This past weekend, the Oklahoma City Navigators gathered together for the annual Fall Discipleship Conference. For Clay, a member of the OKC Navigators 20s, the conference’s consistent discipleship theme is one of the best things about attending the conference:“The conference brings together disciple-makers and disciples of all ages. I get to see men and women who have dedicated their lives to making disciples…I find encouragement in knowing that making disciples is something I can give my life to and others are living and working around me doing the same.”
Guy, who worked behind the scenes as the 2018 conference director, valued giving people the opportunity to see “the discipleship community is much larger than yourself. There are many others out there with the same heart for the lost and for discipling others. It is so encouraging to know you are not alone in this lifelong journey.”
On that note, the city asked Lifelong Laborer, Mike Jordahl to be this year’s main speaker. He shared the Why, How, and Who of disciple-making, exploring why and how Jesus himself discipled and answered the question of who can disciple. The great news is, as believers, we are all qualified!
“You have to be a disciple to make disciples.” -Mike Jordahl
One new element added to conference agenda this year was 6 generations of disciples/disciple-makers each shared their personal testimony and how God brought their disciple-maker and disciple into their life. The longest disciple-maker, Max B (Center pic.-far right) started the testimony chain and shared how and when he met and discipled John R in college. They were followed by Dan W and Guy M (Center Picture-third from left), which led on down to Coy C (Center pic.-far left) sharing how meeting with Austin K (Center pic.-second from left) the past few years has helped him make one of the largest decisions of his life, choosing to marry his wife of one year. Listening to these multiple generations of disciple-makers presented living proof of 2 Timothy 2:2.
“I hope the takeaway for everyone is that discipleship is not complicated and something you can do as you go about life. And that you can reach many generations of disciples in your lifetime. Hopefully, they saw a glimpse of that when they heard the testimonials from 6 generations of disciples.” -Guy M, Disciple #4
Some of the most famous components of the conference are the diverse and dynamic workshops led by Oklahoma’s premier disciple-makers. This year, we had 14 workshops led by 17 leaders, covering topics ranging from foundational discipleship themes like quiet time & prayer to how a career can truly be a ministry of worship to the Lord and others. Abigail, another member of OKC Navigators 20s, attended the “Marketplace: Ministry” and “UNPOLLUTED” workshops. She summarized her takeaways from these two workshops as follows:
- “The marketplace looks different for every person (career, homemaker, parent, etc.), but the vision needs to be the same. We are to preach the gospel (Mark 16:15).”
- “We need to have a vision for the future. Does what I am doing now help to prepare me for the future I want 5 or 10 years from now?”
She has been able to share these takeaways with friends and peers, encouraging them in their own discipleship journey, as well as challenging herself in her own walk with the Lord.
For Guy, the 2018 Conference director, he felt that this year’s “conference was a huge success and one of the best ever! Mike Jordahl was a fantastic teacher and was able to connect with the audience…On top of that, we had the best lineup of workshop leaders and testimonials we have ever had.” Thank you to everyone who attended! We hope to see you next year! And, thank you to our amazing hosts and volunteers at New Covenant United Methodist Church! We really appreciated your warm welcome and taking such great care of our kids!
All Photos by John Wilson
What do you have to look forward to at the conference next year?
“We have taken to heart the many comments made from the conference attendees on what they would like to see and how we can make it better. We hope next year we can knock it out of the park with the conference speakers we are looking at and the agenda we have planned” (Guy M, 2018 Conference Director). The tentative dates for next year’s Fall Discipleship Conference is September 27 & 28, 2019.
If you have any questions about this blog post or would like to contribute to a future post, please email okcitynavs@gmail.com.
