Inside Story

Head East “Young” Man!

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New Ministry on the Other Side of Fifty
by Mike Smith

What do you do when you find yourself on the other side of 50, with nine children, and a 25-year career of ministering to college students in Florida behind you? If you’re Navigators David and Martha, you pack up five of the kids and head to East Asia to make a new contribution to fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission.

David and Martha both met The Navigators in college, (he at Michigan State and she at Auburn) where the Navigator vision of winning others to Christ and equipping these new believers to become lifelong laborers for Jesus captured their hearts. Both of them worked as teachers after graduation and Martha was involved with The Navigators overseas during her summers. She was planning to move overseas when she met David and they married. Not long after they were married they assumed leadership of the Navigator ministry at Florida State University.

“I always loved being around the students,” says David, “discipling them and training them, and investing my life in theirs.” That kind of involvement was one of the things that initially drew him to The Navigators. “I was drawn to the people; to their vision, to their commitment, to their passion to invest their lives in the lives of others.”

But why move to East Asia at this stage of life? “I heard one of The Navigator leaders talking about ministry in the different seasons of life,” David said. “When I turned 50 I started thinking in those terms myself.” In addition, God kept bringing a particular verse to mind: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). David said he began asking God, “Just what is it that you have prepared in advance for me to do?”

Part of God’s answer came from Isaiah 49:6, which David considers his life verse. “He says: It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth”. Having an impact on “the nations” was something that had always been on his heart.

The result was that David began to partner with a colleague who was ministering in East Asia. David coordinated teams of students who would spend summers ministering in East Asia with this colleague. “We found an unexpected openness to the Gospel,” he said. “We were constantly engaging local students in discussions and Bible studies.” They often used what David calls “The Four Great Questions” to start discussions: 1) Where do we come from? 2) Why are we here? 3) What happens when we die? 4) What do you do with your guilt? The response was amazingly positive and several local students came to know Christ.

David felt that God was telling him something and Isaiah 24:14-16 kept coming to mind: “They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they acclaim the Lord’s majesty. Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord . . .” David said it was as if the Lord was saying to him, “You’ve been acclaiming Me in the west, now glorify Me in the east.”

“I had gone to East Asia to make a contribution,” said David, “but along the way God changed me.” Sensing there was a bigger contribution he could make, David contacted Martha via Skype from East Asia and asked her, “What do you think about spending a whole year over here with the family?” Her response? “If we’re going to do it, we might as well do it for at least two years!”

So while many people their age are beginning to think about retirement, David and Martha are starting something new. “I was surprised by God in this whole East Asia undertaking,” said David. “Thank God, He gave me an adventurous wife who’s willing to join me in this enterprise!”

“Every generation of Christians wonders about Christ’s Great Commission to take to Gospel to the ends of the earth,” says David. “We all wonder if maybe we’ll be part of the generation that finishes that task. We believe it’s a vision worth giving our lives to!”