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The Leadership Development Workshop 2015 was held in Chicago from November 5-7, 2015. Through the prayer of many brothers and sisters throughout the world, God blessed this workshop abundantly and there was a mighty work of the Holy Spirit. The theme, participants and atmosphere were as follows:

Theme: “Growing in a Christ-Centered Life.” It was the second year of a three year program dedicated to discipleship.

The overall title is: “Make Disciples of All Nations: Follow Me.” Based on Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 3:13-15 a three year program was developed.

Last year’s title was “Follow Me (I): Calling and Commitment.” The sub-topics covered were: 1) “Who is a Disciple?” 2) “Calling—Finding a New Life Direction,” 3) “Jesus’ Purpose in Calling his Disciples,” 4) “How to Be with Jesus through his Word,” 5) “How to Be with Jesus through Prayer and Worship,” 6) “The Cost and the Blessings of Following Jesus.”

This year’s title was “Follow Me (II): Growing in a Christ-Centered Life.” The sub-topics were: 1) “Followership,” 2) “Character Formation,” 3) “Servant Leadership,” 4)  “Lordship,” 5) “Participating in Jesus’ Suffering and Glory,” 6) “The Holy Spirit and Discipleship.”

Next year’s title is: “Make Disciples of All Nations: Sent to Preach, Drive out Demons, Baptize, and Teach.” The sub-topics will be: 1) “Identity as Sent Ones: Personally and in Community,” 2) “Mindset in Ministry: Humility, Faith, Compassion, Hope,” 3) “Preaching and Baptizing,” 4) “Teaching to Obey: Personally, and in Community,” 5) “Incarnational Ministry across Cultures and Generations,” 6) “Spiritual Warfare: Authority to Drive out Demons.”

Participants: Eighteen UBF leaders participated in this workshop from beginning to end. We divided into six groups, one for each sub-topic as follows: (Philip Lee, Juan Seo, Ron Ward), (Teddy Hembekides, Abraham McIlhenny, Andrew Christopher), (Paul Choi, David Kim, Abraham Kim), (Mark Yang, Steve Stasinos, Moses Noh), (Kevin Albright, David Won, David K. Lee), (Augustine Suh, Andy Stumpf, and Joshua Hong). In the months of August, September and October, they met in small groups of three each as frequently as possible and researched their sub-topics. After researching, each group prepared a presentation which they shared before the united gathering of all members.

Atmosphere: For many years we have tried to create an atmosphere of friendship in which we can build up our trust relationships. We have sought to mutually encourage one another to strengthen and enhance disciple raising. But it was not natural for us and we had been uncomfortable. However, this time we seemed to experience a breakthrough. After each presentation, lively discussion followed. Each attendant freely commented based on their understanding of the Bible and their personal experience as disciple-makers. Many heart-moving testimonials were given and many acknowledged their weak points as well as their strong points. It was a deeply genuine heart-to-heart discussion among committed brothers. It was a time of sincere repentance, as well as mutual encouragement. All who participated were edified and strengthened and newly equipped to engage in raising disciples of Jesus Christ among college students in North America. After the workshop, one participant wrote this: “Dear LDW coworkers, I thank God for his abundant blessing upon our LDW in Chicago for the past few days. On the way home I thought I was truly blessed to serve God’s ministry with such committed and pure servants of God like you. I really enjoyed all the presentations/discussions/comments and fellowship, and learned a lot. I pray that we may continue to work together harmoniously to produce valuable materials that God can use for his purpose.” As a result of such prayerful and spirited exchange, each sub-topic document will be improved so that the published result will reflect discipleship in a healthier way.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to God for his grace and power manifest among us and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit from beginning to end. We thank God for the prayerful guidance of P. Abraham Kim, and for the labor of the Education Committee members to support and serve this workshop. We thank God for the prayer support and comments of Mother Sarah Barry and the assistance of Anna Yang. We thank God for Russell Kille, Greg Lewis and Stephen Yang. Although they were unable to attend in person, they made significant contributions in the preparation stage. We thank God for Dr. Jose Ahn, P. David Baik, Dr. Henry Park, and Dr. Paul Koh, who attended as senior staff representatives, as well as Elder David Choi, who all contributed greatly to this workshop. We thank God for the service of M. Sarah Kim, Faith Grady, Deborah Lim, Deborah Yang, Monica Suh, Hannah Yoo, and other sacrificial women who served with prayer and delicious and nutritious meals. We thank God for M. Elijah Park’s humble and invaluable service in many ways.

Please pray for the successful completion of the workshop in 2016 and the publication of a disciple raising manual which can be helpful for brothers and sisters throughout the UBF ministry, as well as others who seriously want to engage in raising disciples of Jesus Christ.

Ron Ward