“There is no greater privilege in life than to help people fall in love with Jesus.”

Elizabeth Mabie
Spur Ottawa Correspondent

Among His final words, Jesus commanded those following him to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

While many find these words encouraging, long-time Navigators member Bill Mowry believes we need to “de-professionalize the Great Commission”. The Navigators have a long history of training believers in relational discipleship. On October 4 and 5, the Navigators’ Canadian branch partnered with Bilberry Creek Baptist Church, in Orleans, to host the Disciple! Conference.

“Everybody’s given the [Great] Commission, but not everybody feels equipped to live out the Commission,” explains Stefan Cherry, a member of Navigators and the associate pastor of Bilberry Creek. “Anyone who is a follower of Christ can make disciples. We want to equip and empower Christians in the Ottawa Valley to feel like they have the right tools.”

Bill Mowry shares his conviction that the Church needs to “de-professionalize the Great Commission”. Photo courtesy of Bilberry Creek Baptist Church.

Cherry was inspired by a 2018 discipleship conference held by the Navigators in Hamilton. He calls the experience “eye-opening” and spoke with his church about holding a similar gathering in Ottawa.

“We really felt that God was leading us in this direction,” says Cherry.

One year later, they saw 120 people join them to train in the art of disciple-making, make connections, and listen to the keynote speaker, Mowry.

In Mowry’s latest book, The Ways of the Alongsider, he states, “I believe wholeheartedly that there is no greater privilege in life than to help people fall in love with Jesus.”

“I think that quote sums up the whole discipleship journey,” Cherry says.

Those who took part are enthusiastic about their experience. Sonia Maximovsky and Cody Simpson, a church planting couple from Montreal, found the conference encouraging and inspiring.

“The spiritual momentum of the knowledge I acquired carried into my community group.”

“When we heard about the conference, we immediately wanted to attend because our church plant’s main focus is disciple-making,” says Maximovsky. “Hearing Bill Mowry and the other speakers share their knowledge, experience, and expertise on creating a discipleship culture within the Church was not only encouraging, but also extremely helpful. The conference offered both broad insight as well as specific measurable tools that we could put into practice right away.”

“There was a great atmosphere of Spirit-led generosity from all the presenters there,” Simpson adds. “I found their insights in asking questions and revealing vulnerability to be very helpful. It’s our prayer that this and future work will help revitalize the Church in Canada with intentional discipleship.”

Cherry says that Bilberry Creek is about two years into the disciple-making process taught at the Disciple! Conferences. He says that he’s seeing major shifts in the church’s culture.

“People are starting to spontaneously make disciples,” Cherry states. “We’ve started up triads of two to four people getting together on a regular basis to look at scripture and encourage and pray for each other. We have about 12 people leading these triads. We’re starting to see fruit and it’s exciting.”

“After the conference, the spiritual momentum of the knowledge I acquired carried into my one-on-one meet-ups and community group. I eagerly shared much of what I have learned with my brothers and sisters in Christ,” Maximovsky states. “I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and recommend it for any Christians wanting to dive deeper into understanding the Great Commission and its practical application in our world today.”