How One Student’s Healing Became a Call to Disciplemaking

When Keeton was invited to a NavNight as a freshman at Oklahoma State University, he didn’t plan to attend.

It was the fall of 2023, and one of Keeton’s family friends had shared his contact information with Jaylene, a Navigator team member on campus, hoping she would reach out to him. When she did, Keeton was hesitant. It wasn’t until Jaylene was walking into the NavNight, shooting Keeton a last-minute reminder text, that he was persuaded.

It was just the nudge Keeton needed — and he kept coming back.

During those first few weeks of the semester, Navigator Brendan Riggs started to grow familiar with Keeton. Brendan had met Christ through The Navigators in 2004 as a student in Missouri, where he was discipled and later joined staff before serving at Oklahoma State University. The more Brendan got to know Keeton, the more he could tell that something was going on underneath the surface.

“I remember sitting in Bible study with Keeton one of the first weeks of the semester and thinking: This guy’s got a lot going on,” Brendan recalls. “He just read, I’m not okay.”

Brendan got Keeton’s number, and they made plans to hang out later that week. Driving to a nearby lake, they spent a lot of time walking around, getting to know each other. However, what stood out to Brendan was when Keeton started to open up about his family — particularly about his biological dad and his stepdad who had adopted him.

“I never want anything to do with him,” Keeton shared, talking about his biological dad.

Though he struggled with the challenges of his past, Keeton has a strong desire to grow. A few weeks later, Brendan and Keeton went to The Navigators’ fall conference: Engage 2023. The speaker that year was Navigator Buck Wilson, who spoke on brokenness and the idea that Jesus invites us to come as we are.

It was exactly what Keeton needed to hear.

Growing up in the panhandle of Oklahoma, Keeton came from a background of cultural Christianity. He’d been raised around certain values and heard a lot about what you are “supposed to do,” but he’d never heard the true gospel before.

“Over the years, I’ve seen many students encounter the gospel, but it often takes them a while to respond,” Brendan shares. “But for Keeton, as soon as he heard the gospel, he responded and it changed his life.”

When students start walking with Jesus, one of the first things they are challenged to do is read the Bible with someone who doesn’t know Jesus. A couple of weeks later, Keeton was hanging out with Nathan, one of the seniors in the Navigator ministry. Keeton was sharing about his biological dad and also happened to mention this assignment. Nathan asked Keeton, “Would you ever read the Bible with your dad?”

Keeton’s response was an outright “No.”

But then Nathan responded with a simple question: “What if nobody else is going to tell him?”

The Holy Spirit worked in that moment to help Keeton reach out to his biological dad. They set up a phone call and ended up reading the Bible together.

At the same time, God was also at work in Keeton’s relationship with his adoptive dad. Some of the men in the college ministry do a program called Noblemen, and one of the steps is writing a letter to your dad, thanking him for the positive impact he’s had on your life. Brendan and Keeton were both in the group, and Brendan gave Keeton a heads up, since he knew it would be a tough assignment for him.

Originally, Keeton said he wasn’t planning to do it. Brendan told him that he wasn’t going to force him to do so, but asked Keeton to at least consider it. He ended up writing the letter to his dad, and it drastically changed their relationship.

Keeton has continued to love his family well, encouraging his parents to go to a gospel-preaching church and taking trips home to serve his grandparents. He’s living out his faith in the local restaurant where he works, praying for his co-workers and having conversations with them about Jesus. He’s leading a Bible study on campus and discipling one of the guys in that group. He’s even hoping to join EDGE Corps — a 2-year opportunity for postgraduates to serve as Navigator staff on campus.

Keeton has continued to love his family well, encouraging his parents to go to a gospel-preaching church and taking trips home to serve his grandparents. He’s living out his faith in the local restaurant where he works, praying for his co-workers and having conversations with them about Jesus. He’s leading a Bible study on campus and discipling one of the guys in that group. He’s even hoping to join EDGE Corps — a 2-year opportunity for postgraduates to serve as Navigator staff on campus.

“The guy I met at that NavNight in 2023 and the guy I know now — they are not the same guy,” Brendan says about Keeton. “You can see it on his face.”

When Brendan moved to Oklahoma five years ago, he started praying Isaiah 61 (NIV) — that God would take broken people and make them “oaks of righteousness” that grow and reproduce. For him, Keeton’s story has been a direct answer to that prayer.

“In Collegiate, we’re typically with students for three or four years, which means we don’t always get to see that fruit,” Brendan explains. “Or, when we do, it’s easy to think too highly of ourselves: If I just do that and if I just talk to this person, this will happen. But Keeton’s story is a reminder to me that it’s a family effort — Jaylene, Nathan, and others — and that God is the one who gives growth. He’s going to work in people’s lives. We just need to pray, and be faithful, and trust Him.”

Discipleship Tip:

Keeton’s story shows the power of the gospel to transform relationships within families and communities. Think about how Keeton was challenged to reconnect with and share the Word with his biological father. Do you sense that there is someone in your life God may be calling you to reconcile with, too? This week, spend time in prayer, asking God to give you discernment about what your next steps might look like.