Wisconsin Church Builds a Multiplying Discipleship Pipeline Among College Students

Livingstone Baptist Church in Madison, Wisconsin, treats the constant movement of college life as a reason to deepen discipleship rather than lower expectations. Dongho Kim arrived from Korea with a Christian family background but no personal commitment to Christ. A fellow student invited him to a college gathering and Sunday worship. Kim kept attending, joined a winter retreat, and listened to teaching about the apostle Paul. He opened Scripture, encountered the claims of Jesus, trusted Christ, and later received baptism. The church then guided him through a ten-step discipleship Bible study. Kim now prepares to teach another student. His service also moved beyond the study table. As a computer science student, he created Livingstone Lift, an app designed to coordinate rides to church activities. Pastor Peter Ko sees such growth as part of a multiplying culture. Livingstone currently supports seven or eight Life Groups with roughly four or five students in each group. Students and young adults also gather on Fridays for dinner, biblical teaching, prayer, fellowship, and leadership development. Ko places special value on one-to-one discipleship, where one believer learns to follow Christ and then helps someone else do the same. The congregation watched one student disciple another, who discipled a third, who now prepares to teach someone new. A second student trained by Ko also began investing in others. This pattern reflects patient, relational ministry. It forms students through Scripture, prayer, Christian friendship, service, and responsibility rather than measuring success by event attendance alone. Students receive both instruction and a living example of Christian maturity.

College ministry carries a built-in deadline. Livingstone saw 20 student leaders graduate during spring 2026, with 10 more expected to finish in December. Leaders often gain maturity shortly before leaving the city. Ko refuses to view departure as wasted investment. Graduates move into workplaces, churches, neighborhoods, and communities where their habits of Bible reading, service, and disciple-making travel with them. His hope remains simple. Students should carry Jesus Christ, a daily devotional habit, and a servant’s heart grounded in God’s Word. Churches serving universities should build around this same horizon. New students need early invitations, dependable transportation, meaningful friendships, and clear next steps. Mature students need real responsibility before graduation. One-to-one Bible study should lead toward prayer, service, leadership, and the ability to help another person follow Christ. Financial partners also play a role. Livingstone receives help from the Barnabas Connection for outreach at the beginning of each semester, when incoming students first form relationships and routines. Mark Dever’s Discipling: How to Help Others Follow Jesus offers a fitting companion. The 2016 Crossway book explains the purpose, setting, cost, and practical work of discipling within the local church. Dever emphasizes deliberate influence, clear aims, patient investment, and leadership development. Those priorities match Livingstone’s work among students whose years in Madison remain brief. The church does not seek to keep every graduate nearby. It seeks to send believers who know Christ, love Scripture, serve others, and reproduce faithful discipleship wherever God places them next. The resulting ministry extends far beyond one congregation or one university town.