Founders

Founders Joe and Tammie Friberg launched Equip Disciples with a simple vision: to make disciples wherever God leads us.

The apostle Paul writes that, because of Christ, we no longer regard people as we once did (2 Cor. 5:16–17). We recognize that every person either belongs to Christ's Kingdom or still needs to hear and respond to the good news of Jesus Christ (Col. 1:13–14). But making disciples does not end when someone comes to faith. We also want to understand where believers are in their walk with Christ so that we can encourage and equip them to grow toward spiritual maturity and become more like Jesus (Eph. 4:13–16; Col. 1:28).

That means being intentional wherever God places us. We seek to build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ—sharing the gospel with those who do not yet know him, strengthening those who do, and equipping believers to disciple and serve others (1 Cor. 3:11; 2 Tim. 2:2).

We believe discipleship begins in the home, extends through the church, and reaches to the world.

Serving Together

Our ministry teams are made up of believers who share this common purpose and seek to serve with one mind, heart, and spirit for the glory of God (Phil. 1:27; 2:1–2). Each person brings the spiritual gifts God has entrusted to him or her, and together we seek God's direction for how those gifts can best serve others and build up the Body of Christ (Rom. 12:4–8; 1 Cor. 12:4–7; 1 Pet. 4:10–11).

In this sense, we are all disciple-makers—and we are all still being discipled. We are teachers and learners at the same time. As we teach, serve, and labor together in God's field, God continues to teach and transform us as well (1 Cor. 3:6–9; Phil. 3:12–14).

Discipleship is not limited to a classroom, a church program, or a mission trip. It is taking place throughout everyday life. Our words, priorities, decisions, relationships, and conduct are continually demonstrating to others what it means to follow Jesus (Matt. 5:14–16; 1 Cor. 11:1; Phil. 3:17). That reality challenges even the most committed Christian to ask: What are others learning about following Jesus by watching me?

Equipping Believers for Ministry

Ephesians 4 teaches that Christ gives gifts to his people so that believers may be equipped for the work of ministry and the Body of Christ may be built up toward maturity (Eph. 4:11–16). Ministry, therefore, belongs to the whole Body of Christ. Every believer has something God can use in the lives of others.

This includes both laypeople and vocational ministers who, through years of walking with Christ, have developed reservoirs of life experience, biblical knowledge, ministry experience, and spiritual perspective that can be shared with others. What God has taught us is not intended to end with us. We are called to entrust biblical truth to faithful people who will, in turn, teach and disciple others (2 Tim. 2:2).

Sharing What God Has Given Us

In many parts of the world, pastors and church leaders do not have access to the biblical training, theological resources, experienced mentors, and ministry tools that many Christians elsewhere may take for granted. We recognize that neither we nor our churches are perfect. We go, therefore, not with an attitude of superiority, but as fellow members of Christ's Body who desire to share what God has graciously entrusted to us (Rom. 12:3–5; 1 Cor. 4:7).

And ministry is never one-directional.

Whenever we cross cultural and geographic boundaries to proclaim the gospel, teach Scripture, disciple believers, encourage church leaders, and equip God's people for ministry, we invariably discover that God is also at work in us. Through the faith, perseverance, wisdom, and experiences of the believers we serve alongside, we ourselves are encouraged, challenged, taught, and strengthened in our faith and obedience (Rom. 1:11–12).

We go to make disciples—and in the process, Christ continues making disciples of us.

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27.17)

Tammie and Joe have three children ages 25-32 Each of them has come to know and love the Lord, and are actively and enthusiastically serving the Lord in their own ways.

Joe Friberg

Founder | President

Joe Friberg is a founder of Equip Disciples and serves as President and a member of the Board of Directors. His lifelong passion for Scripture, discipleship, biblical languages, and missions helped shape the vision of Equip Disciples: to equip believers to know God's Word, grow toward maturity in Christ, and make disciples of others.

A Life Shaped by God's Word

Joe's love for Scripture began early, with his first-grade Bible. At children's camp when he was nine years old, he placed his faith in Christ, coming to understand from Scripture the grace and forgiveness God offers through the saving work of Jesus. Psalm 103:10–12 became a meaningful expression of that truth:

He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve
or repaid us according to our offenses.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His faithful love
toward those who fear Him.

As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed
our transgressions from us.
—Psalm 103:10–12 (HCSB)

Even in those early years of faith, Joe developed a burden for people who had never heard the gospel. That concern deepened during high school, when he attended a discipleship Bible study with his high school sweetheart and future wife, Tammie. Their teacher, Jack Clifford, introduced the students to the study of Scripture from Greek and Hebrew and challenged them to grow deeply in their faith. Through those studies, Joe also became aware of the need for Bible translation among the thousands of language communities around the world without adequate access to Scripture.

From Mathematics to Biblical Languages

Joe studied mathematics and physics at the University of Texas at Austin. Yet some of the most formative experiences of those college years happened outside the classroom. Through dormitory Bible studies, campus preaching, conversations about Christ, and consistent personal study of Scripture and prayer, Joe's desire to communicate God's Word across languages and cultures continued to grow.

That calling eventually led him to graduate study in linguistics at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he received practical training from faculty associated with Wycliffe Bible Translators and the nearby Summer Institute of Linguistics. He earned a Master of Arts in Linguistics and later a Master of Arts in Theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Following seminary, Joe served on the Old Testament translation committee for the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Discipleship in Everyday Life

Throughout their marriage, Joe and Tammie have served alongside one another in discipleship and ministry. They have taught youth and adults, participated in mission trips, served through music, and led Bible studies in a variety of settings. Joe has led Bible studies with students as a high school teacher and with colleagues in the workplace as an actuary—reflecting his conviction that discipleship belongs wherever God places his people.

Joe serves as a deacon at First Baptist Church of Arlington, Texas, where he and Tammie also teach adult Bible study. Over the years, he has served through missions, children's ministry, and children's camp. He is also a founding member of the Broken Cords band, where he sings and plays fiddle.

Professionally, Joe runs a pension actuarial practice serving small-business clients.

Whether studying Scripture, teaching a Bible class, serving on the mission field, working with clients, or playing music, Joe's desire remains the same: to know Christ faithfully, to help others understand God's Word, and to equip believers to become disciple-makers themselves.

Tammie Friberg

Founder | Executive Director

Tammie helped launch Equip Disciples and serves as Executive Director and on the Board of Directors. If you contact Equip Disciples, she is likely to be the person you hear from first!

Tammie's heart for discipleship goes back to her own early years as a Christian. She came to Christ while in high school and immediately became serious about growing in her faith and sharing it with others. During those years, she was part of a discipleship Bible study that challenged her to study Scripture deeply and live it out faithfully. That experience helped shape a conviction that has stayed with her ever since: Christians never outgrow the need to be discipled, and what we learn should be passed on to others.

In college, Tammie led Bible studies for fellow musicians and international students. After graduation, she married her high school sweetheart, Joe, and discipleship became an important part of their life together. Through the years they have taught youth and adults, served in missions, made music together, and looked for opportunities to encourage people in their walk with Christ.

Teaching is one of Tammie's great joys. She loves Scripture, but she also loves the people she teaches. Whether she is working with a women's discipleship group, teaching Sunday School, leading a home Bible study, working with internationals, or sitting with pastors and church leaders in Africa, she wants people not simply to know more about the Bible, but to know Christ more deeply and live faithfully in obedience to him.

That same desire has taken Tammie into cross-cultural ministry since she was in high school. Over the years she has served in Minnesota and Wisconsin, Brazil, Honduras, Mexico, Costa Rica, Kenya, Rwanda, and DR Congo. Her passion is not simply to take people on mission trips, but to see them actually engaged in ministry—sharing the gospel, teaching Scripture, encouraging believers, and using the gifts God has given them to build up the Body of Christ. She has also discovered that cross-cultural ministry works both ways: those who go to teach and encourage often return having been taught, encouraged, and challenged themselves.

Tammie has prepared seriously for the teaching ministry God has given her. She earned a Master of Divinity with Biblical Languages from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry in Discipleship from Liberty University. Much of what she has learned through years of studying, teaching, and serving now shapes the curriculum she writes for Equip Disciples and her work with church leaders in DR Congo and Rwanda.

Music has also been part of Tammie's life for as long as ministry has. She earned her undergraduate degree in music education from West Texas State University and is a violinist. She has played in church orchestras, performed violin duets with Joe, and occasionally brought her violin along on the mission field.

Tammie and her family are members of First Baptist Church of Arlington, Texas, where she has served in women's discipleship, children's choir, church orchestra, missions, and other ministries.

Through all these settings, the thread has remained the same since those early days of her Christian life: learn from Christ, follow him faithfully, and help someone else do the same.

Our founders, Joe and Tammie Friberg were ordained to the Gospel Ministry by the Baptist Convention of Kenya in 2011.

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