The DITP is a nine-month intensive course of biblical instruction designed to provide specialized training for men and women sensing God's call to service in the local church as elders, teachers, preachers, evangelists, or missionaries, as biblically appropriate. Training takes place within an active assembly and is conducted under the oversight of the elders. The program is currently hosted by FreeWay Bible Chapel in Lubbock, Texas. Committed Christians seeking to deepen their theological understanding and develop practical skills for church leadership are encouraged to apply.
The greatest prayer request of churches around the world is for more and better leaders. In 1972, three Bible teachers—William MacDonald, O. Jean Gibson, and Jack Davies—sought the Lord’s guidance as to how they could address the problem. They saw in the Scriptures that Jesus taught the multitudes, but focused His attention on the training of a small group of men who came to be called the Twelve. At times, Jesus narrowed His ministry further to three men: Peter, James, and John (Matthew 17:1; Mark 5:37; 13:3; 14:33). Jesus taught these men primarily through life-transference. He welcomed them into His life and shared His day-to-day experiences with them, modeling that which He wanted them to learn. They prayed together, preached the gospel, faced the threats of the Pharisees, and confronted evil. Mark summarizes Jesus’ discipleship ministry, writing, “He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach” (Mark 3:14). Jesus commanded His disciples to do likewise, saying, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
With these Scriptures in mind, the three teachers founded the Discipleship Intern Training Program (DITP). They structured it as a nine-month course of intensive training, in which a small group of eight to ten men would be offered internships at Fairhaven Bible Chapel in San Leandro, California. The first session of the DITP began on September 3, 1973, with ten interns. Each morning, teachers and students met for 30 minutes of devotional time in the Word and prayer. This was followed by three hours of Bible study. In the afternoon, the interns studied. During the evenings, instructors took the interns out on pastoral visits to the homes of the saints, or the interns were involved in home fellowship groups, programs for children, or evangelistic studies. On weekends, the instructors included the interns in their preaching ministry, taking two or three men along with them as they spoke at neighboring churches. If an instructor was traveling for ministry overseas, he always took one or two interns along with him. In this manner, the interns learned the Bible and how to serve Christ, working shoulder to shoulder with their mentors, and applying what they learned within the context of the church. The interns learned to preach, teach, pastor, evangelize, and deal with real-life problems. The following September, the instructors offered another ten men internships, and the cycle repeated in almost unbroken succession to this present day.
The program operated at Fairhaven from 1973 to 1999. In 2000, the DITP moved to San Jose, California, and was hosted by Grace Bible Chapel and Hillview Bible Chapel. In 2016, the training was moved to Lubbock, Texas, and is now hosted by FreeWay Bible Chapel.
Steve Caldwell came to know the Lord at Hillview Bible Chapel in high school. He worked at Lockheed Martin as a budget analyst for thirteen years. Hillview recognized him as an elder in 1998, and then asked Steve to serve full-time in 2000. Steve and Vicky led the "SaltWorks" college and career ministry, and are also involved in marriage counseling, discipleship, and hospitality. He is active in preaching and discipleship and is skilled in addressing contemporary social issues from a Biblical perspective. Steve has recently been commended to serve full-time with the Discipleship Intern Training Program (DITP) in Lubbock, Texas.
Brady Collier graduated from the Discipleship Intern Training Program in 2010. In 2012, he and his family were commended to a teaching, preaching, and encouraging ministry among the Christians in Honduras. Eventually, the Lord called them back to minister in the United States. As an elder at FreeWay Bible Chapel, Brady is actively involved in teaching, preaching, visitation, and pastoral care. FreeWay hosts the Discipleship Intern Training Program, where Brady is a director and is involved in teaching and discipling. Brady is also a director and teacher at the Galilee Program.
Jim McCarthy came to Christ out of devout Catholicism through a home Bible study. In his many years of full-time ministry, Jim has served the Lord in Ireland, been on the faculty of the DITP, helped started an assembly in San Jose, CA, and was an elder there for 15 years. Jim is now commended to a full-time writing and teaching ministry, is a director of the DITP, and co directs the Galilee Program. Jim is the author of more than a dozen books including Steps to Bible Knowledge, Disciplines of the Christian Life, and The Gospel According to Rome.
Steve Price and his wife, Janet, have nine children and eight grandchildren. Steve and Janet reside in Kansas City, Kansas, where he has practiced emergency medicine since 1991. Steve serves as the director of Assembly Care Ministries and a doctor for the ACM Healthline. He is an elder at the Bible Chapel of Shawnee and works part time at one of the local hospitals. Steve also serves as a board member for Emmaus Bible College, the Ezekiel Project, the Discipleship Intern Training Program, and Galilee. Steve regularly participates in medical mission trips and ministers at conferences in North America and overseas.
Bobby Campbell came to know the Lord when interns from the Discipleship Intern Training Program were doing evangelism on campus and stopped him to talk about the Lord. He became involved at Fairhaven Bible Chapel in San Leandro soon afterward. In 2010, Bobby graduated from the DITP. Bobby and his wife, Jessica, have served the Lord in short-term missions overseas in Nicaragua and Central Asia. Bobby is now an elder at Fairhaven Bible Chapel, and is actively involved in Preaching, teaching, and discipleship. He is a teacher at the DITP, as well as a speaker at the Galilee Program.
Scott DeGroff was commended by Topeka Gospel Chapel as a full-time itinerant preacher in North America. In 2016, sensing a strong burden from the Lord, Scott and his wife, Lynn, refocused to a broader cross-cultural ministry in North America— seeing new works established. In 2018, they relocated to Freedom, California. The new work they are involved in is a ministry to unreached people groups and migrant workers. They work alongside Freedom Teams, a nonprofit organization with a three-fold burden to reach the continent for Christ in this generation through a fresh work that will replicate itself around North America and beyond.
Beau Durham lives in Lubbock, Texas and fellowships at FreeWay Bible Chapel where he serves the Lord in various capacities such as teaching, preaching, and evangelism outreach. He and his wife Marley have a daughter, Charlie, and a son, Thatcher. Beau teaches inductive Bible study methods and implementation at the Galilee Training Program and the Discipleship Intern Training Program (DITP). His goal is to obey the Lord in making disciples with inductive Bible study being the means to the end of a healthy relationship with Christ and obedience to his rightly divided word.
Jim Haesemeyer received Christ at Texas Tech University and was nurtured in his early Christian faith at the FreeWay Bible Chapel. After completing graduate studies at Tech, Jim worked at Texas Tech Medical School as the manager of a research department. In 1986, Jim, Sharon, and their family moved to California, where Jim participated in the DITP (he later received the M.Div. and D.Min. degrees.). In 1989, the Haesemeyers moved to Honduras, where they were involved in elder and leadership training, evangelism, and working with local assemblies. Currently, the Haesemeyers divide their yearly calendar to minister in both Honduras and Lubbock.
David Reeve worked as an Agricultural Biologist for nine years. He and his wife, Betsy, started a Spanish-speaking ministry at Fairhaven Bible Chapel. In 2000, Fairhaven commended them to Esteli, Nicaragua, to help with a church plant. David also served as an instructor for Modulos Biblicos. David and Betsy hosted three mission schools with the vision of seeing Central Americans sent out to help reach the unreached. In 2009 they led by example and went to Central Asia to teach English and disciple young people. David and Betsy now serve with Freedom Teams among Hispanic migrants in Freedom, California.
Micah Tuttle and wife Amy were commended to the Lord’s work by Eastgate Bible Chapel in Portland, Oregon. They went to Peru and began to do mission work in the Andes mountains and the Amazon rainforest. The Lord enabled them to start a few churches and bible institutes in the jungle where the work is now flourishing. Presently the Tuttle’s are trying to encourage a younger generation in the areas of evangelism, discipleship, church planting, and missions. The Lord has recently opened up many doors for Micah and Amy to do an itinerant ministry in the USA and abroad.
FreeWay Bible Chapel
5507 Marsha Sharp Fwy,
Lubbock, TX 79407
DITPLubbock@gmail.com
Grace Bible Chapel (Co-Sponsor)
San Jose, CA
In summary, our complete doctrinal statement encompasses the following: the Bible as God's inerrant word, the Trinity, Jesus' virgin birth and sacrifice, humanity's sin and salvation through Christ alone, the importance of faith, the Holy Spirit's work in believers and the church, Christ's return, and the ultimate destinies of saved and lost.
