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Ministry Update and Extension
Thank you so much for your generous support and partnership in prayer for the ministry that I have been blessed to participate in! I am deeply blessed by your partnership in this last nine months of ministry and training as it has provided me freedom and flexibility to focus on the disciple-making apprenticeship in such a greater capacity!
In the past nine months, I’ve been engaged in the NCP Disciple-Making Apprenticeship where I’ve learned and practiced practical approaches and tools for making disciples of Jesus in every-day life. I’ve not only experienced the tools as a participant, but I’ve also utilized the tools in the ministry I’ve joined on Cal State Fullerton campus, Huntington Beach Pier, and the many other engagements with individuals or groups via Bible-Dialogue, Disciple-Making Communities (DMC), or evangelistic equipping. I have not only seen and experienced these tools, but I’ve begun utilizing them for myself in ministry. Additionally, I’ve been blessed to experience flexibility and modification to ministry approaches as we engage with distinct communities with sensitivity to their needs and social/religious dispositions. I’ve participated in the training of Christians in these tools and approaches as well as the development of evangelistic trainings and workshops. The developed training was derived from the ministry experience we had using various evangelism approaches and aimed to equip the saints for thoughtful and effective evangelical ministry in their everyday lives.
I’ve engaged with an extremely diverse group of people in this ministry context, both religiously and socio-economically. To experience these various groups in ministry has provided me a much wider understanding of the application of these simple tools and has challenged me to adapt the expressions at times while maintaining the essence and heart of it. Engaging with these groups has also informed me, not only of other belief systems, but more importantly how to best interact with them in a thoughtful and productive manner. Whether it be Muslims, Atheists, Agnostics, Buddhists, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Hedonists, Relativists, Liberals, Conservatives, Catholics, Christians, churched, unchurched, Christian-cult members, and more, there is a way of evangelism that doesn’t subvert the message by the means. There is a way of conversation that cultivates relationships despite disagreement instead of solely built on agreement. I’ve been blessed to engage with so many diverse groups as it cultivates both a compassion for those people and a bolstering of your faith as you are inherently challenged and confronted with opposing worldviews/doctrines. It’s quite convicting to consider how easy it is to assert love for our enemies while also refusing to sacrifice in pursuit of sharing the message we claim to subscribe to. What better way to image Christ than to sacrificially carry the message of reconciliation to a people who will most certainly revile you for it. However, it might surprise us who accepts the message and who does not. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.
I, along with NCP and EFM, have discerned that it is God’s direction to extend my current apprenticeship an additional six months beginning in January 2026 with the specific emphasis on engaging established church communities in evangelism and discipleship. While this has certainly been part of the apprenticeship in the past nine months, I desire, and find it wise, to intentionally engage with the various demographics within the church who have differing stages of life and spiritual maturity. I desire to grow in my ability and experiences specifically within the established and professing community of Christians. The primary question being asked in this extension is, “How do you cultivate, within an established body of believers, a participation in the evangelical commission granted to us, in grace, by Jesus our Lord?” Thus far in my apprenticeship, I’ve participated in the training and equipping of many established Christians in evangelism and disciple-making; but, with the anticipation of a future partnership and ministry with established churches, I desire to intentionally engage with the apathetic and comfortable Christian so that I might best know how to equip a wider degree of Christians with varying levels of zeal and devotion. My heart is to equip the saints for the work of ministry, and this additional six months aims to zoom in on this particular facet to gain greater experience and knowledge in it.
The original commitments for this apprenticeship ran through October 2025 and will conclude at that time. However, I would like to invite you to consider extending your financial and prayer support for an additional eight months spanning from November 2025 - June 2026. Your continued support is vital to make this next step possible.
I am greatly blessed by your partnership in this ministry and the generosity you have extended through your prayer and financial support! Your investment in this training and ministry is greatly cherished and appreciated! Please join me in continued prayer for the ministry at CSUF this semester as well as those God is raising up as ministers in those environments! May God instill a zeal and compassion in the hearts of His people that they might be eager to do good works and thus glorify their Father in heaven!
I look forward to this additional time in training and ministry as well as the continued opportunity to see Christ’s Church equipped and emboldened to follow Jesus into His harvest field!
With love and peace,
Ivan Penrose
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