Today, seven men share the teaching load so that interns might benefit from a broader spectrum of gifts and experience. The original teachers of the DITP are now all with the Lord, but the training continues. The following September, the instructors offered another ten men internships, and the cycle repeated in almost unbroken succession to this present day. The interns learned to preach, teach, pastor, evangelize, and deal with real-life problems. In this manner, the interns learned the Bible and how to serve Christ, working shoulder to shoulder with their mentors, and applying what they learned within the context of the church. If an instructor was traveling for ministry overseas, he always took one or two interns along with him. On weekends, the instructors included the interns in their preaching ministry, taking two or three men along with them as they spoke at neighboring churches. ![]() During the evenings, instructors took the interns out on pastoral visits to the homes of the saints, or the interns were involved in home fellowship groups, programs for children, or evangelistic studies. This was followed by three hours of Bible study. Each morning, teachers and students met for 30 minutes of devotional time in the Word and prayer. The first session of the DITP began on September 3, 1973, with ten interns. Bill MacDonald fellowshipped at an assembly nearby. Jean Gibson and Jack Davies were elders at Fairhaven. They structured it as a nine-month course of intensive training, in which a small group of men, eight to ten, would be offered internships at Fairhaven Bible Chapel in San Leandro, California. With these Scriptures in mind, the three teachers founded the Discipleship Intern Training Program (DITP). Jesus commanded His disciples to do likewise, saying, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). Mark summarizes Jesus’ discipleship ministry, writing, “He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach” (Mark 3:14). ![]() They prayed together, preached the gospel, faced the threats of the Pharisees, and confronted evil. He welcomed them into His life and shared His day-to-day experiences with them, modeling that which He wanted them to learn. Jesus taught these men primarily through life-transference. At times, Jesus narrowed His ministry further to three men: Peter, James, and John (Matthew 17:1 Mark 5:37 13:3 14:33). They saw in the Scriptures that Jesus taught the multitudes, but focused His attention on the training of a small group of men who came to be called the Twelve. Jean Gibson, and Jack Davies-sought the Lord’s guidance as to how they could address the problem. In 1972, three Bible teachers-William MacDonald, O. The greatest prayer request of churches around the world is for more and better leaders.
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