Recently, 85 men and women from 7 military bases attended a Discipleship Practicum Retreat. There was no main speaker, there was no formal band, and there was no comedian to hype up the crowd before we got started. There was, however, a Testimony Scavenger Hunt, four workshops, a fun night and a close-out session.
Friday night we held a Testimony Scavenger Hunt where we practiced giving our Jesus stories to each other. Everyone was given a sheet of paper with twenty categories, being instructed to find one person for each category, tell them your Jesus Story, and have them tell you theirs.
Saturday we held four workshops, each being facilitated by area Navigator Staff and co-facilitated by someone they were discipling/training. The purpose for this was so the attendees of the retreat would see discipleship in action.
The plan for each workshop was to have a topic presented to, an illustration explained to, and information practiced among workshop attendees. Next, each attendee was paired with one from another workshop to share with each other what had just been passed on. The purpose of this was to have each attendee practice "discipling" another as they shared what had just been learned.
Saturday night was fun night, where skits, music, and testimonies were presented to the group by members of the seven military bases. The testimonies were presented by those of specific categories: a new believer told how they had come to Jesus, a growing believer told how they were being discipled, one who is discipling others told how they came into relationship with the one being discipled, and a mature disciple-maker told how to make disciple-makers.
Sunday morning we talked about the processes of the weekend: seeing disciples being trained, learning information to pass on, and practicing to pass on to another what had been learned. We told the attendees that the intention is not to sit on what they were taught nor to stuff their notes on a bureau drawer, but to ask God for one with whom they can do as they learned during the weekend.
The theme for the weekend was Philemon 1:6"I pray you are active in sharing your faith so that you may have a full understanding of every good things we have in Christ." That is my prayer for each one who came to our weekend Discipleship Practicum Retreat.
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