Discipleship School

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    The discipleship school is the heartbeat of Cultivate Discipleship. Our hope is to equip, mentor, and disciple those who join our yearly discipleship program so that they will continue to pass what they have learned onto others. We desire to see our students disciple others within their churches and communities, as they continue to deepen their faith in the Lord. 

    Our year-long curriculum is comprised of 12 weeks of classroom learning, meeting in discipleship groups (small groups), community outreach, and practical training in Farming God’s Way. Students join us for one week every month throughout the entire year, allowing deeper relationships to form as we disciple and walk alongside each other. 

Curriculum Overview & Weekly Themes

Week 1 - DMM, DBS, Introduction to FGW

Week 2 - Discipleship and obedience 

Week 3 - Studying the Bible

Week 4 - Teaching

Week 5 - Servant leadership and fruits of the spirit

Week 6 - God the father and the fathers heart

Week 7 - Life of Christ

Week 8 - The church, Holy Spirit and spiritual warfare

Week 9 - Evangelism 

Week 10 - Counseling 

Week 11 - Church ministry 

Week 12 - Family, finances and review

    Whenever we can, we incorporate as many hands-on and tangible ways of learning. One highlight is having our students volunteer to do a trust fall. It proves to be an excellent ice breaker and gives way to great discussion afterwards. We use various object lessons, team building exercises, games, drama, and collaborative learning when applicable, to create memorable experiences throughout the year. During family week (week 12), our students are encouraged to bring their spouse to join us for the first half of the week. We invite spouses to join us in the classroom teaching on family and marriage, discussion of the 5 love languages, and prepares a date night (dinner and games) to spark deeper connection and discussions as a couple. 

Daily & Weekly Schedule

    While each of the twelve weeks focuses on a variety of different themes, the weekly and daily schedule is the same. There is daily time spent practically learning the Farming God’s Way method, working alongside each other in our expansive gardens. This also proves to be a wonderful time for relationship building and mentoring as we do the hard work of cultivating the beautiful land we have been entrusted with. Along with practically learning this Biblical way to farm (and producing more harvest than the local method), the food grown is what our students eat while they are here. We have also been able to help with various food distributions and outreach for those in need. 

Our daily schedule is as follows: 

6:45 - 7:00 am - Morning Devotions 

7:00 - 9:00 am - Working in the garden

9:00 - 10:00am - Breakfast

10:00 - 1:00 pm - Session 1 & 2 

1:15 - 2:00 pm - Lunch & break 

2:00 - 4:00pm - Session 3/ DMM groups

4:00 - 7:00 pm - Break

7:00 - 8:00pm - Dinner

8:00 - 9:00 pm - Evening fellowship *

* Most days, the time for evening fellowship includes gathering for devotions, prayer, and worship. However, certain nights of the week are set aside for watching an episode of The Bible Series, as well as watching one movie (related to the theme of the week). 

    On Tuesday afternoons, our staff and students disperse into the community of Koch Goma for evangelism and outreach. Once students have connected with community members willing to host a DMM group at their home, that afternoon is spent with their discipleship groups. Along with the Tuesday afternoon outreach, we welcome the surrounding community to join us for a game of soccer. It’s another way to connect with our village and offer a place and potential for relationship building and discipleship. 

The Discipleship Making Movement 

Incorporated into our curriculum and discipleship groups (aka. Discovery Groups), is the use of DMM (Discipleship Making Movement) materials. The Discovery Group method uses seven questions as a format and rhythm for each small group gathering: 

1. What are you thankful for?
2. What are you struggling with/ stressed by? (How about your family, friends, neighbors?)

Read/ Review a passage or story from the Bible

3. What did this teach us about God?

4. What did this teach us about ourselves/ humans?

5. What do you need to apply to your life/ obey?

6. Is there some way we could apply this as a group?

7. Who are you going to share this with?

The beauty of this method, is that it anyone in the group can lead and as the group discusses Biblical passages, the group is discovering God together. Sharing the gospel and living lives of deep faith is what we hope to be passed on. When a Discovery group grows, it can break into smaller groups and begin the process again. Through using DBS (Discover Bible Study) method, we are encouraged to grow deeper in our faith through accountability and introduce the Word of God in a practical and tangible way to those in need of a Savior.