After we've encouraged life-changing discipleship, we need to develop multiplying leaders.
To change the world, we need to develop people who think beyond themselves: leaders with an eye to tomorrow, who see to it that someone else begins to lead.
To change their world, leaders must want more than just to have followers. They must want to create leaders. They must want to multiply themselves. When that happens, the entire body of Christ benefits.
These leaders will eventually take the tools they learn and begin to affect their campuses, communities and countries for eternity. Daily, leaders in business and government make influential decisions that reverberate through society. How different our world would be if those decisions were being made by men and women who were truly following Jesus.
Through Cru's Adult Professional Ministries (Christian Embassy, Executive Ministries, Here's Life Inner City, Life Builders, Military Ministry and Priority Associates), we are asking God to turn lost men and women into Christ-centered leaders.
All around the world, God is using Cru to train leaders.
Sadee Van Ruler's 6 years on the campus of Indiana University as a staff member with Cru prepared her for her time in Freiburg, Germany, where she and her husband trained young leaders, equipping them to train others.
In 11 months, Sadee met with 4 women who will be raising up the next generation of leaders in Freiburg. One is prepared to train new staff members as Sadee did. Another is pursuing her graduate degree in counseling in hopes to use it in Germany. A third stayed to serve among students for a second year. And a fourth has since become a Cru staff member with plans to return fulltime to Freiburg.
"I get excited to see them living out the gospel and seeing them lead others to live out the gospel," says Sadee.
Emilio Kariuki was the principal of a small Bible college in the Kiambu district of Kenya when he discovered how to tell others about Jesus in a way that inspires them to do the same. He learned it at the Nairobi International School of Theology (NIST), a ministry of Cru, and Emilio immediately challenged 7 of his Bible-college students to follow this model.
He was amazed at the results.
One of Emilio's students went to a local boys' home, where 10 young men received Christ. Then he began training the 10 in how to tell others about Jesus. That day, 12 other boys from the home gathered around them-and 11 of them received Christ.
All 7 students in Emilio's original group formed groups to mentor new believers, and one student is planting a church outside the capital city of Nairobi. Emilio explains discipleship now with the expectation that each person will instruct someone else. He brings in people from Cru to teach this at his school.
That's multiplying leadership.
Next week, we conclude our 4-part series "How Can We Change Our World?" with Part 4: Equip People to Be Self-Sustaining.
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