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Check Out Courtney Lowman’s Story

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Lowman. They and their team shared their story with us below:

Raised as a Pastor’s kid in the church, plenty of individuals had opinions about how Courtney and her brothers should act and live. However, her parents knew this was not helpful and so they purposely allowed wise adults to speak into their children’s lives and protected them from those who only had opinions but not wisdom. Courtney had no idea what a blessing these otherwise adults were until she herself became an adult.

After completing her music education degree and spending a few years abroad, Courtney began teaching high school choir. During her time as a choral instructor, she was blessed with the opportunity to be that wise voice to many students who had no other adults to ask for advice.

After leaving the public schools, Courtney discovered that this lack of mentorship was not specific to young adolescents. In fact, there was a severe lack of mentorship at all levels both in society and within the church walls. The biggest reason the older generation was not mentored the younger generation on a regular basis was that they felt irrelevant and unprepared. Unsure if they had any expertise or experience that mattered to those generations following them.

Courtney set out to create a program at her local church to train up mentors and disciples to reach out to the younger members. The success of this program fueled Courtney’s passion for discipleship and solidified her belief that no one was meant to go through life alone and everyone needs mentorship!

She created the Journey of Ruth Podcast with the desire to share her own mentors with others and to provide a platform where people can come and find training on how to be a mentor. This opened up the door to an international ministry and Courtney began speaking at events. She created the Building Bold Disciples Program, a discipleship training program that she teaches in churches, helping ministry leaders create a culture of discipleship within their church.

She also spearheaded the 2022 Entrust Discipleship Conference in Phoenix, AZ where women came to develop their mentoring skills, network with other women, and be encouraged. She discovered that so many women feel alone in the mentorship they are performing and the Conference allowed them to find others that had the same passions they had.

In 2023 she will be providing Discipleship Community Chats to create an encouraging environment for those that want to increase their confidence as they mentor others as well as create additional resources to help women successfully disciple the younger generation.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
From the beginning, the podcast was on rocky soil. The Journey of Ruth launched on August 12, 2019. My husband was fired from his job on August 1st. We could have decided to change course and abandoned the idea of the podcast, but instead, we dove in head first. While he was quickly back to work developing what would become his successful landscaping business, Innovo Designs, his help in those first few days and weeks was invaluable. His knowledge of the necessary technology was so much greater than mine and he helped me stay on track.

Growing up, I always thought that I would spend most of my days as a ministry leader overseas. I really enjoyed the 2 years I lived in France and dreamed of returning to Europe one day. When I met my husband I thought we might explore that plan together. However, a few years into our marriage, we decided that the best direction for our family was not headed overseas. I was devastated. However, it was at that time that I was creating the discipleship curriculum at my church which led to me creating the Journey of Ruth Discipleship Podcast. On our 2 year podcast anniversary, I took a look at our stats and realized just how large the podcast’s reach was! As of Mar 2023, the Journey of Ruth has been played in 1814 cities, in 70 countries, and on all 6 inhabited continents! It was amazing to see that even though I was unable to travel as extensively as I would have liked, my podcast was traveling to every corner of the world on a weekly basis!

The process of podcasting is never smooth! Any podcaster will tell you that the podcast is a labor of love. A lot of work for very little compensation, if any. Especially at the beginning, it feels like a grind. Hours of recording, editing, and marketing for initially, very few listeners. But consistency pays off and in 2022 we doubled the listenership of the Journey of Ruth and were able to meet with our listeners at several community events. It never gets old when a listener I do not know comes up to tell me about their favorite episode or guest and how that conversation has helped them. Also, The podcast has looked different through the years. Weekly episodes sometimes, other times bi-weekly.

Interview episodes alongside solo episodes. Actually, the podcast has become a constant amongst the other programs, training, books, and resources that we offer at the Journey of Ruth. It acts as a time capsule, capturing all the struggles, learning opportunities, and victories we have faced over the last 3 and a half years.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The Journey of Ruth produces a podcast, training tools, and resources that help individuals Love Jesus, Study His Word, and Reach Others. Our desire is to see a culture of discipleship in churches throughout the globe. I, Courtney, believe that everyone needs to have a mentor or disciple in their life. I also believe that the Bible tells us that we are all called to go and disciple others. It’s actually a command and not just a good suggestion.

However, many people in the church and around the world today do not disciple others because they feel unqualified or untrained. So they fall victim to the lies that say “There is someone that can do this so much better than I can.” or “I don’t have anything to offer the next generation.” When individuals believe these lies, they don’t reach out to help those people that are already in their lives looking for mentorship and discipleship.

One of the things I am most proud of is the discipleship training and training events we have created at the Journey of Ruth and how they are impacting women’s lives. We provide training for both those looking for mentorship and those wondering if they could mentor. We provide resources to help these individuals connect with someone older than them and with someone younger than them. Our training has given women the confidence to teach in their church, step into new local ministries where their gifts can shine, and begin building a culture of discipleship in their local church. It is so special when a woman shares with me that while she came to an event or a training thinking she had nothing to offer to another woman, she is leaving feeling equipped and empowered to find a woman to mentor. I love speaking to women’s groups, doing multi-week training at churches, and speaking at conferences. My husband asked me if I ever get tired of talking about discipleship and my answer was “Nope!”

One big accomplishment I achieved at the end of 2022 was the publishing of a journal titled “Bible Journey for Busy Women”. I created the journal alongside my friend Valerie Pierce. Our goal was to create a space where women could keep their daily To Do list, prayer list, and notes from their daily devotional and Bible reading time in one place. It can be easy to get distracted from our daily Bible reading when we think of something more pressing we have to get done. When those pressing matters come to mind in the middle of their Bible reading, our journal users can write them over on the To Do list. This allows them to complete their Bible time and then move on to the items they added to their To Do list. The journal is available on my website.

The podcast has taken our message to a global audience which has truly surprised and blessed me. The message of discipleship shared on the Journey of Ruth Podcast had been heard on all 6 inhabited continents, in 70 counties, and in 1,814 cities with over 21,000 downloads. More than 150 people listen to the podcast each week. It ranks in the top 5% of all podcasts and continually ranks in the top 250 podcasts in the Religion & Spirituality Category, a heavily populated category.

The Journey of Ruth is known for honest, relevant conversations for those who believe in Jesus and those who don’t. We talk about real-life subjects such as loss, grief, marriage, anxiety, and mentorship alongside spiritual topics such as discipleship, Bible reading, prayer, and practicing spiritual disciplines. My guests and I never take ourselves too seriously so we talk openly and honestly with a little humor mixed in. I like to think of it as having coffee with a friend and we have brought the audience along to hear our conversation. The conversation is never awkward and always has value to offer to the listeners.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
My mom was a talented piano player and vocalist. She served for many years alongside my Dad in ministry. My Dad was a pastor and my mom was a music minister. My mom was a piano teacher and taught lessons to my brothers and me along with her other students. In 3rd grade, she “fired” me as her student. Apparently, in all my 3rd-grade wisdom, I thought I knew more than my Mom and wasn’t very nice about it. So she told me I could come back to lessons whenever I was ready to let her be the boss.

It only took about 6 months of watching her teach other kids, and not me, before I came back to her and asked to start again. I’m so glad I did. That led to many years of lessons, competitions, band concerts, vocal performances where Mom was always my accompanist, and a bachelor’s degree in Music Education. Mom was with me, cheering me on or accompanying me at every performance and audition and it all started with the lessons she “fired” me from for a short time. The lessons she taught me have helped not just in my time as a music teacher, but also in my confidence as a speaker and podcaster.

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Image Credits
Jeffrey Lowman and Gisselle Torres

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