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In this episode of the Take Off Podcast, we continue our Season 4 series exploring how a Disciple Making Movement (DMM) helps meet the needs of the community. Thomas Clark welcomes Timothy Bell — a long-time friend, servant leader, husband, father, and now grandfather — to share how he lives as an incarnate presence of Jesus in his everyday context. Building on the foundation that Christ transforms culture through His followers, Thomas and Timothy discuss how disciple-making is inherently contextual. While the biblical foundation remains the same, the expression of disciple-making looks different depending on where each person lives. Through stories of neighboring, prayerful presence, and intentional engagement, this episode shows how ordinary disciples can make extraordinary impact when they show up in the flesh where God has placed them.

Timothy shares his experience living in a predominantly Hispanic community, learning culture through relationships, identifying persons of peace, and building trust with neighbors through simple acts of love and consistency. He also speaks candidly about being incarnate in his workplace — a maximum-security correctional facility — where he brings the peace of Christ to both inmates and co-workers through compassion, prayer, and everyday conversations. From missional neighboring to social momentums to serving seniors in his third place, Timothy’s life demonstrates how DMM is lived out across real neighborhoods, real workplaces, and real challenges. This episode encourages listeners to see their own homes, jobs, and hangout spaces as mission fields where Jesus desires to show up through them.

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In Part 2 of our conversation with Nicky Adams, we go deeper into how a Disciple-Making Movement (DMM) helps reveal and meet the real needs of a community—not just the surface ones we often assume. Nicky unpacks how she has learned to discern needs by being present, listening, engaging in real conversations, and honoring every person as God’s Imago Dei. She shares how offering food or clothing may be helpful at times, but often the deeper need is dignity, attention, safety, mental health support, or simply someone willing to care enough to stop and listen. From families anxious about losing government assistance, to youth disconnected from school, to neighbors overwhelmed by addiction and hopelessness, Nicky shows how needs assessment in a DMM is not about programs—it’s about people. And the more she treats those around her as image-bearers, the more her neighborhood begins to open, trust, and change.

This episode also explores the importance of being ethnographic rather than ethnocentric. Nicky candidly reflects on moments from her past when she judged others through her own cultural lens—and how Christ corrected her toward humility, empathy, and understanding. As she shares stories from her block, her workplace, and her daily prayer walks, we see how incarnation builds safety, presence, and relational equity. Neighbors now know her name. People speak, look out for one another, and even the atmosphere on her street feels different. Nicky’s testimony is a powerful picture of what happens when ordinary disciples show up where they live, work, learn, and play—trusting that Christ is transforming culture through them. This episode challenges every listener to assess needs the way Jesus did, love people where they truly are, and step boldly into the mission field right outside their front door.

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In this first conversation with Nicky Adams, Thomas Clark continues Season 4’s deep dive into how a Disciple Making Movement (DMM) helps meet real needs in real communities. Nicky shares powerfully about her journey toward becoming truly incarnate—showing up in the flesh where she lives, just as Christ shows up through His followers. She talks about learning to step outside her home, walk her neighborhood, talk with people, and listen long enough to discern their real needs. From singing with a woman on the street who desperately needed hope, to building trust with neighbors, to identifying missing resources like shelter, security, and a sense of hope, Nicky models how the peace of Christ becomes tangible through simple acts of presence, compassion, and courage. Her story reveals how DMM begins not with programs but with proximity—being present among the people God loves.

Nicky also opens up about what incarnational ministry looks like in her second place—her workplace. She describes how Christ “hides Himself” in her job through her kindness, sincerity, prayerfulness, and the way she honors every coworker by name. From posting encouraging messages, to offering hugs, to listening with compassion, to sharing pieces of her own story of loss and healing, Nicky shows how the gospel becomes visible through everyday interactions. In her third place, the local Walgreens, she consistently meets the same people, including employees, neighbors, and unhoused individuals. There she practices spiritual attentiveness—offering food, encouragement, and dignity, planting gospel seeds in one of the community’s most ordinary-but-holy spaces. This episode beautifully demonstrates how a disciple making movement grows when ordinary believers live intentionally in their first, second, and third places, embodying the love and presence of Jesus in culturally relevant ways.

Please consider following this podcast so that you do not miss an episode. Also, please support the work we are doing with either a monthly or yearly subscription. Subscribers will receive early access to episodes along with other perks.

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