From Yorkshire to Kolkata: A Disciple-Making Journey with Biglife
Earlier this year, a team of eleven from Yorkshire Baptist churches travelled to Kolkata, India, as part of the Biglife disciple-making pathway. Led by Peter Dunn, our YBA Discipleship Enabler, the group engaged with a movement focused on helping everyday people share Jesus and grow house churches in unreached places.
A key tool they experienced on the ground was the simple yet powerful ‘Three Thirds’ model - a format used in Biglife gatherings across the world. It involves three movements: Look Back, where participants reflect on the past week and encourage one another; Look Up, where they read the Bible together and listen to what God is saying; and Look Forward, where they consider how to live out what they’ve learned and who they might share it with. Even in areas where large gatherings are dangerous, this model flourishes. Across South Asia, Peter noted that over 75,000 house churches have emerged through this Spirit-led process.
This was the third Yorkshire team to take part in the Biglife experience, and each trip has been marked by simplicity, challenge, and deep personal reflection. As participants returned and shared their stories, one consistent message emerged: discipleship doesn’t need to be complicated - just obedient. This wasn’t a trip defined by teaching to others, but by being deeply shaped by what God is doing in places where the church is growing through obedience, sacrifice, and extraordinary faith.
Meeting People Where They Are – Peter Dunn
Peter Dunn described the team’s approach in India as simple but powerful. In rural villages, the team offered basic medical care, treating wounds, easing pain, and listening to stories. These small acts of compassion often opened the door to deeper conversations and spiritual openness. In one case, a man with injured legs heard the story of the paralysed man lowered through the roof to Jesus. Peter recalled how “it brought the Bible to life, meeting someone right where they were.”
Back in Yorkshire, Peter reflected on one of the biggest barriers to disciple-making in the UK: isolation. “So many Christians don’t have meaningful relationships outside church,” he wrote. The Biglife approach, based on Luke 10, challenges that mindset by encouraging believers to seek out “persons of peace”, people in the community who welcome spiritual conversations and become gateways to others. In India, he noted that they found such a person: a woman who welcomed them into her home and family
Peter also emphasised the importance of making testimonies real and relatable: “We must drop the jargon,” he said. “Let’s make our testimonies accessible and real. Instead of focusing on how to get someone to church, ask: how can we read the Bible with them, where they are?”
“My Priorities Have Shifted” – Tracy Green
Tracy Green, from Beverly Baptist Church , joined the Biglife pathway during a time of transition, from Chaplain to Minister, and a season of deep questioning about what ministry is meant to be. What impacted her most wasn’t the structure of the pathway, but the principles behind it. She described how the simplicity and depth of the model echoed the life of Jesus and the early church: authenticity, accountability, space for Scripture to speak, trusting the Holy Spirit, and empowering others to make disciples.
The experience began to reshape not only how she serves, but how she lives out her own faith. “Since being on this pathway I have spoken more freely about Jesus, told my faith story more often, and had the privilege of reading scripture with others whom I would not have previously,” she shared. She noted that her language, leadership style, and even the culture of her church community have begun to reflect the values she encountered. The ongoing encouragement and accountability built into the model have helped her persevere, especially when courage wanes, self-doubt rises, or ministry demands threaten to overwhelm.
Tracy’s experience highlights a vital truth: meaningful discipleship is not about expertise or eloquence. It’s about being real, present, and obedient walking closely with Jesus and inviting others to do the same. Her journey serves as a reminder that the church doesn’t need to reinvent discipleship, it simply needs to return to the way of Jesus.
Mustard Seed Faith: Lucy’s Experience
For Lucy Brown from Clayton Baptist Church, the transformation was deeply personal. “Having been part of the Discipleship Pathway this year, I have seen how God can take my mustard seed faith and grow it for His glory.”
Post-trip, she began a weekly group called “God, Butties & Bakes,” gathering people of non-faith and other faiths, some of whom had never read the Bible before. “The openness of people and the freedom granted to them to discover Jesus for themselves has been amazing,” she wrote.
What began with questions like “How can this model work in my context?” turned into a testimony of God moving in unexpected ways. “Praise God,” she said, “as He continues to show me the people to walk alongside in this way.”
Her church is now planning monthly ‘Discovery Sundays’ based on the three-thirds model. She wrote that the simplicity of the 3/3 questions has been “transforming,” changing the way she reads the Bible and lives out her faith. The “Obey, Train and Share” rhythm made her more thoughtful and disciplined.
“It Has Become Second Nature” – Claudette Whitworth
Claudette Whitworth from Middleton Park Baptist Church shared honestly and joyfully: “I find I share my story of coming to know Jesus more readily. It has become second nature.” For her, the pathway has helped her become more confident and intentional about sharing her faith.
Claudette now leads two small groups, one in her community and another with work colleagues. She’s also shared her testimony with a young client and gifted him a Bible. She regularly uses the 3/3 Discovery Bible Study format when leading services and has seen its effectiveness in both personal and gathered contexts. “
Please pray for the groups and the young person to progress in their faith and get to know God more, day by day,” she added.
“The Café Owner Had Faith Too” – Teresa Beaumont
For Teresa Beaumont, also from Clayton Baptist Church, it was a meeting in a local café that opened her eyes to the Spirit’s quiet work
On returning to Yorkshire, she formed a group of four from church, including a young woman she’d been discipling, and they began a 3/3 Bible study in the café. To her surprise, the café owner and staff all had Christian faith, though none of them attended church. “It turns out the owner and staff all have Christian faith- though they do not attend a church!” she wrote.
Her words carry the quiet wonder of someone who has witnessed God already at work: “The idea is to draw people in by having a three-thirds Bible study which opens the way to chat and to see the Lord work.” The group plans to continue meeting and drawing others into the conversation. “
Her experience captures what the team realised in India, God is already moving! Our job is to show up, listen, and walk with people.
Back Home, But Still On Mission
The principles of Biglife, soaked in Scripture and shaped by Jesus’ methods, continue to echo across our YBA churches.
As Peter reminds us: “Even in risky areas where big gatherings aren’t safe, this model helps people grow in faith.” And that’s true here, too. Whether in homes, cafés, or workplaces, God is raising disciple-makers who are committed to simplicity, obedience, and multiplication.
We’re not trying to copy India. But we are asking God to renew our vision to help us be real, relational, and rooted in His Word.
Would you like to be a part of the next mission? Click the button below to contact Peter Dunn.