About Us
Calling, Equipping, and Encouraging Women to Know Jesus,
Love Him, and Follow Him in Faithful Obedience
OUR STORY
It all began in a pink living room…
After fifteen years of being in Bible study, praying daily, and serving in my church, I still didn’t know how to live the Christian life. I didn’t know how to take God’s Word to heart and bring it to life in my walk with the Lord, within my marriage, with my children, and in my community. I desperately wanted to know how to live what I believed. I sought out women in my church who could mentor me. They loved the Lord, but they didn’t know how or didn’t have the tools to help me. I cried out to the Lord for years, asking for help. I waited patiently for the Lord—(well, the psalmist said he waited patiently, but me…not so patiently). Even though there were times when I wasn’t faithful, He was faithful and brought a mentor to me who cared about me and who obediently upheld God’s command in Titus 2 for the older women to teach the younger women how to love their husbands and their children. She cared enough to take the time to come alongside of me, open up God’s Word with me, and teach me how to know God in His Word. She taught me how to apply the Word so that I would be able to take it to heart and bring it to bear in my heart, in my life, and in all of my relationships.
My husband witnessed the transformation of my heart and my life and the impact it had upon our marriage and our family. He longed to see other women’s lives impacted in a similar fashion and envisioned women sitting in our living room being taught what the Lord had taught me. So he painted our living room pink, believing that the Lord would bring women for that very purpose. And the Lord brought the women! I learned that I wasn’t the only woman struggling to know how to love the Lord.
Since that day, many discipleship Bible studies have been written, many women have been discipled and have gone on to disciple others. We pray that the Lord answers the cry of your heart as He answered mine. Our passion and goal continue to be to help women take God’s Word to heart and bring it to life. May that be true of you!
Laurie Aker
Teaching to the Heart
Our Growth Since 2001
2001: 5 women in a living room
2003: 35 women
2005: 135 women
2007: 500 women
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Thistlebend Discipleship Studies
Within Your Local Church
Thistlebend discipleship Bible studies work effectively within the existing context of a traditional church Bible study or home group, as well as within small groups or individual online options.
Online
Online options meet the growing demand of those with challenging schedules and life circumstances in non-traditional settings and who also may find themselves away from their home church: Missionaries, college students, church planters, military personnel, hospital or home bound, single moms, off-shift workers, etc.
Made for Your Schedule
Thistlebend discipleship methods are biblical spiritual disciplines that have been integrated into all of our resources.