Our History
Once upon a time in 1999, there was a man who loved his job a lot, and loved his wife and kids with what he had left over. On a dark, snowy night he kissed his wife goodbye and bent down to hug and kiss their two little children. Their little arms encircled his neck as they cried out, “Where are you going, Daddy?”
The busy daddy glanced at his watch and tried to smile. “I am going to a meeting,” he said.
“You’re always gone!” his children challenged him. “Stay home and play with us—just tonight Daddy.”
The young father nervously looked at his watch. He was almost late to a very important board meeting. Gently he pried his children’s arms off his neck, gathered his briefcase and papers and lunged for the door.
“Daddy, stay home!” His children wept as they held their arms out to him. He closed the door and walked out into the snow. That night God began to turn the man’s heart back to their children.
I am that daddy and the God of Grace called me back home that night!
Two years passed. I had to rebuild relationships with our two children and to re-prioritize my relationship with God and with my wife. It took time to re-tool!
In 2001 we were blessed with the birth of our third child! That same year, my wife and I began asking God to guide us to a solution for the many children and youth that were leaving their churches and Jesus Christ as their Savior. After months of praying, God spoke to my heart while hiking down a trail. He said, “You are not discipling the children. Secondly, you are divorcing the children from their parents.”
I was shocked! Why would God say I was not discipling His children when I was supportive of so many different church-run programs bent on growing a child’s faith? Why would God say that my style of working with youth was divorcing the child from their parents? I prayed and wrestled with God’s confrontation.
God gave me direction that very day to begin a ministry to call busy parents back to discipling their own children to Jesus Christ. It would be a ministry to intentionally grow children as disciples of Christ with parents as the primary disciple-makers.
I had no clue where to begin with starting such a ministry, but I knew that God’s Word would provide the values, priorities and methods. In 2002 my wife, April, and I launched Kids in Discipleship with the following Bible passages forming the inspiration:
“And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, “That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” Acts 2:17
“Behold, I am going to send Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” Malachi 4:5,6
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9
In 2002 the Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church (in partnership with the Georgia-Cumberland Conference, Southern Union and the North American Division of Seventh-Day Adventists) gave me the opportunity to pioneer Kids In Discipleship for children and their families. For the next ten years God opened the way to create discipling curriculum for small groups and to learn from families and children participating in every continent of the world except Antarctica.
In 2012 God called April and me to the Clovis Seventh-Day Adventist Church where we continued to pioneer In Discipleship in an urban setting. For nearly five years we saw what God could do to engage children, youth and adults with the written Word of God during intergenerational worship. We had the joy of seeing what God could do to give young and old a voice with their gifts and talents. We saw what God could do with elders in the church who would volunteer to grow as disciples and disciple-makers. We saw what God could do to mobilize and empower children and teens in Fresno Adventist Academy to serve their community with the love of God.
Over the years God continually expanded the vision. Educators from around the world increasingly asked if they could be a part of Kids In Discipleship. Soon we had Schools in Discipleship as well. In 2013 In Discipleship was launched and registered in the USA as a non-profit 501(c)3.
In 2017 God sent us as volunteer missionaries to Alberta, Canada to partner with His people there in calling for revival and discipling the new generations for Christ. We saw the Holy Spirit poured out on children, youth and adults during revivals across the prairies. We were deeply shaken to our core to see the Holy Spirit raise up young and old to champion the calling of the generations to a revival with Jesus and to lead them to live as disciples and disciple-makers now for the Lord.
In 2020 God sent us back to the Chattanooga, Tennessee area as volunteer missionaries. Here we pray that God will also raise up champions to call all ages to return to Jesus Christ NOW before He returns and to disciple the new generations to trust, follow and share Jesus with His urgency for these last days.
Today In Discipleship includes intergenerational revivals, Kids In Discipleship, Schools in Discipleship and The Call of Elijah. This ministry has the joy of resourcing families of all shapes and sizes regardless of religion, ethnicity, or citizenship.
In Discipleship is a faith ministry depending on God for its provision and for the growing number of volunteers that carry it around the world. All resources produced are available without charge beyond shipping costs. All training is offered without charge.
Meet Our Board Members
Barry
Hailing from the island of Newfoundland, Barry serves as general counsel to the Canadian Centre for Christian Charities, interpreting legal and regulatory environments and representing the Christian charitable sector to the wider Canadian society. He writes extensively on law and religion, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a safe legal environment for Christian charities.
Christopher
Christopher Beason is the father of Victoria, Jocelyn and Julianna and has been married to Christy for 28 years. He is the president of Network 7 Media Center and host of Mission SONlight, a quarterly 13th Sabbath World Mission Offering video emphasis. He has worked as pastor and departmental director prior to moving to supporting ministry. He also serves as the president of ASI, Southern Union and Brook Developments, Inc.
George
George Carr is a retired financial analyst who has dedicated his life to following in the footsteps of Jesus. As member of the In Discipleship volunteer team he is committed to the great commission Jesus gave to His disciples found in Matthew 28:18-19, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
Don & April
Don is a disciple of Jesus Christ, a husband to April for 31 years, a dad to Jason, Julie and Jessica and Founder/President of In Discipleship. In 2002 God moved the hearts of Don and April to launch Kids In Discipleship—a ministry to call parents back to discipling their own kids to Christ and to ?nd their God-given dream in serving others. Today this ministry is named In Discipleship and disciples young and old to have a daily revival with Jesus in His Word and to disciple the new generations through a partnership of the home, school, and church.
God has opened the way for Don to launch this ministry for the family in 34 countries. On November 22, 2016 God called Don and April to champion intergenerational revival and the discipling of the new generations as full-time volunteers free to serve wherever God calls. For over three years now God has shown His faithfulness to supply whatever is needed to do what He has called the MacLaffertys to do. God is bigger than Don thought!
Pastor Luis & Family
Luis Antonio Dias has been married for 23 years to Eliane Dias; he is father of Lucas(20) and Thiago (18). He has been a Seventh-day Adventist Pastor for 20 years in South America Division – Brazil. His Heart was touched by the Holy Spirit through Indiscipleship ministry in 2014 and, since then, he has sought to grow as disciple of Jesus and shared this discipleship journey with his family and people God has placed in his path.
Gerard Carter
Husband, father, educator, a passionate worker for Christ is a good way to describe Gerard Carter.
Mr. Carter taught at Duluth Adventist Christian School outside of Atlanta, Georgia, for more than a decade. As an Adventist educator, Mr. Carter utilized intentional discipleship in his classroom. He is also a small group leader in his local church using the In Discipleship curriculum to equip parents and mentors to spiritually nurture all children. He currently is a volunteer speaker for the In Discipleship ministry. He has a vision to have every child a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Meet Our Key Volunteers
Bunawi & Nova
Bunawi and Nova are self-employed and serve as volunteers with SID & KID (Kids In Discipleship) at Ciracas Adventist School and Church. Prior to this change Bunawi was a controller for a large multinational company and Nova was a geophysicist also working for a multinational company.
Curtis
Curtis Letniak and his wife Julie and their two children live near Ponoka, Alberta where they are actively involved in ministry in Alberta and abroad in countries throughout Southeast Asia. Curtis is a business owner who is passionate about developing creativity and innovation in ministry to hasten Christ’s soon return.
Edith
Edith Kiggundu, originally from Uganda, currently lives in Edmonton Alberta Canada, where she serves as first elder in her local church. She is an educator by profession. Since her early childhood, her parents instilled in her the love of Jesus. Edith and her husband Fredrick have three adult children. Edith is a woman of prayer who is passionate about serving the Lord.
Jason
Jason lives and works as a software developer in the Chattanooga, Tennessee area and has a passion to use his gifts and talents to prepare the world for the second coming of Jesus. He has a love for friendship ministry, learning foreign languages, and the great outdoors. Jason enjoys contributing his technical expertise and foreign language skills to help ID with technology and Spanish/English translation needs.
The Rivera Family: Bhong, Sharon & Shane
Redeemed by Jesus Christ because of His grace, love and mercy. As a family we have lived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates for 19 years. After fourteen years of wandering around in the desert we realized in 2015 that God had a plan for our lives—to serve, honor and glorify Him. Currently we serve as the Head of Family Life Ministry in Dubai Creekside Church and Coordinator for the Middle East Discipleship Movement.
Sandra & Ted
Pastor’s Ted & Sandra Deer live in Alberta Canada with their 2 precious children Stephen (5) and Bethel (3) and Grandma Silva. Prior to this Ted left the family farm in Canora, Saskatchewan to study theology at Canadian University College in 2002 and began his ministry in 2006 where he pastored a two-church district before heading to the Seminary at Andrews University. Upon graduation he served as senior pastor of the Regina church and chaplain of the church school as an ordained minister of the gospel. In 2014 he married Sandra and moved to Alberta to serve as Chaplain from K-12 and later as Chaplain of Burman University, all while serving as associate pastor of the College Heights Church.
Sandra grew up in Hamilton, Ontario where she completed her Batchelor degree in French and Spanish and continued on to work in management in the banking sector. She later accepted the call to leave her career and become a Bible worker and instructor in Evangelism schools around the world prior to accepting God’s call to the Seminary at Andrews University. Upon graduation, she was hired by the Alberta Conference and served from 2011-2017 as Nurture Pastor at College Heights Church, Personal Ministries, Kids In Discipleship and Women’s Ministry and was commissioned in 2014.
Most recently, Sandra successfully defended her Doctoral Thesis in Leadership focusing on Discipleship and Evangelism and is to graduate December 2020 with a DMIN degree from Andrews University.
Ted and Sandra love Jesus and are passionate about following God and serving wherever He may lead. Because of their dedication to follow God faithfully, they obeyed His call to leave full-time employment on August 1st, 2020 and to devote themselves full-time as a family to volunteer discipleship and revival ministry in their local church, for their conference and beyond. Already they have hosted 2 discipleship retreats at their farm in Alberta and one retreat in Costa Rica along with many ZOOM online revivals.
Janesta & Luther
Janesta and Luther Walker are passionate about discipleship. Janesta has spent 30 years in Adventist education as a teacher, development director, and principal and currently serves as the superintendent of education for the Chesapeake Conference. In her current role, she is leading her team of educators to become intentional disciple makers.
Luther is a master carpenter and building contractor. He owned and operated his own company for many years. In recent years he has served as the property manager for the Illinois Conference and facilities manager for Hinsdale Adventist Academy. Currently he works on the maintenance team at Highland View Academy and Mount Aetna Retreat Center.
Donnie & Connie
Retired as Registered Nurses in 2019 after over 42 years of service in Health Care to follow God’s dream for our lives. We have been married for 42 years and blessed with two married grown children, and (2) grandchildren. We joined Pastor Don & April after several training seminars in Canada. God has blessed our efforts in allowing us to use zoom in TN, FL, KY, LA, CA and Canada to raise up disciples for Jesus. What a privilege to live, train and be part of this Discipleship ministry. It is wonderful to partner with Pastor Don & April in Revivals, a Week of Prayer, and a daily walk with Jesus here in Tennessee.
Julie MacLafferty
Julie lives in Orlando, FL, and currently serves as a pastor at the Forest Lake Church. Home includes a few places that have stuck in her heart, including São Luis, Brazil. She loves to travel and get to know new people, cultures (food included), and places, but a good conversation, book, or being outside makes her day while at home! Julie is passionate about prayer and sharing the joy of walking with Jesus.