RELATIONAL DISCIPLESHIP
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit were deeply bonded together as one in Hesed love before Creation began. Emotionally healthy community cannot be achieved without a culture of Hesed love.
We are transformed into the image of Jesus MOST by who we are securely attached to in covenant love, not through classrooms, programs and information.
OUR VISION
Hesed {חֶסֶד}
God’s covenant love that sticks with you
and is loyal to the end.
We dream of a world where Jesus’ disciples are deeply connected by Hesed love—so much so that the atmosphere of Heaven touches every place we live, work, learn, and play.
JOHN 15:13
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
CO-FOUNDERS
MEET THE TEAM
Rebecca Caputo
Co-Founder/
Operations Champion
Rebecca has spent over two decades working as an executive assistant and in project management. She currently serves as our operations champion. With a gift for turning vision into reality, she brings clarity, coordination, and follow-through to every initiative. She ensures our systems run smoothly behind the
scenes and she manages our social media presence, helping us communicate our mission with creativity and consistency. Her steady
leadership and attention to detail help keep our team focused, aligned, and moving forward.
Rebecca carries a deep passion for the peace, clarity, and freedom that emotional health and maturity bring. She is deeply drawn towards seeing healing and transformation in women overcoming trauma, including emotional neglect, narcissistic abuse, spiritual manipulation, identity wounds, and the lingering effects of shame and fear.
Through Shalom Center Biblical Counseling & Coaching, she provides personal coaching to women seeking healing, clarity, and confidence in who God created them to be. She creates a safe space for women to process pain, rediscover their voice, and also to walk in emotional and spiritual wholeness by drawing from her training in Inner Healing and Deliverance Ministry when she is led. Her passion is to see women feel deeply seen, known, and empowered to live from a heart anchored in rest, peace, and their God given purpose.
With a tender love for the written word, she weaves together truth and testimony from her own healing journey to offer hope, guidance, and a validating presence to others finding their way toward wholeness.
Michael Miller
Co-Founder/Coaching and
Connections Champion
Michael has spent the last thirty years immersed in the world of graphic design and brand identity, co-owning a successful boutique agency in the Kansas City area. Though the work was meaningful and creatively rich, after selling the business, Michael experienced a shift. He began to recognize how much of his energy had been poured into things that weren’t necessarily Kingdom-centered—and how little space modern life often leaves for deep, lasting relationships. That realization sparked a turning point.
Through the lens of Hesed Discipleship Network, Michael has discovered a new kind of fulfillment—one rooted in walking closely with Jesus and being deeply connected to a trusted community. This journey has transformed every area of his life, from his marriage and family to his creative ventures and ministry involvement.
Michael carries a quiet strength and shepherd’s grace that naturally draws others in. Whether he’s building relationships, listening with compassion, or gently guiding others toward healing, he creates safe spaces where people feel seen, known, and invited into restoration. His passion is to help others rediscover their God-given purpose and walk in wholeness—one relationship at a time.
Michael currently serves as a Hesed coach, where he comes alongside others with a shepherd’s heart and a steady, compassionate presence. In this role, he helps cultivate emotionally safe, spiritually rich environments where people can heal, grow, and rediscover their God-given identity and purpose through the power of relational discipleship.
He continues to walk out this vision as the Elder Team Coordinator at KC Underground, a citywide mission and training hub committed to multiplying disciple-making communities. His leadership reflects the same heart he brings to every Hesed space—faithful, relational, and rooted in the love of Christ.
Christopher Caputo
Co-Founder/Organizational
Development Champion
Chris Caputo is a friend of Jesus and a Kingdom catalyst, devoted to igniting emotionally healthy discipleship within the Body of Christ.
With a heart that beats for relational restoration and healthy spiritual formation, Chris helps others live fully alive from the heart Jesus gave them, guiding them to heal, grow, and love with wisdom and hesed. Whether through writing, coaching, or community building, Chris carries a unique blend of emotional intelligence and spiritual depth that empowers everyday disciples to become whole, rooted, and relationally strong in Christ.
With nearly 30 years of bi-vocational experience as a business entrepreneur, licensed counselor, pastor, and church planter, Chris carries a deep passion for helping individuals, leaders, and organizations not only heal and transform—but thrive. His ongoing pursuit is to uncover practical, Spirit-led pathways for predictable growth and emotional wholeness, combined with Kingdom-centered multiplication that endures across generations.
Chris is eager to connect with others who share his passion to see Jesus shine most brightly—both through the lives of transformed individuals and within a spiritual family of disciples marked by shared life and hesed love.
Email him at
chris@heseddiscipleshipnetwork.com to schedule a discovery call to connect. He would love to hear from you, discover what brings joy to your heart, and learn what Jesus is up to in your life and the lives of those closest to you!
OUR STORY
OUR JOURNEY TO HESED DISCIPLESHIP THAT BROUGHT EMOTIONAL MATURITY AND SOUL RESTORATION UNTO HEALTHY COMMUNITY.
AUGUST 2017
Chris Finds Covenant Relationships (by accident)!
In the beginning, three men (Chris / Brad/ George) came together through the Holy Spirit to simply talk about Jesus with a passion for business. Sans religion, classrooms, small group “Churchy” discussion formats, they were JUST BEING with one another with no agenda except to enjoy interacting while catching up with each other’s story, week after week. They agreed to set aside a specific time (once a week minimum) to share their hearts, build trust and see how they can serve one another and their families. Over a short period of time, simple practices such as growing in shalom, building joy, and appreciating each other’s uniqueness were gently weaved into the conversations. Healing and wholeness increased, living more fully from the heart Jesus gave them had emerged and an eternal covenantal spark began – so simple and obscure. Isolation and restlessness of the soul had finally died for Chris the day Hesed-based, secure attachments formed between these men!
JANUARY 2019
Here Comes the KC Underground
A disciple-making movement of equipping extended spiritual families on mission through micro-churches emerging began in 2019 called the Kansas City Underground. It was at a local monthly New Thing Church planters meetings where Chris and Rob met and have since become the closest of brothers. Together, they built a deep, covenant friendship, looking for ways for missionaries and micro churches to become better equipped in the importance of doing relationships well and having a close discipling circle of three, much like Jesus who walked the closest to Peter/James/John. As things progressed, Hesed covenant love infected other leaders and friends from around the city to come together to develop these same bonds of love that eventually led to the acceleration of this ministry!
AUGUST 2017
Chris Finds Covenant Relationships (by accident)!
It all began with three men, Chris, Brad, and George, coming together through the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit. There was no agenda, no program, and no pressure to “do church” a certain way. Just a shared desire to talk about Jesus and explore how faith and business could walk hand in hand.
Week after week, they simply showed up for each other. No classroom, no formal study, just real conversation, authentic friendship, and a commitment to be fully present. They set aside time intentionally, meeting at least once a week to share their hearts, listen deeply, and discover how they could encourage one another and bless each other’s families.
As trust grew, something powerful began to take root. Joy and peace started to rise. They began to notice and celebrate each other’s unique design. Gentle, life-giving practices like growing in shalom, offering appreciation, and staying connected in vulnerability began to shape their time together. Healing came. Wholeness deepened. They found themselves living more freely and fully from the heart Jesus had given each of them.
And somewhere in the middle of all that simplicity, something sacred was born—a spark of covenant friendship that felt both eternal and quietly transformative.
For Chris, the loneliness and restlessness that had once followed him faded away. True belonging had found him through Hesed love—a kind of friendship that heals, holds, and never lets go.
JANUARY 2019
Here Comes the KC Underground
In 2019, something quiet and powerful began to grow in Kansas City—a disciple-making movement called the Kansas City Underground. Its vision was to equip extended spiritual families living on mission through the simple expression of microchurches.
It was during a monthly gathering for church planters that Chris met Rob. What started as a conversation quickly turned into a deep friendship, and over time, they became as close as brothers. They shared a longing to see missionaries and microchurch leaders grow not only in strategy but in the strength of their relationships.
Together, they began championing the importance of close-knit discipleship circles—small groups of three, modeled after the way Jesus walked closely with Peter, James, and John. They believed that doing life together in honest, committed friendship could become the foundation for lasting spiritual growth and mission.
As their friendship deepened, something beautiful began to spread. The love they experienced, rooted in Hesed covenant loyalty, started to draw in other leaders and friends across the city. More and more people began to catch the vision of what was possible when community was built on trust, love, and intentional presence.
What started as a simple connection grew into a movement. And that movement continues today, shaped by a shared desire to build the kind of relationships that reflect the heart of Jesus and multiply His love in every corner of life.
MARCH 2019
Rebecca begins her Hesed Discipleship Journey
Rebecca watched as her husband Chris grew in ways she hadn’t seen before. After experiencing her husband’s transformations she discovered the Holy Spirit was leading her to invite two other ladies into her life to wash their feet and serve them. She prayed for these women to be highlighted to her and waited. In time, she was led to invite two women on this journey and they were prompted to say yes. The ladies enjoyed the simplicity of a charcuterie tray of deliciousness in her living room, week after week, year after year. A second ‘three to five space’ happened. Rebecca discovered the same thing was happening to her and these two friends that had happened for Chris. Discipling relationships emerged, but more importantly, these ladies over a short period of time with weekly consistency, began to grow tremendously in their identities as women in Jesus and their individual emotional capacity to thrive compounded.
APRIL 2019
Michael and Chris Meet
In a local group that was meeting about church leadership, George introduced Chris to Mike. Chris knew it was time to spread Hesed discipleship and invite more men into this reality. Right away, Mike said “YES!” and a third “three to five space” had begun with some new faces. Only this time, the time it took to develop emotional maturity and strong Hesed covenant bonds was moving even faster. Questions from everyday disciples, leaders and Churches surrounding these 3-5 spaces became “how can more people have this type of Christian walk and experience?”
MARCH 2019
Rebecca begins her Hesed Discipleship Journey
As Rebecca watched her husband Chris experience deep personal growth, she sensed the Holy Spirit inviting her into something similar. She felt led to serve and walk closely with two women, praying for the right ones to be revealed. In time, she knew who to ask—and both women said yes.
What began as simple, weekly gatherings over a charcuterie tray in her living room turned into something sacred. Over the months and years, trust deepened, hearts opened, and another “three to five” space was born.
Just like Chris, Rebecca saw transformation unfold. From consistent time spent together, these women began to grow in their identity in Jesus, their emotional strength increased, and true discipling relationships formed from simply serving one another and loving one another. What started as friendship became a life-giving journey of healing, purpose, and joy.
APRIL 2019
Michael and Chris Meet
During a local gathering focused on church leadership, George introduced Chris to Mike. Chris sensed it was time to invite more men into the journey of Hesed discipleship. When he shared the vision, Mike immediately said yes, and a new group of three to five began to form.
This time, something was different. The depth of connection, emotional maturity, and Hesed covenant love began to grow quickly. It was clear that God was moving.
As others observed what was happening, the questions started being asked within this new group, "How can more people experience this kind of walk with Jesus? How can this kind of connection with others become a way of life for others too?"
The hunger for deeper connection and real discipleship was spreading. And it was just the beginning.
OCTOBER 2019
12 Space Fully Develops Based in Hesed Love
Five months later, Chris introduced Mike to Rob who had been hosting a larger gathering of about 8-12 men weekly on his patio. Men from different walks, gift mixes, and divine assignments grew stronger and stronger together towards developing deeper relationships, sharing the highs and lows that men go through. Much like the mountain men of old, these men bound together in Hesed love and return to their homes, jobs, and life’s battles a little bit more encouraged, strengthened and edified. This “twelve space” was gaining momentum and also inadvertently shifting the culture of the KC Underground that was given the task of birthing more and more extended spiritual families on mission.
JUNE 2020
Multigenerational Hesed Discipleship Emerges
During the 2020 pandemic, many in these Hesed spaces realized that as Churches were limited and as some even shut down, patio spaces of 3-5 men with men and women with women Hesed discipleship spaces could endure NOT ONLY the most challenging of conditions, but could also thrive in the midst of it! Mike had invited a young man he was discipling into this space whereby a multi generational discipleship paradigm had emerged. Ryan was unsure, at first, how this could be much different than the traditional one-on-one mentoring and small group Church experiences, but soon realized this was a much more raw, organic, effective, simple transformational path.
OCTOBER 2019
12 Space Fully Develops Based in Hesed Love
Five months later, Chris introduced Mike to Rob, who had been faithfully hosting a weekly gathering of eight to twelve men on his backyard patio. These men came from different backgrounds, with unique gifts and callings, yet something powerful began to take shape. Week after week, they showed up for one another, sharing their highs and lows, and building deeper, more honest relationships.
Like the mountain men of old who relied on brotherhood to survive the elements, these men formed a bond rooted in Hesed love. They would return to their homes, workplaces, and daily battles feeling a little more encouraged, a little more seen, and a lot more strengthened.
What began as a simple gathering became a place of transformation. This growing “twelve space” was not only shaping the lives of the men involved, but was also influencing the culture of the KC Underground—breathing new life into its mission of raising up extended spiritual families who live on purpose and carry the love of Jesus into every part of the city.
JUNE 2020
Multigenerational Hesed Discipleship Emerges
During the 2020 pandemic, as churches faced limitations and some even had to close their doors, something beautiful began to emerge in the Hesed spaces. Small gatherings of three to five—men with men, women with women—continued to meet on patios and in living rooms. These simple, heart-centered communities not only endured the challenges of that season, they began to thrive.
In one of these spaces, Mike invited a young man he was discipling to join them. At first, Ryan wasn’t sure what to expect. He had experienced traditional one-on-one mentoring and small group formats, but this felt different. It was more raw, more real, more rooted in everyday life.
As time went on, Ryan discovered something powerful. This space offered more than information or routine. It created transformation. The relationships were authentic. The pace was unhurried. And the impact was deep. What unfolded was a beautiful expression of multigenerational discipleship—where wisdom, grace, and growth flowed naturally between hearts that were willing to walk together.
What began out of necessity became a new way forward. Simple, lasting, and full of life.
TESTIMONIALS
What Others Are Saying About Hesed Discipleship
"Early on I experienced that I was both accepted and respected. I had been the Lead Pastor of a small church plant for ten years leading up to this point. Honestly, I was in pretty bad shape spiritually and emotionally. Being on point for our community at the Journey had taken it’s toll. I don’t think I realized how bad my condition was at the time. By November (2019)there were seven of us meeting God was knitting us together. Each of us bringing our unique gifts coupled with a longing to see Jesus movement. Those early days, with the seven of us, God was moving powerfully. It seemed like each week the Holy Spirit was manifesting powerfully. Looking back, it reminds me of the early church, how the signs and wonders were coupled with the proclamation of the gospel. For me, my reasons for making Thursday night a priority began to stack up. Additionally, the men themselves would prove to be among the best and most admirable I know, and lastly my own gifts and calling were being refined and bolstered. We learned the practice of submitting to one another and encourage each other. We would share our stories, what God was doing in and through us, what victories we’d had in the past and what wounds we’d received. We longed to be heard and whole. This longing proved to be from the Father. God was pleased to provide a community where He would fill all things with, in and through his sons. With that said, I say to God, “I am forever grateful for what You have done by allowing and inviting me into this beautiful thing that Thursday’s has become.” My hope is that this is the first fruits of something God wants to multiply among us."
Bryan Dolinar
Ministry Leader, Business Owner
"I have a been a “Christian” since age 5. Over the years I have had various levels of friendship with other Christians including dorm life at a Christian college. So I thought I understood the value that community can have in your life. However, it was not until I began gathering with a group of men around a fire each week that my life was changed. You see, I had sat around many fires with men with no real life change. This was different. These men loved Jesus and loved each other. We were devoted to each other’s growth in Jesus. We learned from each other and were vulnerable with each other. I realized through these men how much Jesus loves me. They loved me unconditionally, prayed for me constantly, and held me accountable to my next steps. In doing so, I have confronted my deepest and darkest memories that held me in a cycle of sin and shame. Jesus replaced that shame with freedom and light…and these men were with me in every step, every tear, and every celebration. This motley crew has become family. We have all grown in our relationship with Jesus as we learn from each other. I have taken steps and leaned into areas of my faith that I would not have without their support. We are brothers who look out for each other, challenge each other, and love each other. And the most amazing thing is how Jesus has worked in us and now through us to accomplish his mission. The fun has just begun!"
Matt Barnse
Government Executive
"Before I met Chris and Michael at Hesed Discipleship Network I was overwhelmed with life's anxieties and did not know where that came from. I could be with my kids, at the grocery store, or doing work I've done for years and out of the blue feel overwhelmed with anxiety, panic, and despair. I had few friends, little time for family, and felt a low grade anger most of the day. After meeting the Hesed team I knew I was with someone who was actually listening to me and carrying that into the presence of God at the same time. I knew they had the tools I needed to find soul health. Now that I've submitted to the Hesed Discipleship process, my wife says I am no longer angry, I have both the time and energy to be with my kids, and work has taken on a new degree I didn't know was possible. Thank-you Chris and Michael for pulling this soul out of the grimy pits of anxiety and depression and setting me on solid rock."
Jeremiah Davis
24/7 Prayer USA, Prayer Trilogy Coordinator, Entrepreneur
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