Around the Ministry
  Scott, Kevin, and Luke are sharing the Gospel with students in the dorms. When Kevin Foster attended a Navigator student conference last year, God impressed him with Jesus’ command to make disciples wherever he might go. Kevin realized: “Personal evangelism and helping disciple men is what I want to give my life to!” During his first week at Iowa State, he met Navigator Luke DeBoer, who stopped by Kevin’s dorm room one day and shared an illustration that explains the Gospel. Even though Kevin already knew Jesus as his Savior, that day launched him into a season of deeper spiritual growth. Luke kept stopping by Kevin’s dorm and inviting him to study the Bible together. Kevin and Luke met for a year and a half of Bible study and prayer—along with plenty of “hang out” time, too! Luke and Kevin talked with a variety of men on Kevin’s dorm floor and started a four-week Bible study to investigate who Jesus Christ is. One of the participants, Scott, believed and began to follow Jesus! Kevin started helping Scott grow in his new relationship with Jesus Christ. Kevin continues to give his life to personal evangelism and helping disciple men as a student leader in the Iowa State Navigator ministry, where he leads a Bible study and invites fellow students to investigate what the Scriptures say about who Jesus really is. |
  Navigator Joe Maschhoff meets young adults who want to live out Jesus’ challenge to, . . . seek first his kingdom and his righteousness . . . (Matthew 6:33). These “twenty-somethings” want Christ first in their lives and in their jobs. While many have received instruction about bringing Jesus into their relationships with others, Joe says, “Most of them haven’t had any help when it comes to integrating their faith into their workplace.” Joe and his friend Dean are forming networks of twenty-somethings who are looking for help to advance the Gospel on the job. “As a part-time teacher, Dean is interested in helping teachers and believes in the impact he can make in their lives,” says Joe. In the future, they hope to link people from other professions so they can train and encourage one another. “Each field has unique challenges and opportunities,“ says Joe. “We want to help believers live out the Gospel—wherever they are.” |
  God used Dawson Trotman’s desk to bring Trotman’s grandson back to the Lord. The following story came to us via our online prayer page, http://pray.navigators.org. My Navigator story starts with a desk that belonged to my grandfather, Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators. My uncle had this desk for decades and on a trip to Colorado Springs to visit family I brought the desk home to California, where it sat in storage for three years. I had decided to donate this desk to The Navigators to be put in the Glen Eyrie castle at Navigator headquarters where Grandpa had used it. After I contacted The Navigators’ headquarters and told them what I had in mind a local Navigator named Dan Green got in touch with me. Dan and I hit it off great. He took the desk, stored it in his garage, and told me he’d do his best to get it back to the castle. Two years later, I bought a house and decided that—if Dan still had the desk and was willing to give it back—I’d love to have it in my home office. I contacted Dan and we arranged the pick-up of the desk—which now sits proudly in my home office in Northern California. The greatest part of this desk saga is what has happened since. I’ve been a backsliding Christian for 25 years. Meeting Dan and passing this desk around was part of God’s great plan to bring me back to the Lord. Recently I re-dedicated my life to Christ and my 16-year-old son accepted Christ as his personal savior. My family is fired up for the Lord and excited about having Jesus in our home again. We’ve scheduled meetings with Dan and his wife, Suzanne, to study the Word together. Who knew that God would use The Navigators and a traveling desk to bring a prodigal home? |
 A distinguishing characteristic of a disciple of Christ is that he or she is a learner. Navigators believe that learning is a lifelong pursuit: “Wise men and women are always learning, always listening for fresh insights” (Proverbs 18:15, The Message). That describes a group of friends in the Seattle area that gathers to share what they’ve been learning from the Bible about justice, poverty, and corruption. The seeds for this learning community were sown when Nigerian Navigator Okorie Kalu visited Seattle and began facilitating discussions on this topic. Okorie developed a Bible study for The Navigators that would help people understand the connection between the Kingdom of God and the pursuit of justice. Last April, a diverse group of people (ranging from 20-year-olds to people in their 80s and representing the breadth of the political spectrum) committed to become a learning community using the study Okorie and other international Navigators had developed. They share a desire for what they learn to result in action. One member said, “This will be a waste of time unless I live differently as a result of what I learn.” The group began putting what they’d learned into practice by pooling resources to make micro loans through a microfinance website. Another group member described this as, “One thing we could do immediately to demonstrate that our learning community is one of action. |
 Many of us love the familiar promise, “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). It’s comforting that God not only has a plan, but that He determines, promises, and directs His people toward a good future of His making. Doug Nuenke President of the U.S. Navigators It’s important for us to keep this in mind as we partner with God in the lives of others. As we invite people to walk with us on the next step in their journey, we may know our little section of the road, but it’s their journey—and even the route has been determined by God. We’re fortunate to walk it together, knowing that God has a unique future for each of us as we seek to know Christ and make Him known. |
