our primary mission

TOLI’s primary mission is to bear witness to Jesus Christ and his Kingdom. This is not accomplished through just one curriculum or practice, but is interwoven throughout TOLI — the people we work with and hire, the way we build relationships, the culture we create, and yes, the programs we offer. You can read more about our how TOLI nurtures spiritual growth in our Partnership Manual (link).

For TOLI leaders, the two most important keys to bearing witness to Jesus Christ and his Kingdom are:

1. Growing your own personal relationship with Jesus. Having a mature, deepening faith is critical to your role as a TOLI leader. Scroll down for tools and resources to nurture your own relationship with God.

2. Building relationships with clients that help point to Jesus. Every client is at different point in their journey with Jesus. TOLI’s discipleship tools are organized by stages of faith, using The Five Thresholds model for evangelism.* Depending on a client’s stage of faith, or “threshold,” your relationship and conversations will be different.

THRESHOLD 1: TRUST

The client doesn’t trust Christians, is not interested in Christianity, is from a different faith (ie, Muslim, atheist, etc)

Goal: For the client to feel comfortable around you, show trust, and come to you for advice.
Your role: To gain trust by loving genuinely and expressing unconditional love.
Questions to consider: Does your client trust YOU as a person? In your context, what are signs of distrust? What are signs of trust? What assumptions does your client have about you just because you are a Christian, or because they see you as part of ‘the Church’?
Coaching tips: Become a friend. Express kindness and care.

THRESHOLD 2: CURIOSITY

The client trusts you, but is not yet interested in faith at all.
Goal: For the client to begin asking questions about faith, God, spirituality, etc.
Your role: To encourage questions and live curiously.
Questions to consider: Do you ask good questions? Do you encourage your clients’ questions and curiosity? Do you listen well to them?
Coaching tips: Try asking, “What is your spiritual background? What does that mean to you today?” or ”I love your questions. Which one do you want to talk about today?”

THRESHOLD 3: OPEN

The client is somewhat interested in faith, but not interested in changing their current lifestyle.
Goal: For the client to become open to changing their mindset or behaviors, and recognize their personal needs.
Your role: To practice patience, to persist in prayer, and to challenge.
Questions to consider: In your context, what does being closed to change look like? What does openness look like? Is your client aware of her/his needs?
Coaching tips: Be transparent: Try sharing one personal need in your life and how you are asking God to help. Try asking the client, “What do you need God to do for you?” “Would you be open to praying with me right now about that?”

THRESHOLD 4: SEEKING

The client is open to faith or religion, but is not yet bringing their questions to Jesus Christ himself.
Goal: For the client become intentional about their search, and focus on Jesus as the answer.
Your role: To help clarify their quest, explain how to seek Jesus, and invite them to join us. Questions to consider: What does wandering look like in your context? What does seeking look like?
Coaching tips: Offer to learn about Jesus together. Try saying, “I love your openness. I think you would really like Jesus. Can we look at some of his teachings together?”

THRESHOLD 5: FOLLOWING

The client realizes that a decision needs to be made whether or not to follow Jesus
OR
The client has decided to follow Jesus and is ready to go deeper in their relationship with him.
Goal: For the client to choose to follow Jesus and journey with him for the rest of their lives.
Your role: To invite them to follow Jesus, to help them think through the implications, to connect them to other believers and to the local church.
Questions to consider: In your context, what are some of the barriers that most often keep people from following Jesus? What are some of the most compelling reasons?
Coaching Tips: Acknowledge the challenges of true discipleship. “Each of us has to decide who is at the center of our life, us or God. What obstacles keep you from putting God at the center? Are those real or imagined obstacles?” Following Jesus is committing to a relationship. Talk about ways to foster an authentic relationship with Jesus through showing love and admiration (worship), communicating (prayer), spending time together (devotions), and sacrifice (service).