The city of Atlanta is active and multi-faceted. Thereās a lot more to it than meets the eye. The same can be said for The Navigators ministry in Atlanta as Matt Letourneau, who heads up Navigator efforts in Atlanta, explains.
He describes how Matt Maxwell (who met The Navigators at Penn State University) left his jobāmanaging 150 people with a multi-million dollar budget working to rebuild the factory of Americaās largest and best-known chocolate manufacturerāto join The Navigators staff and work with urban youth in Atlanta.
āMaxwell is building on the four decades of work in the community done by another Navigator, Rich Berry,ā says Letourneau. āHeās focused on kids between the ages of four and 14 living in the city. And the relationships that Rich established over the years have opened up all kinds of possibilities.ā
āMaxwell has been doing this nights and weekends on his own for 17 years,ā explains Letourneau. āBut now heās doing it full time while living the heart of the city.ā
Thereās also a significant student population in Atlanta. Thatās what led Dave Bowman, a veteran of Navigator student ministry, to leave Penn State to direct all campus initiatives here. āDave has trained more than 100 Navigator staff members, who now serve all over the world,ā says Letourneau. āNow heās responsible for the staff on four campuses in Atlanta. But these four campuses plan to reach out to 12 additional campuses in the Atlanta metro areaāpassing on what theyāve learned.ā
Atlanta also boasts a thriving business environment, which brought Gary Christopher, who works with The Navigators Church Discipleship Ministry, from the suburbs into the city. āGary is partnering with our Nav20s work to reach young business people in the city,ā says Letourneau. āHe teaches them how to walk with Jesus in the workplace, and how to train others to do the same.ā Currently, there are more than 50 of these young adults dispersed throughout the city, having an impact on those around them.
Navigators arenāt the only ones engaged in ministry in Atlanta; God has opened up opportunities to work with other groups in the area. One organization serves homeless men in the city. āThey do rehabilitation with about 1,000 men every day,ā says Letourneau. āThey came to us and said that even though theyād been doing this for a long time, they werenāt seeing the kind of long-term transformation in the lives of these men that theyād hoped for.ā So they asked The Navigators to help them develop programs that would allow Letourneau to follow up the individuals going through their programs.
There are many sides to Atlanta. And that means many opportunities for ministryāsomething that excites Letourneau. The variety of initiatives provide individuals who are trained by The Navigators to be involved in advancing Godās Kingdom wherever God leads them.
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