The most important choice in my life I made when I was fourteen: to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. Now I have passed 80 years and have regretted many things I have done, but that choice I have never regretted. Being a disciple has not always been easy. The life of discipleship can be warm and difficult, with successes and setbacks, highs and lows, both encouraging and challenging at the same time. I have experienced all this firsthand. At times I have been deeply distressed and frustrated, on the verge of giving up. But Jesus has never let go of me. He has never given up on me, not even when I truly made a mess of things.
Even though I have grown old, I still spend much of my time with young people. They often ask about the secret behind still being enthusiastic about Jesus and living with an expectation of his intervention in my everyday life. “How can I live a sustainable life of discipleship?” they wonder, and, “How can I live a meaningful life?”
In this book, I want to share with you some of what has been important to me and what has carried me through crises and challenges. The call I received as a fourteen-year-old was simple: “Follow me!” said Jesus. I began to follow him without fully knowing what it meant. In the Gospels we hear that Jesus called twelve disciples so that they could be with him, and so that he could send them out to preach and have authority to heal the sick and drive out evil spirits. The first call to follow Jesus and be with him became a call to be made into a fisher of people, empowered and equipped to do his works.
My life as a disciple has lasted nearly seventy years. Now I want to pass on some of what I have learned to new young generations of Jesus’ disciples. This book is newly written but is based on teachings I wrote about twenty years ago. Those teachings have been translated into many languages and published widely and have proven to be sustainable. But I am still a disciple who continually learns more about what it means to follow Jesus. A life of discipleship has great horizons. It is not a quick fix, but lifelong learning. That is what makes it exciting.
About twenty-five years ago I met Rahesh. When I saw him, I was filled with love for him. I looked into his eyes and said: “I love you! You are also loved by God!” He collapsed and broke into tears. He then told me it was the first time anyone had ever said they loved him. He embraced the love and became an eager disciple. Everywhere he went, he told people about God’s love expressed through Jesus Christ, who went around doing good and healing people of all kinds of diseases.
One day he witnessed to Raj about Jesus, who could both forgive sin and heal the sick. But Anil was not interested, because he worshipped his Hindu idols. After some time, something dramatic happened in his family. His mother, who was diabetic, developed gangrene in both feet. She was admitted to the hospital. The doctors said both legs had to be amputated. Anil was devastated. The idols gave neither him nor his mother any help. Then he suddenly remembered what Rahesh had told him about Jesus.
He contacted Rahesh and challenged him: “If your Jesus can heal my mother, then I will believe in him and become a disciple!” That same evening Rahesh took a friend and went to the hospital to see Raj’s mother. It was the last moment, because the next morning the doctors had scheduled the amputation of both legs. Rahesh and his friend laid hands on her and prayed a simple prayer in Jesus’ name that the gangrene would disappear and that she would be completely healed. Then they left, without being able to see any change in the gangrenous feet.
Early the next morning, before the amputation was to take place, Raj visited his mother at the hospital. To his great surprise, the gangrene had disappeared, and she was completely healthy. She needed no amputation and was discharged and went home healthy later that day. I have met them and had this story confirmed by both. Raj gave his life to Jesus and became an eager disciple. More than anyone, he has put the teaching of discipleship into practice. His motto is: “When I have learned something new, I must do two things: practice it and share it with others. That is obedience-based discipleship.”
When I visited Jaipur in 2023, Raj came with seven people whom he lined up before me and said: “Here are seven generations of disciples who win and train new disciples.” He told me they were all active in preaching the gospel, praying for the sick, making disciples, and training them to do the same. There they stood before me—seven generations of disciples where the gospel had passed from one to the next.
I do not remember all their stories, but all of them had encountered the living Jesus Christ who had saved and transformed them. The newest Mohan had been a witch doctor practicing magic. Many came to him for help with their problems. But there was no peace in the home. He and his wife argued loudly and fought fiercely. Ankita lived in the neighbourhood and reached out to them, telling them about Jesus who could save and give peace in the home. They longed for peace and accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord. Ankita prayed for them and set them free from the demons that tormented them. This happened during the COVID pandemic, so Mohan began calling his relatives who lived 3000 km away. Many were touched by his testimony and came to faith. Mohan now disciples many house churches of new believers, whom he trains to preach the gospel and train new disciples—through his mobile phone. He is no longer a witch doctor practicing occult magic, but part of the growing discipleship movement Jesus started.
This text is from a book I am writing now to inspire and equip individuals, house churches, and congregations to be part of this worldwide grassroots movement. God is pouring out his Spirit on all people in our time. Young and old, boys and girls, men and women are today being used by God to fulfil the mission: to live a contagious life of discipleship!
Discipleship is a life of lifelong learning. Some disciples have only just taken their first steps. Others have walked long on the disciple road. All disciples are unique and different. We are at different stages in discipleship. Therefore, this book can be used in many ways. You can read the chapter’s most relevant to you. Or you can use this book as a tool, a guide to help new disciples. The possibilities are many, and the ways of using it vary greatly.
But the teaching is dynamite. It has the power to transform people. In the book there are sprouting seeds for good change in both individuals and communities. A life of discipleship is contagious.
(To protect my friends in India against persecution I have changed their names.)