Apprentices on Mission
- Bekah Querfeld
- Jul 28
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 25
When I hear the word apprentice, the medieval village comes to mind. You have an apprentice carpenter, blacksmith, or cobbler who works, learns, and lives life alongside of a tradesman to learn their craft. A blacksmith teaches their apprentice how to stoke the fire, shows them how to know when a metal is hot enough to work with, and models what these best practices look like. The apprentice learns from the direct instruction, but he also learns by watching and spending time with the master. He hears the tone of voice and phrasing used when dealing with an unruly customer, and he notices the priorities that the master holds as he chooses what to do and what to leave undone each day.
Discipleship in God's kingdom looks a lot like a medieval apprenticeship. A seasoned saint walk alongside of a raw one, and through direct teaching, modelling, and through life-osmosis. This summer I've become more and more aware of God's design for disciple-making and its similarity to an apprenticeship.
Equipping through Writing:
In May, a friend from seminary reached out asking if I would help her with a ministry she is running through her church. Her church, Central Bible Church in Dallas, TX, runs a website called Next Step Disciple that hosts resources on Christianity, apologetics, and even equipping sources for pastors and ministry leaders. She asked if I would consider volunteer writing for the website when I am able.
Since then I've been able to contribute two articles discussing a theology of children and how God uses and values children as special members of His kingdom. I took time to advocate for children and youth and the fact that God can in fact use them for His kingdom purposes because of their innocence, boldness, and trust in Him. Little did I know that these truths would be ones that God would reiterate to me the rest of the summer.
Youth Missions Trip to Pittsburgh:
In June, Phil lead a group of teens for our church on a missions trip to Pittsburgh. There were three leaders (myself included), and eight teens that went for a week. It was a multi-church trip, meaning that we were one of five youth groups in attendance, and our kids were eight out of seventy. During the trip, we stayed in an older Methodist church in the city, sleeping on air mattresses and showering at the Y in assigned slots. It also ended up being one of the hottest weeks of the summer. However, even though it wasn't the most comfortable at points, it was incredible to see God at work.
As much as the trip pushed many of our kids out of their comfort zones, all of our students stepped up to the challenge. Some of our students are very mature in their faith, while others are still trying to figure out how much they want Jesus to be part of their lives, but they know they are loved and safe in the youth group. The teens were split into work groups with a mixture of teens from different churches, and so our students went to a range of work sites. Some worked with a kids summer program in the community, some worked with WorldVision sorting donations, some worked at a Habitat for Humanity Restore helping organize the office, and some worked with a small church doing yard work and general maintenance.
Our youth group has a tradition on mission trips called High-Low-Buffalo-Jesus. Each evening after they had a chance to share their high (the highlight of the day), their low (the most challenging part of the day), their buffalo (the weirdest, silliest, or funniest part of their day), and their Jesus moment (where they saw Jesus most clearly throughout their day). It brought so much joy to our hearts to see our teens processing all that God is doing in their own hearts but also in the hearts of the people they served and served with.
We watched as some of our students clearly stepped up as student leaders and pushed those around them towards Jesus, both in our youth group and in others. These teens are ones who we have been pouring into each week for the past three years, and it was such a joy seeing how God has been working in their lives to grow and shape them into being like Christ.
Topsy Turvy Kingdom: Vacation Bible School 2025
In July, our church hosted a Vacation Bible School with the theme of "Topsy Turvy Kingdom." We talked through how Jesus is a king that is different than any other king, but the things that make him different are the things that make him better. As such, we decorated the church to look like a medieval kingdom, but with some things that were different that made it better. For example, we had a dragon in the lobby, but he breathed cotton candy instead of fire. We had a castle on stage, but the towers were topped with mint chocolate chip ice cream cones instead of the typical turrets. There was a moat leading to the castle, but it was full of bubbles and rubber ducks instead of scary monsters.
During the Bible time, we recognized Jesus as the special king that was promised to King David, and we saw how the wise men recognized and were surprised by the baby king who was the fulfillment of the prophecies. We looked at how Jesus loves everyone, and while the Israelites expected him to hate and overthrow the Romans, instead he healed the centurion's servant and recognized the centurion as a true citizen of his kingdom. On the third day, we looked at the crucifixion and how the powerful King Jesus freely gave up his life for our sins. He was mocked and killed for claiming to be the promised king, but he chose to accept the death instead of proving them wrong so he could save us. Finally, we looked at how Jesus chose us to tell others about him through the Great Commission and the empowering of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Over a hundred children came, and the majority of them were not from our church. The gospel was unashamedly shared, and several families have started coming to our church because of VBS.
In the Elementary Bible room, I had the joy of coaching a youth group graduate in planning and teaching a Bible lesson. He did an incredible job! After the Bible lesson, the children would break out into small groups and have application discussions with a small group leader, many of whom were teenagers from our youth group. It was such a joy to see God use our teens to share His gospel and make "apprentices" of their own.
Even the children themselves were exploring what it means to be a disciple-maker. One child approached me mid-week to make sure that a friend and neighbor of hers who doesn't know Jesus was also at VBS, so we both agreed to pray that this friend would come to know and love Jesus. It filled my heart to see God so clearly at work in the heart of a second grader.
Contemplations:
God is at work in the next generation of His church, and I am so grateful that He allows us, His followers, to be part of that work. It may not involve a forge and a hammer, but it's just as hard of work and all the more rewarding.
Prayers and Praises:
Partnership Development (Support-Raising):
Praise God that I am up to 25% funding! God has been faithfully bringing partners to be who are committed to pray and provide as I'm on this journey
Pray that God will continue to make His will clear throughout this process.
Pray that God will lead me to those He has planned for me to partner with.
Youth:
Praise God for how He pushed our students to grow on the mission trip!
Pray for our youth and college students at Calvary Baptist who are exploring their spiritual gifts and making their faith their own.
Pray that God will draw our students to Himself, including those who have yet to embrace His gift of salvation.
VBS:
Praise God for a successful VBS and all that He did in the lives of the kids and leaders!
Pray for the children who attended VBS that God will reach their hearts with the gospel, or push them to know and love Him more.
Pray for the families who have started coming to the church that they will grow in their relationship with the Lord.
Current Support: 25% |
Comments