Obedience is Contagious
Joleene's small act of obedience to prayer walk her neighborhood led to a series of events that led to three baptisms and a daughter seeking Jesus.
Meeting a Neighbor By Prayer Walking
Two years ago, I went prayer walking with my friend Laura. As we talked our neighborhood, we asked God to help us meet our neighbors. Then we bumped into a woman named Irene who was walking with her husband and their dog. We discovered that Irene and her family were our new neighbors who had just moved in 2 weeks ago! It turned out they had a young daughter who was the same age as ours. We immediately said, "We should set up a play date with our daughters!" Irene was excited because she wanted to help her kids make friends.
Three Baptisms After Irene's First Discovery Study!
At the time, I was facilitating a Discovery Bible Study with Laura and some others. Unprompted by me, Laura invited Irene, who wasn't a believer, to our DBS, and she showed up! Ideally I would have had Laura start a new DBS with Irene and her friends so we could
see multiplication. But even though I rarely do things perfectly, God still uses it for good! We read the story of the Ethiopian eunuch who, after reading Isaiah with Phillip, asked if he could be baptized on the spot. After reading, I asked the group, "What could we do to obey this passage?"
"I need to give my life to Jesus," Irene said, "and I need to get baptized!"
Her bold obedience led two other women in the group, including Laura, to commit to be baptized as well! I had been asking them to obey the passages about baptism over and over, and this was the first time they made the decision! All three women were baptized within a few weeks.
Irene's Daughter Came with Questions About Jesus
Now that Irene was a baptized believer, I urged her to start a Discovery Group with her own husband and children. However, for about 6 months, she always got cold feet and came up with reasons it wouldn't work out. Even so, she did well with sharing the Bible stories with her daughters. One day, out of the blue, Irene's daughter, Chelsea, texted me from her mom's phone saying, "Hello, this is Chelsea. I just came back from a Christian summer camp, and I really enjoyed it." Her mother Irene had told me Chelsea was going to a summer camp put on by the church they started attending on their own after we starting doing DBS together. To my surprise, her husband—very much a non-believer—was attending with them! Chelsea's text continued: "I did not have many opportunities to ask the questions I wanted answered. So I was wondering if you had any time tomorrow to speak with me about my questions pertaining to Christianity. Thank you." Wow. I was so surprised. I always saw Chelsea as a shy girl. She would sometimes come along to the Discovery Group meetings with her mom. So, she was aware of how I've been discipling her mom, but she hadn't engaged much yet.
"Sure, Chelsea!" I replied, "Come on over and we can talk."
To be continued! Stay tuned for part two of the story.
Lessons Learned
Obedience is contagious. It all started with Joleene's obedience to go prayer walking with her friend which led to meeting Irene. Then Irene's obedience to trust Jesus and be baptized led the other women to follow suit. All along, Chelsea was able to observe her mother's newfound faith and hear the stories from Scripture from her as well. That led Chelsea to seek Jesus herself! You can't control how God works. And sometimes it looks different than you expect. Joleene was a little disappointed that Laura invited Irene to their existing DBS rather than starting a new one with Irene, because that could have helped multiplication happen. However, God had different plans in mind. He used Irene to spark obedience in the women at Joleene's DBS to be baptized! In addition, Joleene never told Irene that she and her family had to attend church. Irene chose to bring her family to church on her own volition as an expression of her faith in God. That decision helped bring Chelsea into an environment at summer camp that caused her to seek Jesus!
10 Families Join Joleene on the DMC Summer Missions Initiative!
Joleene, along with 10 other families in San Diego, California, have committed to engage the lost, pray together, make disciples, and celebrate stories this summer! They are excited to use their regular fun summer activities to build relationships with their neighbors. Discover what led them to this decision and why you should join the initiative with your community as well! Contact us at team@contagiousdisciplemaking.com by clicking below or watch our video if you want to learn more and start a team in your area!
The piece on obedience is contagious explored how behavior spreads within groups, with examples from everyday life and research. I found the discussion of social cues quite compelling. Reading the section about people mirroring actions in waiting rooms, I was reminded of idle moments spent scrolling on my phone, and a relative once mentioned xx88 while talking about casual online habits. I only heard the name briefly. The article made me reflect on how subtly we influence each other.
Bài viết với tiêu đề về sự lan truyền của việc tuân thủ khiến tôi nghĩ đến cách hành vi của một người có thể ảnh hưởng đến cả nhóm. Tôi đọc qua và thấy luận điểm khá thú vị. Trong lúc đọc, tôi nhớ đến việc mình từng nghe nhắc đến EE88 trong một cuộc trò chuyện về game bài đổi thưởng, chỉ là một cái tên thoáng qua, không để lại ấn tượng gì. Tôi không phải người dùng và cũng không có nhu cầu tìm hiểu. Điều tôi chú ý là việc môi trường xung quanh thường tác động đến lựa chọn của mình nhiều hơn mình tưởng, và bài viết nhắc lại điều đó.
Bai viet ve y tuong su vang loi co the lan truyen dat ra mot nhan xet thu vi ve hanh vi cua con nguoi. Toi hieu dieu nay khong phai luc nao cung dung cho moi tinh huong, nhung cach tac gia dua ra vi du lam van de de hinh dung. Luc doc, toi nho mot lan nghe nhac den 89BET trong boi canh game bai doi thuong, vi nhung thoi quen nho cung co the bi anh huong boi nguoi xung quanh. Toi chua co trai nghiem rieng de ket luan. Bai viet khien toi nghi nhieu hon ve anh huong cua tap the.
Tiêu đề về việc sự vâng lời có tính lây lan nghe khá đơn giản, nhưng bài viết khiến tôi nghĩ đến ảnh hưởng của tập thể lên lựa chọn cá nhân. Khi một người làm theo, người khác dễ xem đó là tín hiệu an toàn và tiếp tục làm theo mà không suy xét nhiều. Tôi từng nghe người quen nói họ chơi Sunwin theo bạn bè, cũng vì tâm lý tương tự, dù tôi chưa có trải nghiệm riêng. Điều đáng chú ý ở đây là trách nhiệm cá nhân vẫn còn đó, ngay cả khi áp lực từ số đông rất mạnh.
The idea that obedience can spread through a group was presented with interesting examples from everyday settings. I liked the discussion of subtle social cues rather than strict authority. While reading the part about people mirroring each other in waiting rooms, I was reminded of how idle moments often lead to casual phone games, and I recall hearing the name Sunwin in a chat about game bai doi thuong so I took a brief look without exploring further. The article made me notice small behaviors I usually overlook.