Formed in Christ, Sent to the World

Filimao Chambo, General Superintendent

When the crowds came to John the Baptist asking, "What then should we do?" his answer was startlingly practical: share your clothing and food, practice honesty, refuse

exploitation, live with contentment. Repentance was not an inward feeling alone; it

was a life reordered around the in-breaking reign of God.

I remember a conversation in Mozambique with a young professional named Matusse.

He spoke candidly of how difficult it is to walk in holiness when honor and shame, family

expectations, and workplace corruption all pull in another direction. "What do you do,"

he asked, "when refusing to participate in corruption may cost you your job? When

honoring family means joining in practices that conflict with allegiance to Christ?" His

questions reminded me that discipleship is learned in the daily places where competing

loyalties claim our lives.

This is the heart of organizing life around Jesus' priority. By grace, the Spirit forms

followers of Jesus whose lives bear witness to God's holiness in everyday relationships,

work, family, and public life. Discipleship is not the transfer of information. It is the

Spirit-empowered reordering of a whole life around the One we call Lord.

In every culture, the church faces pressures to conform, to fear, corruption,

consumerism, or indifference. Yet the gospel calls us to another way: the church is

called not to withdraw from the world, but to live faithfully within it, formed by grace,

filled with the Spirit, and sent in Jesus' name for the sake of the world. 1

May God continue to use NDI to nurture such disciples around the world.

1. Fili Chambo, For the Sake of the World: Embracing God's Call to Holy Living in Everyday Life (Kansas City: The Foundry Publishing, 2026).