Effective Insider Discipling: Helping Arab World Believers From Muslim Backgrounds Persevere And Thrive In Community

Someone recently emailed me a DMin Thesis titled, “Effective Insider Discipling: Helping Arab World Believers From Muslim Backgrounds Persevere And Thrive In Community.”  I have found it to be intriguing, edifying, and highly relevant to the purpose of Circumpolar. 

It is a lengthy read (279 pages), but the conclusion is only about 20 pages and very helpful.  The paper gives a robust model of discipleship for MBBs and much practical advice concerning many of the thorny issues we face in our context.

If you would like a copy emailed to you, post a comment below with your email (you can delete it later).  I might ask you a couple questions before I actually email it to you.  The author (not me) does not want it posted on-line.

Here is the Abstract:

Around the world many Muslims are being introduced to Jesus Christ and choosing to follow him. Of the many challenges in this ministry to Muslims, one that is being increasingly seen as crucial, is the discipling of these men and women who are trying to live as disciples of Christ in their Muslim communities.

This research into the discipleship of Arab world believers from Muslim backgrounds (BMBs) is first placed in the missiological context of the ongoing debate on contextualization in ministry to Muslims. The author then provides exegetical and theological grounding for his research through an examination of discipleship in the New Testament, and missiological and methodological grounding through a review of the literature that addresses ministry in Muslim contexts.

Then, in the fourth chapter, the author analyzes the findings from seventy-five interviews that he conducted with disciplers ministering to BMBs in twelve countries. The analysis covers the nature and processes of discipling, the obstacles and challenges of the Arab world context, community and identity issues in discipleship, and ways of handling common discipleship challenges.

In the final chapter, the author draws his conclusions together into his Living Pyramid Model of Relational Communal Discipleship and highlights some of the great practical advice obtained for overcoming key discipling challenges. He then offers suggestions for further research and suggests some possible benefits from the study to those ministering to the Muslims of the Arab world and beyond.