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Check out what's going on in DiscipleMakers
Maggie Walburn has joined DiscipleMakers! Maggie has served as a student leader in the DiscipleMakers Christian Fellowship at Cedar Crest College. She also served as a summer intern with DM in 2018.
“It is such an honor to have this opportunity to serve the Lord through DiscipleMakers!” Maggie said.
Praise God for raising up Maggie to serve on our staff team! She expects to graduate from Cedar Crest in May, after which she will embark upon raising support for her ministry with DM.
Caleb and Kaylah Olshefsky
Caleb and Kaylah Olshefsky have reached their ministry funding goal! Reaching this milestone allows Caleb to step back into his role in DiscipleMakers’ headquarters just in time to help with preparations for our upcoming Fall Conference. Not to mention the arrival of their son, whom they expect later this fall!
“We’re so thankful for the Lord providing for our needs! He was faithful in the ups and downs of our support raising season,” Caleb said. “Now, we are eager to get back to work in DiscipleMakers’ Headquarters! Thanks so much to everyone who is praying for and supporting our ministry with DiscipleMakers!”
Praise God with us for His provision for Caleb and Kaylah’s ministry!
DiscipleMakers recently earned the Best Christian Workplaces award from the Best Christian Workplace Institute (BCWI). Using data gathered through employee surveys, BCWI assesses areas such as an organization’s integrity, transparency, compassion, and trust.
This award reflects DiscipleMakers’ Laborers core value, which states that the organization’s most valued resource is its missionaries.
BCWI’s mission is to “equip and inspire Christian leaders to build a flourishing workplace.” They believe Christian workplaces should be the best and most effective places of employment in the world.
“We want to encourage you and all your team to press on,” said Al Lopus, president of BCWI. “You are a witness to the world for Christ, not only in teaching and ministry, but also in how you serve and respect each other in a Christ-like manner.”
We invite you to be a part of making disciples on college campuses as we attempt to reach 25 campuses with disciple-making staff by 2025. Find out more at https://www.dm.org/careers/.
Taylor Kauffman
Taylor Kauffman has achieved her fundraising goal and will serve full time with DiscipleMakers on Penn State’s campus!
Taylor is eager to step onto campus now that she has reached this fundraising milestone. “God has given me a heart for college students and younger people, and DiscipleMakers just seems like the most effective place to minister,” said Taylor. “Seeing college students change as they study the Bible is exciting!”
Despite Taylor’s current excitement, she experienced a painfully slow start to her fundraising journey. The lull in funds lasted through April of this year, which left her feeling confused and discouraged. At the end of the month, Taylor spent a week with the Lord, praying and searching the Scriptures for answers. She meditated on passages like Romans 8 and Psalm 34. “I was wrestling with the Lord, like Jacob until the Lord blessed him,” Taylor said.
In just four days following her week of pleading with the Lord, God provided $1,000 of monthly support. He continued to supply the remaining amount of funds during Taylor’s last couple months of fundraising.
Taylor said she learned a lot about the Lord’s kindness toward humanity through raising funds. “The Bible says that the Lord’s kindness leads us to repentance. I had to repent of the mindset that I could do this all by myself. God’s kindness led me back to Him and helped me cry, ‘Abba, Father’—He is our Father, and He desires that relationship with us,” Taylor said.
Taylor’s experience with support raising has also impacted her ministry. She said that she has become more joyful and passionate about meeting people because God showed her, through support raising, that He is in charge of every situation and interaction.
As Taylor transitions to Penn State’s campus, she is specifically passionate about reaching internationals, as well as the marginalized and forgotten. As a Spanish major who recently graduated from Lebanon Valley College, she hopes to lead a Bible study for Hispanic students.
Praise God that He has cultivated within Taylor an increased passion to proclaim His name to all nations. Pray for Taylor’s continued reliance on the Lord and that what she learned about God’s kindness will aid her as she shares the gospel at Penn State!
DiscipleMakers earned its sixth consecutive 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, the largest and most-utilized independent charity evaluator. 4-stars is the highest rating Charity Navigator awards.
“Based on its 4-star rating, people can trust that their donations are going to a financially responsible and ethical charity when they decide to support DiscipleMakers,” said Michael Thatcher, Charity Navigator President and CEO.
Charity Navigator has awarded at least 6 consecutive 4-star evaluations to only 6% of the charities it evaluates. “DiscipleMakers outperforms most other charities in America. This designation sets DiscipleMakers apart from its peers and demonstrates to the public its trustworthiness,” said Thatcher.
“We have been entrusted with these resources from the Lord for the good of his people, so it’s only appropriate we be forthcoming as stewards,” said DiscipleMakers president Peter Krol. “Transparency is a useful habit to help us endure as honest and faithful stewards.”
DiscipleMakers’ rating and other information about charitable giving are available on Charity Navigator’s website.
Chris Ebersole has joined DiscipleMakers! He will soon graduate from East Stroudsburg University, where he connected with DM right away during his freshman year. He served as a summer intern in 2017.
“I was very attracted to the community right away," said Chris. “Over the past four years, I have met people from all walks of life who were all united around a common vision and love for Jesus Christ." This motivated Chris to consider joining DM after college. “Knowing all these people were going to graduate and go to every corner of the world helped me see how strategic the mission field of campus ministry is," Chris continued. “I wanted that to be my career."
Praise God for raising up Chris to serve on our staff team, and pray for him as he begins the journey of raising support full–time this summer for his ministry with DM.
Students and staff of the new DiscipleMakers student fellowship at Susquehanna University
The DiscipleMakers fellowship at Susquehanna University (SU) recently received official recognition from the university as a student organization. Becoming a recognized student group is a significant milestone in the growth of the group, which began in the fall of 2015 when DiscipleMakers first started sending staff to minister at Susquehanna.
As the Fall 2017 semester began, DM missionary Bria Griffin was leading a Bible study attended by a handful of students. She hoped to see a larger fellowship come together, but so far hadn’t connected with any students who seemed to share her vision for reaching the campus with the gospel. Bria and her teammates even considered pulling back from Susquehanna altogether to focus on students at other schools.
Then Bria and her teammate Zack Gugenheim met a student named Dani. Uncertain about the future of their ministry at SU, Bria and Zack asked Dani what she would want to see happen in terms of ministry at Susquehanna.
Her answer floored them. “I’ve been praying that God would connect me with people here who could help me learn to read the Bible and to lead others in Bible study,” she said. At the very moment the team was considering pulling back, God provided one student who had precisely the vision for ministry they’d been trying to inspire for two years!
Dani became a catalyst for growth in a re-energized SU fellowship. The group doubled in size, and during the spring semester Dani started leading her own Bible study. The DM staff team also gained another missionary, Steph Hartman, who helped reach out to more students. Right before spring break, Dani and the other students presented to SU’s student government and received official recognition for the fellowship.
Praise God with us for the opportunity to connect with students at Susquehanna! Pray that the students in the new fellowship would continue to grow in faith and that the fellowship itself would mature into a vibrant gospel community for students at Susquehanna.
James Osinski
We are happy to announce that James Osinski has reached his funding goal for his ministry with DiscipleMakers!
James' fundraising journey challenged him to step into the unknown. “My whole life – even through college – had been built around taking the safe route," James said. “So putting myself through the mission of support raising seemed to me to be a great risk."
God used a conversation with a prospective donor as a pivotal moment of encouragement along the way. “[The donor] cried when I told him what I was doing," James said. “Reaching out to the next generation with the gospel was something dear to his heart as well. We both realized, despite our different career paths, that we were on the same mission."
That mindset – knowing the mission was worth the risk – helped James persevere. Even more, he saw the Lord as the one constant in the midst of all the unknowns around him. “Knowing that the Lord was with me the whole time taught me a lesson I'll never forget."
James now looks to his next assignment, serving with DiscipleMakers' Lehigh Valley West Team. In a few weeks, he'll be moving into an apartment in Allentown to prepare for his ministry either at Kutztown University or Muhlenberg College. Pray for James as he continues to lean on the Lord, and praise God for leading him to this milestone!
Kate Wetzel
We are happy to report that Kate Wetzel has finished her full-time fundraising! Over the past ten months, Kate has been working hard, meeting with hundreds of people and casting vision for a ministry that she is excited to be a part of.
The process proved to be a real learning experience. “I realized how much the Lord brings the results," said Kate. “When the first few months of support raising were slow, I was easily frustrated. But the second half flew by, and I started to branch out into so many new networks, the Lord showed me how much He was going ahead of me and helping me meet the right people.”
Now, Kate is packing and preparing to move to State College, where she will serve as part of the Headquarters team. “I’m excited for my assignment in the HQ," Kate said. “I can use a lot of my experience to serve in a variety of departments. I get to care for the staff and donors that support all of our campus outreach efforts.”
Praise God for His faithfulness in helping Kate persevere and reach her support goal! Please pray for her over the next two weeks as she moves and begins her work in the Headquarters.
Taylor Kauffman
We're happy to report that Taylor Kauffman will serve on the Penn State campus team when she reaches her ministry funding goal!
“This is perfect!" said Taylor. “I served on this team during my internship, so I'm totally ready to continue the work of building relationships with the DM staff and students in State College."
Taylor is progressing well in her fundraising so far, now just over halfway to her ministry funding goal! Please pray for her as she works hard to raise the remaining funds she needs for her ministry with DiscipleMakers.
