19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
But how do we accomplish this? The instructions of the Lord are meant for those who believe in Him to make disciples, so our first question is—what is a disciple? If you search for the term at Vocabulary.com, you'll find it means a student, learner, or follower. This Great Commission from the Lord Jesus is to teach people worldwide to observe what He commanded the early disciples. How do we educate them? At groupbiblestudy.com, we strive to fulfill this commandment by writing hundreds of Bible studies in English and engaging dedicated, capable individuals to translate them into twenty languages so far. All studies are mobile-friendly and available online for free download and printing in PDF format, or for reading on mobile devices. We aim for small group leaders and house churches to use them in their respective languages to reach cultures where we can't place a missionary.
But how do people find them? In my younger years as a commercial fisherman, I learned to use various methods and nets tailored to the specific fish and seabed conditions. We must adapt and innovate our techniques to meet people's needs and find the best net to reach those who are unreached in countries that are closed to Christian workers.
Every day, people search on their mobile phones for answers to life's big questions: Who is God? What happens when I die? Is there an afterlife? Who is Jesus Christ? Why did Jesus die? Does God love me? What is the proof of the resurrection? With the technology we use, we respond to the questions people pose to their search engines with a Bible study that answers every question—thousands of them worldwide, every day. Their inquiries come in many languages, and we provide a Bible study in their language that bypasses many of the censors in countries that are unfriendly to the Gospel. They can privately study the Word of God in their native language and print it out for use in small groups. We now have an average of 200,000 visitors per month to our written Bible studies, and our 105 teaching videos on YouTube have averaged three-quarters of a million views over the last 365 days, with most featuring subtitles in 70 languages. This is the impact of your support and prayers, reaching individuals in the farthest corners of the world and bringing them closer to the knowledge of God. The method we've described above is a net the Lord has placed before us to reach the multitudes perishing without ever hearing of our Savior.
There are 8 billion people on Earth, and it is estimated that 3.4 billion of them[1] have never heard of Christ. This staggering number should compel us to think of ways to multiply the harvest, not just win a few—we must think about winning a multitude and multiplying the harvest. We must go smaller to win more. Our goal is to equip people in their countries to start small discipleship groups. Jesus said that the workers are few, so we must pray and ask the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers into the fields. The urgency of this mission cannot be overstated.
Please pray that God will make our nets even larger so that Christ Jesus will be known worldwide. Keith Thomas
If any of you would like to invest your resources in partnering with us to make disciples, we have a non-profit ministry, Keith Thomas Ministries, which allows us to provide a contribution record for tax purposes at the end of the year. Your support, whether through prayers or financial contributions, is crucial to our mission. There’s a place to donate at the bottom of the website of groupbiblestudy.com