Mentoring - Discipleship for Believers

Imagine a church where everyone has a personal mentor – and at the same time, everyone is also a mentor to one or more people.
This is what discipleship is about: We do not walk our faith journey alone but encourage and support each other.
On the following pages, you will find a guide for people who are new to the faith. But how does discipleship work for those who are already believers?
We want to build mentoring structures to facilitate this.
How does it work?
You meet regularly with a leader or a Christian friend. This is not just about teaching but about living the faith together.

• You can share your worries and questions, and your mentor will pray for you.
• You have the opportunity to confess sins, and your mentor can pronounce forgiveness over you.
• Together, you determine the next step in your faith journey.
• At your next meeting, you can talk about how you managed to achieve your goal. Afterwards, you can firmly integrate it into your life in the coming weeks and set yourself a new goal.

This next step can be a small personal challenge. You can use the four points of our vision as a guide:
Seek God – Study the Bible – Live Discipleship – Preach the Gospel

Concrete Steps
These four points help you regularly reflect on your own faith and set new goals. Here are some examples:

1. Seek God

• What does your prayer life look like? Plan to dedicate time to prayer daily.
• If you already pray regularly, consider deepening your prayer time – e.g., 30 minutes daily or three times a day for 20 minutes each.
• Practice listening to God's voice in silence. Write down Bible verses or images that come to mind.
• If you have a special gift in prayer, commit to practicing it daily.
• Choose a specific type of prayer to focus on, such as worship, intercession for family, friends, or church leadership.

2. Study the Bible

• How do you engage with God’s Word? Consider setting goals like:
• Reading one or more chapters daily.
• Writing down insights from your reading.
• Praying through Scripture and integrating it into your personal prayers.
• Memorizing a Bible verse every week.

3. Live Discipleship

• Ask the Holy Spirit daily for guidance in your life.
• Consider how you can apply Jesus' teachings in your everyday life.
• Find a mentor to regularly reflect on your faith journey.
• Set specific goals to take deliberate steps in faith.
• Pray for God to show you someone to mentor in their faith.
• Meet regularly with a disciple, pray for them, and encourage them in their faith.

4. Preach the Gospel

• How do you fulfill Jesus’ command to make disciples?
• Be ready at all times to share the gospel.
• Regularly invite people to your church or participate in evangelistic outreach.
• Walk through your daily life with open eyes and a prayerful heart, ready to talk about Jesus.
• Practice sharing your personal testimony of how God has changed your life.

These are many points, but it’s not about fulfilling rules—it’s about experiencing that faith means growth. We’ve listed just a few examples; you can set similar or completely different goals for yourself. Mentoring is there to help you—often, we set goals but struggle to follow through. Together, we experience the strength and motivation to take real steps forward.
If you have a mentor with whom you meet regularly, you can start praying about whom you could mentor in faith. If it’s someone new to the faith, you can go through the four steps of discipleship school together in your meetings. If they have been a Christian for a longer time, simply do what you do with your own mentor. If you have any questions or uncertainties, feel free to talk to a church leader at any time.

Discipleship means growing in faith together—and encouraging others to do the same. Are you ready to take the next step?