“Just start with what you can control and let God take it from there,” Marcus’ wife said.

She stood just behind him in their kitchen as he hung his head in frustration. He had been trying unsuccessfully to convince many of his friends from church of a new conviction that God had ignited in his heart: That discipleship should look like something more than just listening to a sermon and singing some hymns. It should be something that transformed every aspect of his life.

But he knew his wife was right. And he knew that her father was the perfect place to start. After years of following the Lord, he had come to the same conclusion as Marcus. So, the two men set out to start a new kind of Bible study.

Using the Waha app as a guide, they invited a few others to simply read the Bible and discuss its meaning, how they could apply it to their lives, and how they could share it with others. For the first time in years, some of the men in the group began to share their faith. Real community was forged as they held each other accountable to putting into practice what scripture teaches.

But that was just the beginning.

One day, Marcus’ mother-in-law called him up to tell him how much of a difference it was making in his father-in-law’s life. “It’s like he’s a different person! I’ve never seen him so envisioned for the Lord!” Marcus began to think of replicating the Waha-led Bible study at work. As an instructor at the Fire Academy, he had an awesome opportunity to reach out to firefighters from across their city. Waha made it easy for ordinary people to participate and lead without needing to be Bible experts, and he had a like hearted friend at work—Josh—who often talked with Marcus about the need for believers in the fire service to avoid “keeping their faith in their back pocket” while at work.

This is because, though fire fighters naturally spend a lot of time together sharing life, hardship, and deep conversations, faith can feel uncomfortable for some to discuss. But Marcus and Josh wanted to create a culture where following Jesus and making disciples could happen naturally in everyday life. So the two men began looking into the Waha app and dreaming how they might participate with God as he impacted their city’s fire stations.

They started their first group right there at the Fire Academy. This made it easy for people from all the various fire stations to come and experience studying the Bible with Waha. They created their own tools, too. Josh set up a web-based platform where firefighters wanting to get serious about their faith could sign on and access information and tools, including but not limited to Waha. They even had helmet-stickers, which are a meaningful part of the fire service community, made for their group. These stickers had various letters and numbers around a traditional fire rescue symbol that reminded them of the importance of being a disciple of Jesus no matter where they were.

“Don’t out these on your helmet unless you’re ready to talk about Jesus with the other guys at your station,” they told the members of their group.

With the stickers acting as a conversation starter, Waha making discipleship so easy anyone could replicate, and a platform online for everyone to coordinate and share, the core group at the academy began to multiply into the other fire stations. From there, the vision began multiplying, too. As more firefighters joined, they grew in confidence, and started to lead groups of their own.

What started as a conversation between Marcus and his wife became a multiplying network of discipleship groups across their city’s firehouses. The first generation group Marcus started with his father-in-law strengthened relationships, deepened accountability, and visibly transformed peoples’ faith. Then the second generation group at the fire academy grew from a handful of people into a larger disciple-making community that owned a vision for all the firefighters of the city. Now, third generation groups have begun to spring up among the various fire rescue platoons that have been blessed by the academy group.

But it didn’t even stop there!

Their vision has grown even larger..**. **72 Discovery Bible Study groups — one in every firehouse on every platoon in the city—has become their goal. And as they have made meaningful progress toward that goal, others have taken notice. They have been invited to share about their impact at a statewide symposium to encourage firefighters across their state to openly live on mission in their workplaces and start disciple-making groups of their own.

What began as a small step of obedience is becoming a growing network of disciples making disciples throughout the fire service.