Published on April 21, 2023 and Edited Last on August 4, 2023

......Then they said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers,...... (Luke 5:33).

For Jesus, a disciple is a follower who conforms to His ways. In the Book of Acts, "the way" is mentioned several times (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22) in connection with His early followers.

Jesus went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them, He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: Simon, Simon Peter or Cephas (the rock), and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew (Nathanael); Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus (Judas, son of James); Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him (Luke 6:12-16). These twelve men responded to Jesus' call to be His disciples. These men were Jews of different societal levels which left everything to follow Jesus. Jesus spent three years training His disciples to be leaders in the church, except Judas the traitor, the rest being bestowed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, powerfully ministered to people around the world, preaching and teaching the doctrine of God around the world.

Likewise, John the Baptist who they called Rabbi (teacher) had disciples, fellow workers who followed him wherever he went to help him serve in the community (John 3:25-26).

In (John 5:35-36), by pointing out a beautiful characteristic of John the Baptist, Jesus bore witness of him, saying: He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. 

Many are the characteristics of a disciple: He/she follows and is faithful to Jesus during tests, trials, and tribulations (Acts 14:22). He/she endures being changed by Jesus Who will bring him/her from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). He/she practices His doctrine as he/she is committed to the mission of Jesus to the end (John 7:17). But to be a burning and shining lamp like John the Baptist shall be a testimony characteristic of every Christian leader and person wherever they go.

It is in the context of the ministry mission of John the Baptist, who Jesus has said, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist (John 7:28). Karen Rajabian is a teacher of the word of God and she will be choosing twelve fellow workers to train them to be followers of Jesus Christ and leaders in the church of God to help her serve the Lord even around the world. As she chooses the twelve fellow workers one by one under the lead power of the Holy Spirit, and they respond to the call of the Lord to serve Him, Karen will start training them.