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Around the Ministry
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You may be aware that The Navigators have a long history of ministering to U.S. service personnel. But did you know that The Navigators Military Ministry is reaching: |
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Two years ago, Grace* was not even thinking about coming to America. So it was a total surprise when she received a letter inviting her to come to a university in the U.S. Midwest to pursue her Ph.D. The professor who wrote the letter said that he had selected her by looking through GRE results, but Grace was shocked.
“Other students at my University had similar GRE scores,” Grace said, “but they were not invited to come. This is really a miracle!”
For most of the year since she arrived on campus, Grace was an active participant in a Bible study led by a Navigator at the university. She had joined the group to discover the message of the Bible. She also faithfully attended church with the Navigator and his wife and even became a fan of contemporary American praise music.
Her quest is the continuation of a journey she started years earlier in her home country, where she visited the state-sanctioned church in an attempt to learn about God. One day Grace asked to meet with her Navigator friend. “I want to ask a question about personal faith,” she said. “How do I know if I have enough faith?”
They talked about how one’s position with God is not dependent on the amount of faith, but on the object of that faith. It is entirely a result of God’s grace. At the end of the conversation, Grace decided she wanted to follow Jesus.
What a great reminder that God cannot be restrained, and that—one way or another—the Gospel message will reach to the ends of the earth!
*Some Navigators in the United States minister to people from countries where being known as a Christian would cause serious repercussions. To protect the privacy and safety of these people we choose to change their names and omit certain specific details when we tell their stories.
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–Joni Eareckson Tada, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Joni and Friends
The Bible says that God desires to write His Word on our hearts. He did that in my heart years ago when I first started using The Navigators Topical Memory System. How thankful I am for all the years I have hidden His Word in my heart through this time-tested system for memorizing Scripture.
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 There's more to the Navigator students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison than just fun and fellowship.
When you bring together 300 Navigator students from 11 campuses for the weekend, there’s plenty of fellowship and fun. But for students involved with The Navigators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a “Weekender Fall Conference” is also about learning, reflection, and significant spiritual growth. So what exactly did these students come away with when this fall conference was over? When Navigator Jeff Wiegel asked students what impacted them the most from this “Weekender” experience, here’s what a few of them had to say:
The seminar, “Apologetics—Defending Your Faith” showed me how to talk to anyone, find out what they believe and why they believe it in a respectful way, and then share with them what Jesus said about the subject. —Justin
I was challenged to not just talk in terms of “God” but in terms of Jesus. Lots of people talk about God, but not Jesus. You may think that you’ve had an “awesome spiritual conversation”, when in reality, without Jesus, its all for nothing. —Christine
What impacted me most was the “designated Jesus time” —large amounts of time thinking about Jesus, who He is, who He says I am and how that affects the way I live. I grew in my understanding of the security and freedom that living for Jesus gives. —Adrienne
I gained new insight into Jesus' character and how to serve Him. —Justin
There’s obviously a lot going on behind those smiles!
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 Through the years it’s been interesting to listen to how people characterize The Navigators. For some, we are “the disciple-making organization.” Others know us as a publishing house or the Scripture memory people.
I’ve noticed that the way people first come to know The Navigators tends to be how they view us. Those who met The Navigators in college think of us as a collegiate ministry. Those who first engaged with us through the books and Bible studies we produce think of us as a publishing ministry.
 Doug NuenkePresident of the U.S. Navigators
• Helping everyday people experience the Kingdom journey as God intended
• Raising up workers for the Kingdom next door to everywhere
The Navigators’ One-to-One Ministry Review exposes you to Navigators—doing what Navigators do—in a variety of settings. In this new year of our Kingdom journey together we hope you’ll share our gratitude at what God is doing in and through us.
May God continue to transform us and to raise up generations of Christ followers who live in brokenness, who have a longing for God, who need and pursue transformation, who experience community as God intended, and who live missionally. |
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