Around the Ministry
 The event was a gathering for “senior” Navigator staff, held at our Glen Eyrie home in Colorado Springs. Staff members more than 60 years old were invited to reconnect, to reminisce, and to hear updates on current Navigator ministries. Close to 240 senior Navigators were on hand. “We sang hymns, renewed friendships, laughed at senior jokes, and listened to godly men share from God’s Word,” says Dave. “We rejoiced at what God is doing around the world through the ministry of The Navigators.”  Jack McQueeney, executive director of the Glen Eyrie Group, gave an update on Glen Eyrie. “I stood before this ‘great crowd of witnesses’ and began to choke up,” he says. “For my wife, Shaunda, and me, these are our heroes. These were the men and women of faith upon whose shoulders this ministry was built. I told them thank you and that I was proud to be following in their footsteps.” |
 Navigator Paul Goodwin, who works at the University of Wyoming, felt a bit like he was going “to the ends of the earth” when he visited Darren, one of the students he ministers with. Darren lives in Noorvik, Alaska, a remote village of about 600 people—so remote, in fact, the flight there from Laramie lasted eight hours with six stops spread over two days!  “I asked a lot of questions and tried to pronounce some words in Inupiaq. Darren and I talked about what we could do to help the kids there, many of whom are dejected by the isolation of their village. We took a long walk around the village and prayed for the people of Noorvik. “I’m grateful to my supporters who saw the benefits of a trip like this and helped pay my way,” Paul adds. He believes his visit to Noorvik deepened his friendship with Darren and increased his understanding of Darren’s worldview, coming from a Native Alaskan culture. |
  Several major U.S. denominations have
discovered that between 50 and 85 percent of young people leave the
church within 12 months of graduating high school. Most never return.
This alarming statistic motivated Bill Tell, deputy U.S. director of The Navigators, to take action. In partnership with Mission America and Ministry Edge, he helped launch a nationwide effort to try to reverse this trend. Bill spent much of the last year meeting with key leaders of several college ministries to enlist their partnership in what’s being called the Youth Transition Network. The idea is to connect with high school seniors and give them a sense of belonging and accountability the moment they step on the college campus. The connection is initially made through a website: liveabove.com. High school seniors can visit this website to find out what Christian ministries are available at the college they plan to attend, dialogue with some of the ministry leaders, and perhaps even find a Christian roommate. “It’s historic—for the first time that I can remember we have all the college ministries coming together to create a bridge between high school students and college,” Bill says. “We joined together to do something practical, and to do it quickly. We all committed to making this a success.”  Ismael Aguirre and Laura Jenkins, part of the Navigator Urban Youth team in Albuquerque, help run a kids club called Juntos, which is Spanish for “together.” The name takes on deeper meaning when applied to the team approach to the ministry. The ministry team includes several organizations and churches, but even within the Albuquerque Navigators there is partnership at work. “The Albuquerque Metro team, which is comprised of Navigator staff in the Albuquerque area, has been meeting together the last couple of years to glorify God by encouraging and helping each other,” Ismael says. “These meetings have been a blessing to all of us who are involved. We have seen wonderful results by creating partnerships with the other Navigator ministries. “Out of these meetings we have seen eight college students from the University of New Mexico Navigators commit to investing in the poor neighborhoods of Albuquerque by volunteering at Juntos. They are loving Jesus when they love the least of these.” |
 When people think of The Navigators, they often think of that one staff member or laborer who introduced them to the Lord Jesus, taught them how to get into God’s Word, or helped them grow in Christ. Through the years our people have remained one of our greatest strengths. Late last year, I had the privilege of meeting with some of the very first Navigators. We called together our senior staff for a “Family Home Celebration” at Glen Eyrie, and 238 men and women took us up on the invitation, two shy of capacity.  These
are people who came after the founding generation of Navigators, and
they are the ones who helped expand the work around our country and
into the nations. They remain passionate about the Gospel and excited
about the mission that the Lord Jesus has given us. As they hand the reigns to the next generations of Navigators, they do so at a time when we are as healthy and strong and committed as I could ever have dreamt the work would be. What’s more, The Navigators is increasingly a multi-ethnic community, with new staff from the various ethnic groups of our increasingly diverse nation coming on board to serve with us. Now as ever, we are passionate about seeing the Gospel of Jesus and His Kingdom advance among the nations; the centrality of Scripture in our lives, ministry, and the world; and in seeing laborers raised up to carry the Gospel throughout their relational networks. These are the unchanging and unchangeable commitments our new staff members are eager to embrace.
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