Our Stories
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Forty-five leaders met in Kitchener this week for 5 days of intensive training in disciple making. This was the second five-day orientation to the 'Way of Jesus' offered by the EMCC National Team. Participants included pastors and lay leaders from EMCC churches across Canada, guests from the Ethiopian Kale Heywitt Church, and the members of the National Team.
The training event was held at Emmanuel Bible College and included classroom sessions, small group interaction, times of prayer, recreational events and informal times of relationship building. All of this revolved around the development of a deeper understanding of these basic life-long practices of a follower of Jesus:
- I have begun following Jesus and am depending on the Spirit of Jesus in my journey.
- I am being sent by Jesus to bless others and invite them to follow Him.
- I am becoming like Jesus in my attitudes, behaviour and character.
- I am learning to love God and love others.
- I am learning the teachings of Jesus.
- I am helping someone and someone is helping me to be a growing follower of Jesus.
- I am participating in a community of followers of Jesus on mission to the world.
The point of the training event was to ground participants in these practices and prepare them for a lifestyle of following Jesus in this manner and inviting others to join them on the journey.
One participant commented at the end of the event: "This has been a challenging time for us; we are used to considering discipleship as a program, but I have come to realize that discipleship is walking in the way of Jesus...it's a way of life that we are called to do."
For more on the Way of Jesus, which is shaping the EMCC as a disciple-making movement, visit wayofjesus.ca
