Cindy and John Thomas from Southeast Alabama Baptist Association in the wiregrass region of the state recently passed their year mark of discipling believers in East Africa via WhatsApp.
John serves as SABA’s associational mission strategist. Cindy, who also is active in the work of the association, is a preschool teacher at Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Dothan.
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Using the video call feature, they hold weekly sessions with 24 others and do the best they can as connectivity and electricity issues sometimes interrupt the calls for those in Africa.
The group uses the “SOT” method to comb through books of the Bible, stating in simple sentences what the passage “Says,” asking how the passage is calling you to step out in “Obedience,” and asking who in your life can you “Tell” these findings to in the coming days.
Ibra, a pastor in Uganda, said, ““What I get out of the lessons, I share on the ground. We are experiencing God and learning sound doctrine. It would be selfish to learn and not tell!”
Papa and Mama
The Thomases, known as Papa John and Mama Cindy by the African believers, met Ibra when Cindy led a Facebook study on the Gospel of John in 2025. Ibra had also connected with another pastor, Lucas, who is from Kenya, and they eventually asked the Thomases to host the virtual discipleship group.
“Discipleship is mandatory,” Lucas shared during a recent session. “We need to differentiate between the world and the light.”
Those participating in the virtual discipleship sessions dig deep into Scripture and provide productive discussions, the Thomases noted. They sometimes share relevant passages from memory as they work through the understandings together.
We learn just as much from these guys and ladies, and their insights into Scripture, as they do from us,” John said.
Practical needs
The partnership also has branched into meeting practical needs such as the children’s discipleship curriculums shared with Lucas to use in churches throughout Uganda and Kenya. John also sent physical Bibles and audiobibles to the seminary in Kampala. The audiobibles are especially helpful in the rural regions where there’s lower literacy rates, he noted.
To participate in an upcoming virtual discipleship session with the Thomases and the East African believers or to learn more about their process, email John at john@sabachurches.com.
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