Welcome to Friends of Aslan
Our Vision
Our Members:
Our vision is to grow a global learning community of Jesus followers who want to:
1. make their work/occupation an expression of worship to God
2. embrace their priestly/emissary role in their home, community, and workplace
3. team up with others to see new vibrant communities of Jesus followers multiplied in every corner of society.
We call ourselves Friends of Aslan, as a wink towards C.S. Lewis’ novel series, Chronicles of Narnia.
Our Members:
Our Members:
We aspire to be a global mentoring community for Jesus followers in the workplace. We are a community of ordinary people who purpose to:
1. Memorize Matthew chapters 5-7 in the New Testament and strive to understand and put it into practice.
2. Live simply and modestly. Among other things, this normally means avoiding debt, living within our means, and acting generously and responsibly with our time, talents, and resources.
3. Be multi-lingual and culturally self-aware.
4. Facilitate Discovery Bible Studies (DBS) and empower people of peace.
5. Pursue peace with all people and become competent to coach others in biblical peacemaking.
6. Team-up with other followers of Jesus in our workplace, occupation and/or affinity group to: pray together, bless and encourage one another, and seek God's will together.
7. Nurture purity and contentment in our marriage or singleness.
8. Pray continuously and develop other spiritual disciplines.
9. Demonstrate excellence in our work and at our workplaces and make our work an expression of worship.
10. Embrace the Lausanne Covenant as a reflection of what we believe and aspire to.
A Mentoring Community of Priestly People in the Workplace
We long to be a community that gets continually better at representing our Father to our people and representing our people to our heavenly Father.
Membership in Friends of Aslan is administered through chapters within local churches and Christian organizations.
We promote the priesthood of all believers and a robust theology of work,
A 3-Tier Global Workplace Mentoring Program
This program serves as the basic induction or onboarding journey of Friends of Aslan.
There are three tiers to the onboarding journey. Each tier requires an increasing level of commitment for both mentors and mentees.
Friend of Aslan mentors are called Yoldash. These are senior members of Friends of Aslan. Yoldash is a Turkish word meaning 'friend on the road' or 'fellow traveler'. A Yoldash is an officially recognized mentor/coach within Friends of Aslan. As such, they lead and facilitate the onboarding journey from tier-1 to tier-3.
The first-tier of the training is a two hour Zoom call to discuss the book Embracing Our Priestly Nature at Work. The book is an introduction to the foundational structure and theology behind tier-2 and tier-3 training. Hard copies of the book can be purchased on Amazon. Audio versions of the book (107min) are available on Audibles, iTunes, and Amazon. A free version of the full audio book is also available HERE.
The hoped for outcome is to whet the appetite of participants by giving them (you) a taste of what to expect in the second tier. We hope that some of the first-tier participants will commit themselves to join the second tier of the training.
The second tier. There are currently several alternatives for accomplishing the second tier.
Alternative one is an intense non-residential on-the-job discipleship program of 4-6 months. You form the small group/cohort, preferably from within your workplace or church colleagues and we facilitate the training. Each participant in the mentoring cohort makes a formal commitment (via a learning contract) to take time out of their schedule (usually 5-6 hours a week) in order to equip themselves over the length of the course, typically 6 months.
There is homework. For example: Each participant makes a commitment to:
1) memorize, meditate on, and apply the Sermon on the Mount,
2) pray for their work colleagues,
3) learn and apply biblical conflict resolution practices,
4) read and discuss assigned books on biblical peace making, theology of work, and church multiplication
5) participate weekly in a 90 minute cohort group
6) identify people of peace and facilitate a Discovery Bible Studies (DBS) within one of their affinity groups.
7) explore their life's purpose(s) by examining your spiritual gifts, heart, ability, personality, and experience.
8) establish rhythms of prayer and reflection.
As mentioned earlier, we will meet 90 minutes each week, alternating between one-on-one and cohort sessions (either in person or on Zoom). The dates and times for cohort meetings will be negotiated and jointly agreed upon by the cohort according to our schedules. More details about tier two is available upon request.
Alternative two. If candidates have already accomplished these tasks in another setting or through a different Christian community, then a Yoldash within Friends of Aslan will be assigned to simply verify that the tasks have already been completed. Verification takes place through an interview, verbal examination, and documentation.
Alternative three. This is a blend of of alternative one and two and is normally administered by a "yurt". A yurt is a Christian organization or local church that is authorized to administrate the onboarding journey on behalf of Friends of Aslan. Some Yurts may require additional steps beyond the mentioned above.
The third tier starts with your formal induction into the Friends of Aslan. A senior member of Friends of Aslan will make a long-term coaching commitment (1-3 years) to helping you and your team to have a long-term impact for Jesus in your workplace or industry sector.
Participation in tier-three will lead to becoming a "Yoldash" or senior member of Friends of Aslan. As mentioned before, Yoldash is the Turkish word for "fellow traveler". A Yoldash will have a deep burden for their people (co-workers, clients, suppliers, etc) and be eager to be a co-learner and co-leader with other Yoldash.
The hoped for outcomes are networked teams of disciple makers exploring how God might use them to influence their industry for good and see new expressions of ‘church’ spring up through workplace relationships. There are no experts here, so it will be learning through trial and error and collaboration.