Jesus told them to pray for workers for the harvest, not just for new believers. He commanded them to pray specifically for workers. To help a follower of Christ move beyond merely believing and into working for the kingdom, we must equip them with the knowledge and skills they need. The One Mission Society( OMS) team working in Catania, Sicily, focuses on making disciples who make disciples and churches that plant new churches. One of the main ways we do this is by equipping believers through discipleship and training.
Our OMS Italy team seeks out refugees and local believers who want to participate in God’ s plan to spread his Word to all nations. We use simple, biblical, and reproducible tools so that people not only grow in their walk with Christ but also can teach and disciple others. In this way, they become both workers and disciples.
Our dear friends Franco and Ivana exemplify this well. They are local partners who fully embrace this vision. Franco felt called to serve God for quite some time, but he struggled to understand exactly where he fit into God’ s plan. A couple of years ago, he attended one of our one-day intensive trainings, where he learned about God’ s mission, his identity in Christ, and how he could join God in what he is already doing.
His curiosity led him to attend our weekly follow-up training. As we explored God’ s mission to reflect his image across the earth and what it truly means to be a fully committed disciple of Jesus, Franco’ s enthusiasm grew each day. He brought his wife, Ivana, who also became captivated by what they were learning. They said things like:“ We have read this in the Word many times. Why haven’ t we seen this before?”“ Why hasn’ t anyone ever taught us these things in all the years we have been in the church?”“ God’ s people are sleeping! We need to wake up! There is work to do!”
This began a discipleship journey that has brought Franco and Ivana closer to God, aligning their lives more fully with his plan and igniting their passion for him. Six months ago, they started a home church
with the goal not of growing a large congregation but of deepening their walk with Christ, making disciples, and planting more groups like theirs.
They have also started training another group in the same concepts they learned. Like Franco and Ivana, this new group in a different city isn’ t just focused on becoming better followers of Jesus; they’ re eager to share what they’ re learning with others in their town. Recently, Marco, from the new group, led the meeting at Franco and Ivana’ s house and began training sessions in his city.
After years of praying and searching for workers in Catania, multiplication has finally begun. God is transforming lives, and his kingdom is expanding. We’ re simply instruments in his hands, sharing what his Word says. It’ s God who is producing the fruit. Praise him!
photos, pages 12-13: The goal of training in Italy is to make disciples who make disciples.
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