Why Join DM?
"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near." Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV)
In DiscipleMakers we consider our Staff to be the critical resource, and we believe our character is what counts. We also know that in order to achieve the mission God has given us, we need energized missionaries who constantly re-energize each other. To these ends, we are committed both to equipping one another and to caring for one another.
We Equip One Another
We provide those joining our Staff team with the training they need to be successful for the long term. This will involve spending a period of time (1-3 years) as an intern at an established work led by one of our Senior Staff members. We also provide ongoing support and training opportunities to ensure you are on the cutting edge of ministry. There are some of the venues through which we provide ongoing training:
- Growth Plans - We do not take a cookie-cutter approach to Staff training. Instead, each of our Staff makes a personalized plan for how he or she wants to grow in the Lord in the coming year. This includes specific and measurable goals flowing out of our Core Values. Each month, our Staff complete a written evaluation of their progress on their goals, sharing this evaluation with their supervisor and team. Team members read each other's evaluations and provide feedback to help their teammates think through the issues more deeply.
- Staff Conferences - We hold quarterly conferences for our Staff team for planning, training, and general encouragement. Much of the time, the Senior Staff provide excellent teaching from the Word, and at other times we recruit a speaker from outside our organization to help us address a topic relevant to our ministry. Past speakers have included Tedd Tripp and Jerry Bridges.
- Personal Discipleship - We in DiscipleMakers are often asked how long our new Staff training lasts. The answer is that it begins as soon as we join the team, and it lasts as long as the Lord has us ministering with DM! We are always pursuing greater levels of excellence, both in our ministry and in our own lives. The primary way we help each other do this is through discipleship which is personal and individual.
We Care for One Another
It
is often remarked, both by DM Staff and by outside observers, that DM is like a
family. This is because we, as a mission and individually as
missionaries, are committed to loving each other by doing what's best for one
another. Whatever it takes, we care for each other biblically, even at significant
cost to ourselves. We do this through:
- Teamwork - In DiscipleMakers, we never send our Staff out to minister alone. Every one of our Staff is part of a ministry team and is discipled by another Staff. As we band together to minister in God's name, our group effort is far more effective than the sum of our individual efforts.
- Shepherding & Encouraging - We are committed to shepherding each other with counsel that is rooted in Scripture. We all have blind spots, so part of our care for one another must include watching each other's backs and doing all we can to warn each other about the sin that so easily entangles. We also re-energize each other through biblical encouragement and exhortation, cheering one another on to finish the race and receive the prize.
- Family Atmosphere - We in DiscipleMakers do not view our careers as a 40-hour job. Rather, we live our lives in community with one another, and our care for each other goes beyond "the job" to include our marriages, our parenting, our finances, and every other area of life.
