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Discipleship Curriculum

Preparing for Your Life’s Mission

Tools and devotionals for abiding in Christ. The discipleship curriculum we use to prepare students for a week on the mission field, and for a lifetime of knowing God and making Him known.

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The book Preparing for Your Life’s Mission by Will Richmond
A student reading her Bible at a table during a mission trip
Our Heartbeat

Across the globe, or across the street.

Our heartbeat is to disciple students, even as we bless the nations. A short-term mission trip is one of the best classrooms there is, so we wrote a curriculum to make the most of it.

Some of your students will grow up to cross cultures with the Gospel. Others will cross the street. Either way, every one of them has the same life’s mission: to love God and make Him known. This curriculum is built to prepare them for it.

“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”

Colossians 1:28

What’s Included

One Curriculum, Three Pieces

The goal is twofold: to prepare students spiritually, relationally, and practically for a short-term mission trip, and to disciple them into a lifelong posture of abiding in Christ and making Him known. Students, leaders, and the trip itself all work from the same plan.

The front cover of Preparing for Your Life’s Mission on a wooden bench
For every student

Student Book

Preparing for Your Life’s Mission: Tools and Devotionals for Abiding in Christ. The heart of the curriculum. Each lesson moves from a devotional posture of abiding in Christ to practical tools students can use on the trip and for the rest of their lives.

Inside

  • A pre-lesson Abide Time for every lesson
  • Teaching on prayer, spiritual gifts, testimony, the Church, and culture
  • Practical tools to live out each truth
The cover of a Trip Journal: Heart of Worship
On the field

Student Journal

The companion students carry on the trip. It is where they reflect, write down what God is teaching them, and plan the one next step they will take when they get home.

Inside

  • Guided Abide Times for every day of the trip
  • Know-before-you-go resources about your ministry location
  • Packing list, clothing guidelines, team photo album, and trip map
The cover of the Leader’s Guide
For your leaders

Leader’s Guide

Everything a teacher or youth leader needs to lead impactful team meetings, with no seminary degree required. Use it as written, or make it your own to fit your group.

Inside

  • The vision and purpose behind the training
  • A ready-to-run lesson plan for every team meeting
  • Warm-ups, discussion summaries, and team-building activities
The Lessons

Nine Lessons. One Life’s Mission.

Heart, God’s Word, prayer, spiritual gifts, testimony, the Church, culture, the Great Commission, and finances: the building blocks of a mature believer. Whether a student barely knows Jesus or has walked with Him for years, every lesson helps them gain new ground. Each one follows the same rhythm.

  • Abide Timeto abide in Christ and hear from the Spirit
  • Instructionto grow in a key part of the faith
  • Toolsto use on the trip, and for life
  1. 1
    Preparing Your HeartAbiding in Christ, and holding expectations loosely.
  2. 2
    Preparing to Raise FundsTrusting God to provide, and inviting others in.
  3. 3
    Your Tools: God’s WordReading, studying, and living the Scriptures.
  4. 4
    Your Tools: PrayerAsking boldly, and listening well.
  5. 5
    Your Tools: Spiritual GiftsHow God has uniquely equipped each student.
  6. 6
    Your Tools: Your TestimonyTelling the story of what Jesus has done.
  7. 7
    Preparing to Be a TeamThe Body of Christ, serving together.
  8. 8
    Crossing Cultures: The Big PictureGod’s heart for every nation.
  9. 9
    Crossing Cultures: You’re UpLoving people well where God sends you.
A page from the Leader’s Guide: Team Meeting 1, Preparing Your Heart
For Your Leaders

Inside a Team Meeting

Your trip leader doesn’t have to build anything from scratch. Every team meeting in the Leader’s Guide follows the same simple flow, and pairs with a lesson in the Student Book.

  1. Team building & warm-up 5–20 minA quick hook, or a tried-and-true activity that builds trust.
  2. Group lesson discussion 15 minKey points plus three questions, one of them yours to choose.
  3. Practicing your tools 15–20 minA hands-on workshop with one tool from the lesson.
  4. Team prayer optional, 5 minPraying together along the week’s theme.
  5. Logistics 15 minField ministry prep, trip details, and next week’s assignment.
Make it your own. You are the leader of this trip, and this is your training.
  • Double the lessons into a class
  • Reduce or combine them for a short timeline
  • Swap in your own questions and tools
  • Rearrange the order to fit your trip
Will Richmond
Written by a Pastor and Missionary

About the Author

Will Richmond wrote Preparing for Your Life’s Mission from years of ministry and his own walk with God. He holds a Master of Divinity from Corban University, served as a youth pastor, and lived in Southeast Asia as a missionary to an unreached people group. Today he leads GO Serve’s outreach, equipping students to take new ground in their faith.

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