Disciplemaking Forum in Singapore
How a chance conversation at a pastors’ conference in Malaysia became a movement of MicroGroups across Singapore and beyond. This report from Pastor Peni Dolavale is a great illustration of what we hope to happen through our process of decentralization and leadership development.
In November 2025, during the APBF Pastors’ Conference in Malaysia, I was asked to lead a workshop on disciplemaking. One of the pastors attending the conference had travelled down from Singapore. He didn’t make it into my workshop, but over a morning tea break, we began talking, and something about what I shared stayed with him.
When he returned home, he recommended to his brother, the Senior Pastor of Changi Baptist Church, that they invite me to lead a disciplemaking forum. The Senior Pastor wanted to verify what he had heard, so we met over Zoom. By the end of that call, they invited me. On February 7-8, 2026, I travelled to Singapore and led the forum at Changi Baptist Church.
The Purpose of the Mission
The aim was simple: to motivate, equip, and coach pastors and church leaders to establish a MicroGroup-based disciplemaking church. The training was designed for the leaders of Changi Baptist Church and included two sessions.
Session 1 — SOAP Journaling
Daily quiet time with God is the bedrock of discipleship. Every disciple of Jesus must be committed to this daily practice of spending time building their relationship with Jesus. The SOAP journaling method is one way to listen and talk with God.
— Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer —
This simple thought-provoking system is used by Christians all over the world, with its real power lying not in novelty but in quality and consistency. Jesus wants to spend time with you! He is waiting.
Members of CBC who had begun practising SOAP journaling shared exciting testimonies of how the discipline had drawn them much closer to Jesus in a way that felt living, present, and active. Every participant received a set of notes, including a one-year Bible reading plan and practical guidance on the rhythm of daily quiet time.
Session 2 — MicroGroup Disciplemaking
The second session focused on the MicroGroup model itself. A MicroGroup is a gender-specific, closed group of three to four believers who meet weekly for a season of accelerated growth and spiritual transformation.
Discipling is an intentional relationship where we walk alongside other disciples to encourage, equip, and challenge one another in love toward maturity in Christ.
It isn’t only about growth; it’s also about multiplication. A disciple in a MicroGroup is being equipped to become a disciplemaker in their own right.
The Coaching MicroGroup
After the forum, four pastors asked to join me for a 12-week Coaching MicroGroup. We now meet every Monday morning, and the group spans three countries:
- The Senior Pastor of Changi Baptist Church
- The Assistant Pastor of Changi Baptist Church
- The Spiritual Formation Pastor at Singapore Bible College
- A Union of Evangelical Students of India student worker, who joins us via Zoom from Manipur State in India
New MicroGroups Already Forming
Two of the pastors in the coaching group have not waited to finish the 12 weeks before putting this effective way to make disciples into practice. They are already replicating what we are learning, starting their own MicroGroups even during the coaching period itself.
One detail that stays with me: three men, all over seventy years old, have formed a MicroGroups with the Senior Pastor.
Disciplemaking does not retire!
Conclusion
The Disciplemaking Forum at Changi Baptist Church was a tremendous encouragement largely because of the passion and vision of the Senior Pastor to plant MicroGroup disciplemaking in his church and to shift from an attractional church model to a disciplemaking one.
The inclusion of the Singapore Bible College pastor in the coaching MicroGroup is going to have a far-reaching effect on the lives of students and staff at SBC, and in particular, on the students from Mainland China who study there. What began as a morning tea conversation in Malaysia is already quietly reaching across borders.
· · ·Written by
Pastor Peni Dolavale
Pastor at Grace Community Church, Nadi, Figi. Peni works to motivate, equip and coach pastors and church leaders across the Asia-Pacific to establish MicroGroup-based disciplemaking churches.
Greg Ogden
Greg Ogden
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