Discipleship is for everyone
By Josh Jellel, SEND IO Asia Communications Coordinator, Taiwan —
Shanna thought she understood discipleship: that it was something for only really spiritually mature people to give and receive. That meant that it wasn’t for her.
Her story has a typical beginning. She grew up in Christian community surrounded by fellow believers. Throughout her teen years she participated in a few Bible studies but never really gave much thought to what it meant to be a disciple of Christ. Moving into her college years was the catalyst she needed to reconsider her solitary spiritual journey.
“After my freshman year, I took a year off to work in my hometown and work through spiritual doubt,” Shanna says. Her Christian community began to help unravel her misconceptions about discipleship.
“Thanks to some believing coworkers and a few women in my church, I felt loved and supported in the midst of my doubts. They never made me feel ashamed but always encouraged me to seek God.”
During this time, God presented his next step for this budding disciple: a life-changing trip to Asia with her church.
“I fell in love with the people and place. Also, through the love of those believers, I finally understood God’s great love for me. I wanted to come back to love on the people who had loved me so well,” Shanna says.
Through these experiences God was revealing to her that discipleship is for everyone.
“Discipleship is intentionally pouring into others to give them the tools to follow Christ closely and learn to disciple others,” she says. “That’s something for people of all spiritual walks!”
Inspired by her trip, when Shanna returned to college she sought out an opportunity to work with international students. Now, she had not only a strengthened faith, but a taste of working with people from other cultures; she could replicate in a cross-cultural context the discipling she had experienced in her Christian community.
Shanna returned to Asia this year for six months to continue her journey and help Asians who have never heard of Jesus start theirs. By becoming an intern in one of SEND International’s D Houses, she challenged herself to daily life in a foreign culture and language, while coming under the discipling mentorship of experienced missionaries in community with other interns. She chose the D House program because it would help her grow spiritually, deepen her Biblical foundation, and teach her how to contextualize the gospel in order to begin making new disciples among unreached peoples.
Through this experience, Shanna has not only developed a rich appreciation of discipleship, she is pushing well beyond the boundaries of the average Christian, and she encourages others to do the same. Don’t be afraid to initiate a discipling relationship, she says.
“It is worth the initial awkwardness of asking! God has designed us to need other people,” she says. “ You are blessed by being a disciple. You learn how to seek God and reach others more effectively. The person discipling you is also blessed as they rely on him in learning to teach you.
It’s not something I want to live without anymore.”
Be disciples. Make disciples. Let's do both, together.
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Choosing a Missions Organization: Why SEND International Stands Out “Why should I be a missionary through SEND International?” Jenna, a new missionary in Eastern Europe, shared with us what she appreciates about working with SEND. The highlights for her are: - Devotion to prayer - Diligence in communication - Commitment to development - Intentionality in accountability Prayer “Back in September of 2022, the Lord reconnected me with SEND after I had met them a year prior at the Moody Bible Institute. However, before he would sign me up for anything, my Missions Coach encouraged me to pray. He said something to the effect of, "I know that you've been praying on your own for a long time. But as the Church, we are not called to walk alone. So, you and I won't talk for about a month unless you have questions. I want you to go pray with 5 or 6 others from your church about where God is calling you." That October, more than 10 friends prayed with me and we saw God answer as He directed me to Romania. From February 2024 to November 2025, I had the pleasure of being a part of team meetings in Romania with my SEND colleagues. Our meetings were four hours long, two for prayer and two for business. This has been the minimum for our team. There are also prayer meetings with the local churches we partner with, among smaller groups within our team, of course prayer with many of you across the pond, including those at our US office. The organization was built, has been sustained, and continues to run on prayer. This is my favorite thing about SEND. Communication As I mentioned above, we have a two hour block for business / ministry details in each of our meetings. This provides consistency across our team which works alongside three different churches and in a variety of ministries. It also helps us to communicate about the need for change or growth, alongside what is working well. In addition, my team director also meets with each of us, allowing us to communicate needs, considerations, and prayer requests. I've also enjoyed getting to work with SEND workers outside of my immediate region . We receive emails with the minutes from the Europe leadership team, Friday communications from our international director, and information regarding projects that affect our work among the unreached. In December of 2024, our international director at the time wrote a note to my parents for the first Christmas that I was gone. If nothing else had convinced my mom yet, this did. He took the time to care for me, but also to care well for the parents that were sending me (What it meant to my dad and mom for him to do this well has been one of the greatest ways I've been supported.). I also have some pretty wonderful regional directors. These people have prayed alongside us (while also serving in their own countries of service), they have taken time to come visit and encourage our team, and they have also taken the time to encourage the people in our churches. Development SEND has provided much in the area of development and care (spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally). At our regional conference (every three years), there have been medical check ups available, counseling options, and time for connecting with others on the field with similar experience. At our conference last October, I connected with a missionary who served overseas for many years, and is now serving on the administrative side of SEND. She has met with me since then for mentorship and has also invested much of her time recently in preparing a retreat for the singles across Europe. Accountability Over the years I have read and heard amazing stories of how God has worked through missionaries. God has done great things and great things He is still doing! However, people who have committed their lives to the Lord in this way are not “super Christians”. We are still humans with the same struggle against flesh that others have . A major challenge is in being isolated -- living in areas with little to no presence of other believers to sharpen them can cause many difficulties. SEND has been a great resource in this area too. Through my team, I have an accountability partner that I meet with monthly. When my regional director came to visit, he and his wife spent a day with me and asked intentional questions about how I lead, handle conflict, and how I am growing in general as a Christian. In addition, my teammates share their wisdom with me on a regular basis. These things and more have assured me that SEND International is a highly valuable organization and I'm excited to partner with them in service to, for, and with our great God! Interested in being sent by SEND?
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