and minister in that area. Another tool that we use are DMCs, and that stands for disciple-making community. There are three DMC's and they each focus on different aspects of our spiritual formation and obedience to Jesus - becoming like Him in the way that we think, the things that we do, and our character. The first DMC goes through the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5 through 7, and it utilizes a number of our different tools - some of which I've told you already, such as Bible dialogue, that are built into a DMC. That's how we engage with the text, but DMC also incorporates other tools like the three-minute testimony and the three-minute gospel presentation, which are very practical, simple tools that we use in day-to-day evangelism. If I engage with somebody and they ask me, “Tell me your story. When did you become a Christian? Why did you become a Christian?” That's something that we want to have ready. It’s not a crazy hard thing to do, but if we don't have it ready, it's very hard to share it. We also want to be equipped to share what the main message of Jesus was - the gospel that Jesus preached and how we can concisely explain that to somebody in a way that doesn't use a whole bunch of terms that carry unhelpful baggage or that are confusing for those outside of church language. All of these tools, as well as some others such as conversational evangelism, we've taught to other people, and that's been part of my training as well - learning how to teach and impart these things as well teaching people how to teach and impart these things themselves. They're very simple and practical tools that help us to obey Jesus in His command to make disciples.

Disciples are people who are learning from Jesus how to live like Jesus, how to think like Jesus, and be like Him in their character. Luke 6:40 is a very great picture of this as it says, “a disciple is not above their rabbi, but when a disciple is fully trained, they'll be just like their rabbi.” That's the mission that Jesus gave us as he left. He said, “Now, go and make students of me - people learning to be like me. Not just learning to know the things that I know, but learning to live like me and to operate as I do.” There are a number of tools that help to equip people to engage the non-believing world as well as the believing world. It's not just something for people outside the church, but making disciples, if you go back to the great commission, it says, “teaching them to obey everything that I've commanded you.” We're not seeking to make converts, but we're seeking to make disciples. And that's a process of being formed by the Holy Spirit and by Jesus to look like Jesus and to reflect him in all that we do. This is a tool not just for evangelism, but evangelism is the first step. Then, once you want to follow Jesus, discipleship is teaching people what it looks like to imitate Jesus as a citizen in His kingdom. So, that's been something I’ve emphasized as well - helping people to understand and grasp the gospel that Jesus preached about the kingdom of God and entering into it as a participant. 

This has been a large part of our ministry, whether we're on campus at Cal State Fullerton, Huntington Beach, in churches, or wherever it might be. It seems that most people, if they don't have that there's a lot of other symptoms of having a misinformed or reductionistic view of Jesus' gospel. 

These are a number of things that we do, but there are also a number of different locations that we've engaged in and doing slightly different versions of ministry activity. At Cal State Fullerton, we have a unique demographic as we have Christian cults on campus that that we do counter-cult ministry with. These are high control groups that use the Bible to oppress people, trap people, separate them from their communities, and essentially use them for their own gain. It's very reminiscent of what Jesus said about the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays His life down for His sheep, but there are many shepherds out there that aren't good and use the sheep for their own advantage. So, that's been part of our ministry as well - engaging with these groups and the people affected by them. These groups teach a different gospel than Jesus taught, one that relies on our works and effort contributing to our salvation. So, there's different kinds of engagement involved in that, but we've also had great partners at Cal State Fullerton - great ministries that we're able to partner with and do ministry with that's been such a blessing.

We have also used the whiteboard quite a bit on campus for our evangelistic efforts. We usually write a question up saying, “tell us what you think” and then we'll throw a question inviting people to come and engage. This is where we use what we have called archways. It’s a conversational approach to evangelism where you are thoughtfully listening and asking questions to identify and walk through the archway or the connecting point between everyday conversations and Jesus and the gospel. We found this approach to be very fruitful and non-intrusive on campus and have received great feedback from people all over the religious spectrum and cultural spectrum. From very strong atheists, who despise Christians, to people who've grown up in the church but have been misinformed or insufficiently informed. It’s a wonderful tool that's very practical for everyday use - whether it be in just basic relationships, conversations with your co-workers, people that you serve at your work, people in your church that need to be discipled, and engaging with hard conversations. 

We've also gone to a number of places. We've gone to Huntington Beach to do evangelism, we've done the Orange Circle, other like shopping centers like the Irvine Spectrum, and a number of other places including parks and churches for trainings and teachings. Basically, all that to say is that this is not constrained to one location but these are very simple tools that can be used anywhere there are people and God - which it's a lot of places.

However, I'm not just being trained in this so that I can merely be trained in it, but also so I can share it. Part of making disciples is training people how to make disciples. The next part of my ministry will be part of that, and I'd like to explain some of what I'm anticipating and moving towards as I move forward in it. That was a very quick overview of some of the things that I've been learning and engaging in: how to use these tools, what these tools are, how to engage people in in thoughtful evangelism, how to disciple people to be like Jesus using the text of scripture and engaging them with the Holy Spirit, teaching them basic doctrinal things, correcting doctrinal things that are false, engaging with people who've had false beliefs for a long time or are in groups that are oppressive and high controlling, engaging with people from different religions and different cultures, and more. All these things fall under one umbrella: the great commission. How do I contextualize and engage with a group of people in a thoughtful way that helps to communicate the main message of Jesus in a way they can understand clearly and also removes anything that might be a stumbling block to the ministry. Next, I'll share a little bit about where I'm anticipating going in my next steps in ministry.

I'd like to now share with you a little bit about this next season of ministry and the things that I'll be moving into, but a very important part of that will be introducing you to Viany. Viany and I have worked together at NCP during the apprenticeship the past year and a half. She's been working with NCP part-time for longer than I've been out here, and we've been dating for a while, and we have some news to share with you if you don't already know: we're getting married! We're engaged, so that's part of this next season - transitioning into marriage, but there are additionally some new roles that we have with North County Project that we'll be moving into. There's a lot of similar things that we'll be doing (the same tools and practices that NCP uses), but now we'll be on staff with North County Project. I'll be fully on staff with them as a local disciple-making missionary, whereas before I was doing a partnership between EFM and NCP. Now I'll be switching fully to NCP, and with that, there's more that I have to raise financially as a missionary role and transitioning to living here in Orange County outside of the housing that was significantly cheaper for the apprenticeship and in the various expenses that come with that. I'm about to begin that process of support raising through the system of NCP, and so I would like to ask that you would prayerfully consider either continuing your support of this ministry or beginning to support in that way. I'll share the way that you can go about doing that because it'll be slightly different from how it was through EFM. I'll continue to be seeking to make healthy disciples of Jesus who are equipped to make healthy disciples of Jesus in, not only North Orange County, but also beyond that. We'll also be exploring different ways of engaging with different communities within and outside of North Orange County. The goal is to make people who are following and becoming like Jesus wherever they are. That's the goal. If that means engaging with non-believers so they can become disciples, by all means, and part of being a disciple is doing that while also not neglecting those within the church who need to be formed to be like Jesus. We’re looking to continue to partner with churches and communities to do that, and we'll probably be reaching out as we continue to explore what that might look like more and more as especially as we get through the wedding season and all the planning. There's going to be a lot of transition, but we look forward to the different ways we might get to engage with different communities and churches and help equip them to make disciples who are going to make disciples. We don't want just to do addition, but multiplication.

In the meantime, if you would pray with us as we prepare to step into this next season of ministry and a ministry of marriage, we would greatly appreciate any partnership in prayer if you would love to do that with us.

I'll attach something or send something also out for how you can partner with us in both of those ways as well as my information if you'd like to reach out and get more information or talk more about it I’d be more than happy to do that! We will talk to you later!

New NCP Giving Portal:

https://app.clovergive.com/app/giving/nort1499743 

*Select "Ivan" in the dropdown menu to designate support in that way. Likewise for supporting Viany, select "Viany" in the dropdown menu.

With love and peace,

Ivan and Viany