July 26, 2026

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Category: Disciple-making

Desiring offspring
Disciple-making

Desiring offspring

In preparing for a new session that I will be teaching in our pre-field training, I have been struck by how prominent the theme of offspring is in the Scriptures. Barry Danylak in his book, A Biblical Theology of Singleness does a great job of showing how this motif is developed throughout the biblical revelation. Beginning with God’s command to be fruitful and multiply (Gen 1:28) and continuing with God’s promises to Abram that his offspring would be like the dust of the earth (Gen 13:16) and the blessings of no childlessness in the Mosaic covenant (Deut 7:14, 28:11), it is clear that children were the marks of God’s blessing in the Old Testament. Offspring carried on your name and gave you some hope for life after death. To be without children meant not experiencing God’s blessing and having no hope for the future.… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
What should we read to learn best practices in church planting?
Bible, Church Planting, Missiology

What should we read to learn best practices in church planting?

The Mission Round Table, Volume 13 #2 (May-August 2018) was titled, “To Make the Word of God Fully Known”: The Bible in Mission and the World. In the editorial Walter McConnell wrote: As in other matters, the Bible should be our final authority regarding mission and the church. Those of us who strive to be reflective practitioners of mission must make it our aim to base our thinking and work on God’s written Word as we present his living Word to the world so that all may have an opportunity to experience his blessings. To do this we must drench ourselves in God’s Word, saturating our thinking and practice with its message. Mission Round Table, vol.13, #2, p 3.… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
A Book Review: Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned way
Disciple-making, Theology, Book Reviews

A Book Review: Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned way

Catechesis is an ancient form of disciple-making. Though the term may seem strange to many Evangelicals, it has deep roots in church history and the Bible. J.I. Packer has teamed up with Gary A. Parrett (a Professor of Christian Education at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) in writing about catechesis in Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way, Baker Books, 2010. What is catechesis? Packer and Parrett define it as: Catechesis is the church’s ministry of grounding and growing God’s people in the Gospel and its implications for doctrine, devotion, duty, and delight. (Packer and Parrett, p.28)… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Books, Disciple-making, DMM, Islam, Missionary Roles, Spiritual Formation, Book Reviews, Contextualization, Insider Movements

Effective Discipling in Muslim Communities – a review

In the last number of years, many books have been published about how to engage and do evangelism among Muslim peoples. But few books address the specifics of how to help new believers from Muslim contexts grow in their faith while remaining in their Muslim communities and families. Given that some claim that up to 90% of converts from Muslim backgrounds reconvert back to Islam, discipleship and support of these converts is clearly a critical need in mission work among Muslim peoples. A few months ago, in this blog, I posted a review of Evelyn and Richard Hibberts’ “Walking Together on the Jesus Road: Intercultural Discipling.” Now, I would like to highlight another book in this same vein, speaking even more specifically to the challenges of disciple-making among Muslim peoples – Effective Discipling in Muslim Communities: Scripture, History and Seasoned Practices by Don Little. This book is one of those… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Why did Jesus prohibit his disciples from going to the least reached?
Training, Contextualization, Evangelism

Why did Jesus prohibit his disciples from going to the least reached?

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. – Matthew 10:5–6 Why did Jesus not send his disciples to Gentiles and Samaritans? The Gentiles were the people who knew the least about the true God. From a missiological standpoint, they were the least reached. The Samaritans knew something of the Law but were not accepted as genuine worshippers of the God of Israel. They were also unreached and proved to be among the most responsive to Jesus’ message. Among them, Jesus saw one of his greatest harvests (John 4:35-42). The Jews, on the other hand, had already received many opportunities to hear about God’s grace over the centuries past through the prophets and the Law of Moses. Many of them were very resistant to any message that would… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther6 mins read
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