Love means discipleship

The cornerstone of the Riverworks ministry is lives transformed by the Gospel. Discipleship is the key. Sometimes discipleship takes place in the local church and often it happens in the context of everyday life, the same way that Jesus taught his disciples, walking through life with them.

Sometimes discipleship takes place when we meet with a single-parent mom in her apartment for Bible study, or we take a teenager to McDonald’s and just invest in her life.

In all of these ways, we see God providing opportunities for the local church to engage in new ways.

We believe there are so many ways for you or your church congregation to enter into discipling relationships with families living in nearby under-resourced communities.

Starter ideas:

Prayer Team (2-4 hours per month):

These volunteers commit to spending at least one hour per week in prayer for the ministries of Riverwoods and Riverworks. Whether 15 minutes for four days or one hour one day, we want our ministry covered in prayer. Prayer team members may also be asked to pray for specific needs of specific students.

Contact Jay Curtis to get involved.

Opportunities for greater depths of discipleship

Shepherds (12-16 hours per month):

Put your arm around a kid and walk with him through life. Shepherds are individuals that meet regularly with students to encourage them, pray with them, support them, guide them and walk with them through life. Each shepherd will be connected with two teens of the same gender and asked to meet weekly with them for a time of sharing, prayer and Bible study. Shepherds are also expected to get to know families and support teens through the teaching of life skills, contact with teachers and guidance counselors, attendance at important events and daily prayer.

TNTers (15-20 hours per month):

These are small group leaders for our Tuesday evening TNT (Tuesday Nights Together) program. TNTers will guide a group of 5-7 youth each week through Bible study discussion, personal sharing times and times of prayer.

Contact Joel Jara to find out how to get involved.

even more ideas:

Lead a Bible study in the home of a mom in one of our Riverworks Communities.

Handy Man? Train up a young man to be a leader and servant by teaching him how to tackle household tasks. Doing projects together provides a great opportunity to spark interest in new skills and share your walk with Christ along the way.

Share your family night. Schedule a regular family night and incorporate other families in the community with yours. Perhaps a night of sledding, bowling, or swimming. Cook a meal together, have a picnic, or a make-your-own sundae party.

Take a small group of children fishing.

Invest in building genuine relationships with families in a community and invite them to be part of your church or small group.

Make dinner with a group of teenagers.

Help your church to extend the reach of your existing church ministry programs to include families from an under-resourced community nearby. This could include inviting parents to church with you, inviting parents to small groups, helping teenagers get connected with youth ministry, or young children engaged in weekly kids discipleship programs.

Go to a basketball game with your famliy and cheer for a teenager with one of our community families.

Write a letter of encouragement to a single parent mom, or spend an afternoon just listening to her story.

Contact your Community Coordinator to get involved.