Inside Story
Good Chemistry
Neuroscientist Meets NavFusion for Explosive Ministry
By Rebecca K. Grosenbach
How does a neuroscientist fit into the ministry of The Navigators? Perfectly. Just ask John Hoover.
John is a biology professor at Millersville University in Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Kathy, have led student ministry there for 15 years. But when they learned about a Navigator ministry called NavFusion, they knew they had found a “perfect fit.”
What’s NavFusion? According to its director Mike Kozlarek, NavFusion is a group of doctors, business men and women, firemen, homemakers, professors, and students who lead student ministries all over the country. This volunteer-led campus initiative allows student groups to come under the Navigator umbrella even though there’s no Navigator staff member onsite. John learned about NavFusion a few years ago at a Navigator student conference. “I met the regional NavFusion coordinator, who encouraged Kathy and me to bring what we were doing under the umbrella of The Navigators,” John says.
The Hoovers are comfortable under that umbrella. Their involvement with Navigators began as students. John was in the Nav ministry at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. When postgraduate studies took him to Syracuse, New York, he became involved in a Navigator ministry to young adults.
“We were a group of young people trying to live for Christ and make disciples in those post-college years,” he says. In fact, that’s where John met Kathy. After they got married, they moved to Millersville so John could join the university faculty.
From the beginning, the Hoovers led a student ministry there. God blessed their efforts. Still, John and Kathy always wished they could connect their work to The Navigators.
“We were under the impression there had to be a full-time staff member present to have a Navigator ministry on campus,” John says. “So we were thrilled to learn about NavFusion. We realized this was a perfect way to tie in what we were doing with The Navigators.
“Joining with The Navigators benefits our ministry a great deal,” John says. “For example, it allows our students to participate in regional and national Navigator programs.”
John also likes the way NavFusion enables his students to network with Navigator students on other campuses. “There’s a tight connection between our students and those in Navigator ministries at Penn State, Rutgers, and Maryland,” John says. “They see each other at conferences, visit on the weekends, and ‘instant message’ each other.” Being part of NavFusion also allows John and Kathy to network with Navigator collegiate staff. “The support and training is a big blessing for us,” John says. “We like being able to swap ideas with other campuses and learn what resources are working for them. The ministry really has grown since we’ve had access to those kinds of resources!”
The weekly Nav Night meetings include between 40 and 50 students. Several students lead Bible studies on campus, and John nurtures the development of student leaders.
John says growth in part is due to the involvement of a local church, Millersville Bible Church, where John is an elder and teaches a college class. “They have a real heart for disciplemaking on the campus and in the church,” John says. The church has a building on campus where the Hoovers are allowed to hold their large group meetings. The church also provides transportation and scholarships for student conferences. They’ve even just hired an intern whose primary assignment is to assist John in the student ministry.
For more effective ministry—and to help John and Kathy balance work, ministry, and family life as they raise their two daughters, Katie, 14, and Jessica, 12—they’ve asked God to bring them more young men to serve as role models among their peers. In response, God sent them three men who lived in the same dormitory. “They realized they needed to intentionally introduce spiritual things into their conversations with the unbelievers in their dormitory,” John says.
The Hoovers’ passion for reaching and discipling Christian laborers on campus mirrors the calling of The Navigators. With the resourcing, encouragement, and equipping that NavFusion offers volunteer campus leaders, the Hoovers and The Navigators have found a perfect match.
Learn more about NavFusion at www.navfusion.com.
