Cedarville Magazine, Fall 2019

belt and a renewed pursuit of the Lord on campus, Joel eagerly embraced the opportunity to use his education and experience to continue making disciples. Then along came Cameron, a young Christian who had much to learn about his new life in Christ. As Cameron sought a mentor, a mutual friend introduced him to Joel. Through consistent meetings studying the Bible and walking through life together, Cameron grew in the faithfulness Joel modeled. After a few years of growth, Cameron then embraced the role of disciple-maker as a small-group leader and an avid encourager to students receptive to the Word of God. Discipleship on the go bears the fruit of multiplication. ACROSS CULTURES Sarah was an international student who grew steadily in her pursuit of Christ and involvement with other international and missionary students on campus. By her senior year, Sarah was active in the international student organization, MuKappa, leading the way for younger students. Abigail grew up in Spain and t r ans f e r r ed t o Ceda r v i l l e a s a sophomore. She was drawn to Sarah’s friendliness and welcoming spirit. Even though it was Sarah’s final year on campus and her friend group was established, it did not stop her from extending the effort to get to know Abigail. Her final semester before graduation, Sarah continued to invest deeply in Abigail through spiritual conversations, including bringing Abigail along in Sarah’s own journey of experiencing God’s faithfulness in the uncertainty of life. Sarah’s influence still continues from India while Abigail finishes her education at Cedarville. Sarah’s discipleship efforts in turn provided Abigail a vision to prioritize others in her life and to love them through s e r v i ng and mak i ng d i s c i p l e s , particularly among international and missionary students. Discipleship on the go bears the fruit of multiplication. 1,000-DAY DISCIPLESHIP CYCLE Each of the testimonies above are a portrait of the 1,000-day discipleship cycle we witness each year in the student body at Cedarville University. Freshmen enter the University and are challenged to become consistently growing disciples of Jesus. As they return for their sophomore year, the vision we cast is for them to deepen in maturity and serve others as established disciples. Through continual investing, a student’s junior year is marked by becoming a disciple-maker, which means pursuing expanded personal growth and seeking to influence others. Ultimately, by a student’s senior year, they are often serving as disciple- multipliers in our community, as they continue to follow faithfully and equip other disciple-makers who have arisen through their previous faithfulness. The discipleship cycle is aimed at launching students into the world with a commission to proclaim the Gospel and raise up disciples in their local churches. The God-designed horizon for discipleship is the multiplication of followers of Jesus for the glory of God in the local church. Our ambition is that learning discipleship on the go during 1,000 days on campus bears the fruit of multiplication for a lifetime. Jon Wood is Vice President for Student Life and Christian Ministries and Assistant Professor of Theological Studies. He earned his Ph.D. in systematic theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Cedarville Magazine | 13