About EQUIP

EQUIP is for Jesus-centered leaders and churches. It is the only ministry helping to build cultures of discipleship that prepare people to experience, live, and share God’s Story.

Welcome to EQUIP
(Formerly known as Kingdom Story)

Meet our world-class team of instructors

Who We Serve

EQUIP seeks to serve leaders who are making Jesus disciples. 

Our approach is particularly compatible with those who are spiritually hungry, eager, and committed to the next generation of leaders and to people of all races and colors around the world.

EQUIP's Vision

Our vision is to see a discipleship culture in every church.

EQUIP's Mission

Our mission is to equip leaders with the training and resources to build a culture of discipleship in themselves and their organizations and to empower them to bring God’s hope and healing to the world.

EQUIP's Values

Make Disciples Who Make Disciples

We are dedicated followers of Jesus. We want to empower others to see themselves in the story of the Bible so that they, too, may grow as a disciple, make disciples of others, and live with the passion and purpose of Jesus.

Disciples Are Best Formed Through Story

EQUIP strongly believes that personal, biblical, and cultural stories are powerful when experienced together. Story is a medium that is eternal and cross-cultural. At EQUIP, we use the power of story to reveal God in a way that people can understand and connect with.

Worldwide Commitment

EQUIP’s commitment to bringing new vitality to the Biblical story through storytelling stretches out to the whole world. We desire our impact to be global. We are currently present in countries like the United States, Canada, China, Africa, and Latin America. Our global emphasis has moved us to translate our work into multiple languages.

Challenging the Status Quo

We want to challenge conventional paradigms and stretch people beyond the dominant culture’s assumptions. We want to share God’s purpose in a better understood and valued way. We want to bring people back to a more vital relationship with Christ and people in their communities.communitiestransformation.

Life-giving relationships

We believe that because God is love, humans were created to be in relationship. People experience transformation in the context of meaningful relationships. Relationships matter both during and after people experience EQUIP's resources.

Become Like Christ

When we encounter Jesus, we enter into a life-long journey of becoming like Christ. This involves a transformation of our head (how we think, believe, and conduct ourselves). It consists of a transformation of our heart (our emotions, values, passions, and desires). It involves a transformation of our habits (how we act and what we do). The goal is to become like Christ, which involves a transformation of the “whole” self. We want to empower others to see themselves in the story of the Bible so that they, too, may grow as a disciple, make disciples of others, and live with the passion and purpose of Jesus.

Our History

The Creation of the Kingdom Story

The Kingdom Story Experience curriculum was authored by John Lewis in 1994. The primary audience was students, interns and staff involved in the University of Puget Sound college ministry (1994-2001). John then served in the local church and a non-profit organization called Leadership Foundations (2001-11); in between John and his family did a two-year stint in Beijing, China, working with young adults. During this phase, the Kingdom Story Experience was taught and experienced by over 500 people of all ages and denominations in the U.S. and China. It was translated into Chinese, two English versions were developed (group & personal study) and an introduction seminar called The Bible Reframed was created.

The Birth of the Kingdom Story Mission

In 2012, John launched Kingdom Story Ministries to focus on the Kingdom Story approach and to serve churches and faith based organizations. Over the years this has led to providing vital resources for kingdom impact in the Tacoma, Washington area through partnerships with organizations including the Tacoma Rescue Mission, Young Life and Youth for Christ, as well as in worldwide communities in China and East Africa. During these years, Kingdom Story trained over 70 people in the U.S., China and Africa to facilitate the distribution of various Kingdom Story curriculum; developed several adaptations for local and global audiences; and developed the Discipleship ReFramed seminar to help churches develop cultures of discipleship. In March of 2024, Kingdom Story changed its name to EQUIP.

The EQUIP Team

Rob DeKlotz

Executive Director
Rob is new to the team in 2020. Rob serves the ministry in the areas of leadership development, strategic planning, and communication. He is the primary mover in our rebranding. 

John Lewis

Founder and President
John founded Kingdom Story Ministries (now known as EQUIP) in 2012, and is actively serving as the President of the ministry.

Branden Hubbell

Associate Executive Director
Branden is responsible for many of EQUIP's day-to-day operations as Associate Executive Director.

Richard Mutura

Director of the
Community Transformation Center
in Africa
As the Director of CTC, Richard is responsible for the discipleship development programs throughout Africa.

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