Several years ago, Dave’s friend did a 21-day challenge to read the entirety of the book of John with The Navigators at Penn State. Years later, Dave was considering his own ministry in Nashville, and he was talking with a pastor in the city about what it would look like to do a similar challenge there, inviting local colleges and churches to work together to reach students with the gospel.

“My friend got pretty fired up about doing it in Nashville,” Dave remembers. “But it was a big undertaking. Having another person excited about doing it was motivating, and it pushed the challenge from an idea that we might do one day to something we want to do right now.”

The idea was simple, yet effective: print 10,000 Gospel of John booklets and hand them out to students across all the college campuses in Nashville. Each interested student would receive two booklets — one for themselves and an extra copy to invite a non-believing friend to do the challenge with them. The student and their friend would read one chapter of John a day for 21 days, completing the book within a month.

“The challenge mobilizes Christians to reach their friends for Christ in a simple way, seeking those who are hungry and thirsty for the Word and can engage with Jesus through grabbing a tiny booklet,” Dave says.

Partnering with churches rooted in Scripture

Dave decided the perfect time to launch the challenge in Nashville was February 2024. However, to spread the word and distribute as many booklets as possible to the student community, he needed help.

Over 25 churches and ministry partners came out of the woodworks to join The Navigators, helping fund the purchase of the 10,000 booklets and share the challenge with their communities. Dave was surprised to find that many of the churches he worked with were already leading their congregations through the book of John or were preaching sermon series on courageously reaching friends for Christ. It felt like the Lord had already been preparing a way.

“We’ve always had a heart for partnering with churches and Christian organizations to do something evangelistically, whether that’s outreach oriented to campuses or a sense of stewardship between us and the larger body of Christ in the city,” Dave explains. “So when we connected the dots and worked together, it was a win for all these Christian ministries to partner over something that was focused on advancing the gospel.”

When the challenge officially kicked off, Dave was surprised with the response. Almost everyone that was invited to read the Bible said yes. “People had excitement and eagerness to jump in,” he says. “It stood out that, man, God’s on this.”

Softening student hearts for Christ

Almost all of the 10,000 copies were handed out, meaning that nearly 5,000 students and community members in Nashville were inspired and dedicated to read the Bible with a friend for 21 days. Throughout the challenge, Dave saw the Lord move in incredible ways as students formed relationships and doors were opened for non-believing students to take steps closer to Jesus.

One of these stories comes from two students named Dylan* and Kyle*. Dylan is a student with one of The Navigators campus ministries in Nashville, and he met Kyle on the bus going to the airport for Christmas break. Knowing about the upcoming challenge, Dylan invited Kyle — a stranger — to read the book of John with him. Kyle, curious about the Bible, said yes.

After doing the challenge together in February, Kyle felt drawn in by Scripture, though he was still hesitant to fully give his life to Christ. For spring break, he ended up joining a Navigators trip to Glen Eyrie, where he learned more about discipleship. “Throughout the trip, Kyle kept saying he felt so alive to be around our group and the conversations we were having,” Dave recalls. “We told him, ‘Kyle, that’s the Spirit of God among us.’”

After the trip, Dave met up with Kyle to share the Bridge to Life Illustration and gospel message. “I asked him, ‘Kyle, is there any reason why you wouldn’t pray to receive Christ?’” Dave says. “He said, ‘This is going to change everything for me, so I need to make sure I’m ready before I make this decision.’” Dave is still praying for Kyle to lay down his life for the Lord, but he sees so clearly how God is working in his heart.

“There’s something about the way that doors are opening that is highly relational,” Dave says. “We’re reading together, discussing together. Relationships with other disciplemakers are being established and strengthened, and they are being built for the next step in their journey.”

Looking ahead to the next challenge

As Dave looks back over the 21-day challenge, he is encouraged by the ways the Lord worked in the lives of students like Kyle and impacted the greater Nashville community. Looking ahead, Dave is envisioning replicating the challenge with a broader scope.

“We’re interested in doing this again in the fall of 2025, but reaching even more college students,” Dave says. “We’re praying and dreaming about ordering 25,000 copies of the Gospel of John. I think this is something that could be used really anywhere to mobilize believers.”

Join us in praying for The Navigators in Nashville, that the Lord would continue to bless their ministry on college campuses and in the community. Pray that students discover a heart for reading the Bible, discipling their friends, and growing Christ’s kingdom.

Discipleship Tip:

Through the 21-Day Challenge, thousands of students were inspired to not only read the Bible, but also invite non-believing friends to read with them. Sometimes, a simple invite like that can change someone’s life, like Kyle. Think through your networks and community — who could you ask to read the Bible with you?

Now, you can join in this incredible movement!

With a gift of $25 or more, we’ll send you two copies of the same booklet that sparked change in Nashville – 21 Days in John. One copy is for you, the other is an invitation for a friend to join – just like the students in Nashville did. Let’s continue to spread the gospel, one relationship at a time.

SEND ME TWO COPIES

For Navigator Mike Jordahl, however, this looked like getting a van.

30 years ago, The Navigators college student ministry was in a tough spot. Staff members were discouraged and having a hard time seeing how God was moving through them, and many were leaving the ministry altogether. As the campus ministries continued to dwindle and become more desperate, the collegiate team knew they needed to do something drastic to recapture energy and momentum on college campuses.

At this time, Mike was leading The Navigators ministry at the University of Kansas. One day, he was sitting in a little office in Lawrence, Kansas, praying for a path forward to help the college ministry. Suddenly, he knew exactly what to do. “I got this idea,” he remembers. “We should get a van.”

The idea was that the van — affectionately named the Nav Van — would drive around for a semester and visit every campus with a Navigator presence. At each campus, the team would host a pizza party for non-believing friends, where someone would share the gospel and the story of how Jesus came to rescue them. They would also gather all the student leaders and staff to pray for them and with them for the campus. As the van journeyed across the country, staff and students would have the opportunity to hop in for a time to go share Christ with the next campus, trusting the Lord to find their way back home when they got off.

“The question we would ask was, God did great things through the student campuses of the past,” Mike says. “Will He do great things and use us today?”

By August of that upcoming school year, the van was rolling.

The Nav Van Journey that Changed Students’ Lives

Starting at the University of Kansas, the van traveled across the country — visiting over 70 campuses in four months. Every day looked different. Those in the van would sleep wherever they could — dorm rooms, host homes — and new staff and students hopped on and off for each leg of the trip. As the journey progressed, Mike was amazed to see how the Lord was using the van to respark the heart of collegiate ministry — for both students and staff alike.

“Different staff and students took turns standing up to talk about Jesus and preach the gospel,” Mike recalls. “And it was amazing! We saw students come to Christ all over the place. We saw student leaders deciding they wanted to pray and trust God to use them. God was at work, restoring this vision and passion to reach students, disciple them for Christ, and send them to the nations.”

For Roger Hamilton, a Navigator who at the time led student ministry in Madison, Wisconsin, the Nav Van came at the perfect time. His family was going through a difficult period, and he was struggling to find capacity with his ministry.

When the Nav Van stopped on his campus, Navigator Mike Mangerchine was on the van and was sharing the gospel when he met a student named John*. Mike learned that John was looking to grow in his faith, and he connected him to Roger, who ended up discipling John for the remainder of his college experience. “He was a great, young, eager, teachable guy,” Roger says. When John graduated, he and Roger parted ways.

Years later, Roger discovered that John had become a pastor after a friend visited his church. Roger reconnected with John and learned, even after all this time, John was still using the Navigators resources that Roger taught him in college.

Roger and John’s story is just one of the many that emerged throughout the van’s journey. “There were all these people who came to faith,” Mike Jordahl says. “Roger is not the only one who has a friend who says, ‘I met Jesus on that night, and now, I’m following Him more.’”

Lighting the Fuse for a Transformed Ministry

Not only did the Nav Van impact the lives of students, but it lit the fuse for a shift in the attitude of The Navigators collegiate ministry, transforming discouragement into revival.

At the end of the van’s trek from campus to campus, The Navigators held a conference called the “Nav Vanalanche,” where they invited students and staff to celebrate what had occurred over the past few months. Over a hundred students joined, and on the last night of the conference, a new opportunity was announced: the very first EDGE Corps, a program that is now thriving as part of the collegiate ministry today. 

“The idea was, we needed young people to join our staff, and we needed to create an easy opportunity for them to get involved,” Mike Jordahl says. “Doug Nuenke and others held a meeting for those interested, and several of the students who attended joined us for the first two years of EDGE Corps, and are still passionate Navigators to this day.”

However, what was perhaps the longest lasting impact of the Nav Van was the impact it had on the staff who were previously weary and downtrodden. By visiting campuses and hosting events centered on prayer and needs, trust and cooperation was built, and through that, a transformed hope and vision for the future.

“They needed someone to encourage them, someone to say, ‘I see God at work in you,’” Mike says. “Through the Nav Van and beyond that, it came into focus that we should catch Navigator staff doing something well and tell them we believe in them. And then ask them to bring the best of who they are to what we have.”

So, after 30 years, what is the lesson that the Nav Van has taught us? That not only can God use each generation in new and exciting ways, but also that we can take chances and perhaps do the unthinkable ourselves. That the next time someone has a crazy idea, the Lord might just work in incredible ways.

“It’s desperation combined with the idea of doing something crazy, stepping out in faith and trusting God,” Roger says. “It’s the kind of stuff you see in the book of Acts, trusting the leading of the Holy Spirit to take us to places and do things we wouldn’t ordinarily do — and then, to hold on for dear life.”

Discipleship Tip:

The Nav Van all started with one crazy idea that the Lord used for His glory. Have you ever had a prompting from the Lord that felt too far-fetched or unattainable? Lean in. Trust that the Lord can work through you in powerful ways, even beyond what you could ever expect or imagine.

It was August of 1990 when Tyler was dropped off at Miami University to begin his freshman year. He was nervous about what college would look like, and was seeking to get involved with a Christian community when someone introduced him to Ward Ballard — a Navigator on campus. Ward was about 10 years older than Tyler, and he had a way of making people feel at ease — exactly what Tyler needed at the time.

Ward began to invite Tyler to Navigator events, and soon they formed a compassionate, brotherly sort of friendship. Tyler was drawn to Ward’s authentic, candid pursuit of Jesus — where he didn’t shy away from doubts or hard conversations — and he was surprised that Ward seemed to not expect anything from him beyond a friendship.

“Before long, I learned that my encounter with Ward was a rare opportunity to see the Christian faith in one of its most simple, but profound, forms,” Tyler remembers. “It was as if he offered me friendship with no strings attached, like a gift someone leaves on one’s doorstep. You could accept the gift, ignore it, throw it away — it’s your choice.”

As Tyler graduated and left college, he found that not only did his relationship with Ward continue for years to come, but the impact of how Ward treated him stuck with him as well. “I had the idea that maybe I should be the same way: able to be happy when others succeed and find their way in life, and also to offer friendship to those I come across without the expectation of something in return,” Tyler recalls.

The Gift of Relationship

Several years later, Tyler was traveling to Philadelphia on a trip with his father when he unexpectedly met another Navigator named James*. Not only did James take Tyler and his father out to coffee, but he gave them a tour of some of Philadelphia’s highlights.

When Tyler received a job offer in the Philadelphia area four years later, he reconnected with James. James helped Tyler find an apartment and offered to continue to meet for coffee at the same pastry shop where they had met previously with his father. “Just as Ward had offered me friendship without strings attached, James was doing the same,” Tyler remembers.

Tyler and James were still meeting up regularly at the same pastry shop in March of 2007 when James unexpectedly passed away in a biking accident, only a few days after grabbing coffee with Tyler. Tyler remembers the memorial service being packed with hundreds of people, all of whom James had shaped, invested in, or helped to find peace and faith with Jesus.

James’ sudden death hit Tyler hard. “For me, I had given this man nothing … I was too needy at the time to give anything back,” Tyler recalls.

The Secret Chain of Generational Discipleship

After the memorial, Tyler talked with Ward about James’ passing. Ward shared that he actually knew James well — in fact, James had mentored Ward before he even met Tyler at Miami University, greatly helping him gain outreach and ministry skills. Tyler was shocked — he never knew that the two men who loved him so well were connected until that moment, forming a chain of generational discipleship.

Now, every time Tyler passes the pastry shop where he used to meet James, he remembers and reflects on the lessons that James passed on to Ward, and in turn, Ward passed on to him. He had learned from Ward and James that there is no greater purpose than to be there for those who are in need and follow in Jesus’ footsteps.

“Both James and Ward lived and obeyed the biblical command to love one’s neighbor — irrespective of whether it profits us somehow or not,” Tyler says. “I cannot think of a higher calling, and I am grateful to have known these two inspiring men.”

*Name changed for privacy.

Tyler submitted his story to The Navigators to share how Ward and James impacted his life. At The Navigators, we are so encouraged by hearing personal stories of how the Lord has used this ministry to impact others’ lives. If you have a story about how your experience with The Navigators impacted you, please share here – My Navigators Story.

Discipleship Tip:

Tyler was greatly impacted by how Ward and James offered selfless friendship, expecting nothing in return during times when he was in need. Look around at the people in your life. Who can you be stretching out a hand to? How can you be offering the gift of intentional friendship to someone else?

“I had a lot of hurt and pain, and because of that, I had completely rejected God in my heart,” Caleb says. “But I was still able to put on the facade of a Christian young man. So I played that game for a couple of years, but behind the scenes I relied heavily on alcohol, women, and drugs — everything that did not glorify the Lord in the least bit.”

Alcohol had quickly turned from something fun into something to get by, and his breakup with a long-term girlfriend felt like the final straw. Unsure of who to turn to, Caleb called Larry Matthews, a Navigator at Cedarville whom Caleb had been meeting up with over the past year. Larry encouraged Caleb to pray and hold onto the Word of the Lord, and suddenly, everything started to change.

Watching the Power of Transformation Happen

“I cannot tell you when or how it happened, but my heart was changed,” Caleb remembers. “I found a Bible that I hadn’t touched in years and I just started reading — I couldn’t get enough. I knew there was something going on inside of me. I wasn’t the same person. But what I didn’t realize is that other people could see that I was different.”

Though Caleb had been involved with The Navigators for a couple of years, that fall semester of his junior year was radically different. Around Thanksgiving, he felt called to share his testimony with a Navigators Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Bible study. To the other cadets, Caleb explained how he had been living a double life and shared how God had transformed him. Little did he know that the Lord would use his story to spark a chain reaction.

“Caleb sharing his testimony about what God was doing in his life at the Bible study that Sunday night broke everything open,” Larry says. “It was like turning on a light switch.”

Immediately after sharing his testimony, two students shared with Caleb how they similarly struggled with living double lives. “I said, ‘Well, let’s meet for lunch,’” Caleb recalls. “So I started meeting with those two weekly. And then I shared my testimony again at another Bible study, and two more people asked if they could start meeting too.”

How Sharing Your Testimony Displays God’s Power of Transformation

More and more students started to notice the changes in Caleb’s life and wanted to see the same kind of positive changes in their own lives. “I started meeting with as many young men as I could possibly fit in a 24-hour day,” Caleb says. “Soon, through prayer and testimony and time, five men became 10, and 10 became 20. Now, there’s a Bible study of 40 young men meeting on Saturday mornings, all struggling with the same things.”

For Larry, who has worked with The Navigators for over 38 years, seeing Caleb’s heart change and the impact on the students around him was a rare sight. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and this doesn’t come around very often,” he says. “Transformation, yes, but how other students responded to Caleb was probably the most visible work that God did!”

Now, as Caleb wraps up his time at Cedarville as a senior, he continues to meet with other students to empower them and walk alongside them in their walk with Christ. Whether it is in college or beyond, he hopes that the Lord will continue to use his story and life to lead others to Christ.

“My goal is to glorify the Lord, serve Him, and spend time with Him.” Caleb says. “I want to be someone who loves the Lord with all my heart and loves to serve others, and that is going to be incredibly important for the rest of my life.”

When it comes to The Navigators’ mission — to help others know Christ, make Him known, and help others do the same^® — we know that it takes just one believer to start a movement for the gospel. From places small and unknown to people who feel unequipped or unworthy, the Lord has a way of multiplying His work through us, turning one disciple into a thousand.

This mindset — that the smallest ones can create a mighty nation — was at the forefront of Navigator Alex Newmaster’s mind when he came up with the idea for the Ignite Network.

In Iowa and Nebraska, there are 113 colleges and universities that have no gospel presence. The goal of the Ignite Network is to bring the gospel to those campuses, equipping and connecting students with guiding Navigators and resources so that they can start gospel movements on their campuses and beyond.

Reaching the Overlooked

Alex was on sabbatical when the idea for the Ignite Network first came to him. He was regularly driving through small towns in Iowa, and he began to notice college campuses he’d previously overlooked. “I felt guilty driving through these towns and seeing the campuses and not walking around to see what’s going on there,” he says.

He started to think about how The Navigators could reach these small campuses that had no ministry presence. Without capacity to fully staff Navigators ministries at each campus, he decided to try a new ministry approach — rallying existing everyday disciplemakers in those communities to connect with students and start ministries at these colleges.

“The thought process was that we already have somebody in almost every town — Navigators alumni, significant donors, or churches — and we want to help them get a vision for these campuses,” Alex recalls. “We want them to go find students, get resources off the shelves, and engage with disciplemaking on campus to bridge the gap.”

Since his sabbatical ended, Alex and a team of six other Navigators have launched the Ignite Network and dedicated themselves to starting these new college ministries, meeting with passionate students on campuses and connecting them with disciplemakers in their towns. 

Since May 2023, the Ignite Network has launched new disciplemaking communities at 20 unreached campuses across Nebraska and Iowa. In the next three years, their goal and prayer is to reach 40 more campuses!

A Gospel Movement at Buena Vista University

Buena Vista University was the first small college in Iowa that Alex tried the Ignite Network’s approach with — and it worked! Alex made a connection with an administrator at the business school there, who had come to faith through The Navigators while in college.

“The administrator asked me, ‘What would it take for you to visit Buena Vista?’” Alex recalls. “I said, ‘If you can get me an interview with the most influential spiritual students on campus, I’ll come.’”

The administrator followed through. The next thing Alex knew, he was waking up in the early hours to drive to the university with 14 students scheduled to talk to him that morning. During those conversations, he asked the students one question: “If you had spiritual help, what would you want help with?”

All 14 students answered the same three things. They wanted help growing in their relationship with Christ, learning to read the Bible with friends, and gaining instruction on how to share the gospel.

Alex taught that core group of students a 24-hour crash course on how to share the gospel, lead an inductive Bible study, and the basics of walking with Christ. Though the students were passionate about their faith, they just needed a little bit of guidance and encouragement on how to live it out.

A couple months later, Alex returned to the campus to see how the students were doing. Already, there was a Bible study on almost every sports team on campus, and two different students had led their roommates to Christ after sharing The Bridge illustration.

“It was a night and day difference,” Alex says. “We’ve been searching for these types of students, and we’ve been finding them everywhere. It’s like God ignited a little mini revival on campus.”

Though Alex is continuing to coach some of the students, he’s also gotten local disciplemakers and churches involved with guiding this budding campus ministry into a lasting movement. “We are setting them up with some of our hungriest students so they can meet one-to-one,” Alex says. “It’s getting the right people in the room and connecting them, saying you can help each other.”

From Reaching Small Campuses to Mighty Nations

The student impact at Buena Vista University is just one example of how the Lord is working in small colleges and universities through the Ignite Network. Since the network started, over 30 students have come to Christ, and at least half of those students are now leading others to Jesus too.

“We are seeing students reached that have just been so overlooked,” Alex says. “These students are seeking the gospel, and their lives are changing. God is using them in great and mighty ways.”

Join us in praying for the Ignite Network as they search for seasoned disciplemakers throughout Iowa and Nebraska to walk alongside students and guide them. Pray that these small campuses and students will be the spark that ignites nations for the Lord, on their campuses and beyond.

Discipleship Tip:

If you had spiritual help, what would you want help with? Who could you ask this question to? Try this question out and see what happens next. It might spark a conversation around growing as a disciplemaker.

These weren’t the words Alan expected to hear while he was visiting the extended family of his newlywed wife, Maddie*, but he was intrigued. Mitch is Maddie’s cousin, and he’d attended Alan and Maddie’s wedding earlier in the year. At the wedding, Alan and Maddie made sure that Christ was at the center, showing the role that faith has had in their relationship. 

As one of the few people Mitch knew — other than his grandmother — whose faith was transformative, Mitch often turned to Alan for questions regarding Jesus. Curious to learn more about where Mitch was at in his spiritual journey, Alan asked him, “Why was it important to your grandmother that you get baptized?”

“I guess I can’t say all the reasons, but Jesus was important to her,” Mitch replied.

“Is it important to you to get baptized?” Alan asked. 

“Yeah,” Mitch said. “I mean I want to keep my promise to her, but I don’t just want to go through the motions. I want it to mean something.”

Alan asked Mitch if he had ever read the Bible for himself to learn about what Jesus said and did. When Mitch confirmed that he hadn’t, Alan invited him to start reading the Bible with him.

Becoming a Disciple

Alan had a background with The Navigators, being involved with the ministry in his college years. During that time, Alan saw rapid fruit in his own life and the lives of those he was investing in. It was this foundation that gave him a vision for disciplemaking after college, and now he translates what he learned as a student to his post-grad life and relationships. 

It was this mindset that guided Alan as he started to read the Bible with Mitch. Going through one chapter of John at a time, they would meet over Zoom or the phone to discuss what they read each week. After reading through the whole book together, Mitch started to ask about the meaning of the gospel.

Alan’s faithfulness with his cousin-in-law soon bore fruit — Mitch accepted Christ into his life!

However, since Mitch gave his life to Christ, he’s been faced with challenges. Shortly after his commitment to Christ, Mitch’s father’s health began to decline. Much of Mitch’s time was devoted to being a caregiver, until eventually, his father passed away. 

In light of the difficult time, Alan continued to encourage Mitch in his faith. 

Understandably, Mitch was less available and responsive in the midst of this trying season. Alan acknowledged that he’s had to change his own expectations for the pace at which Mitch will grow in his faith. Alan watched Mitch grow from a nonbeliever to a disciple; yet, he still has a vision to see Mitch become a disciplemaker too, passing on his faith to others.

When Alan started to read the Bible with Mitch, Mitch mentioned that his two younger siblings also have a desire to get baptized. Alan’s prayer is that eventually Mitch might start reading the Bible with his younger siblings, much like Alan did with him. 

Alan recognizes that God is working in and through Mitch. Though he’s in a difficult season, he has the potential to bear new and different fruit, and God will no doubt continue to use Alan’s patience and faithful presence as the Lord continues the work He has begun in Mitch’s life. 

Walking Through Open Doors To the Gospel

Sometimes, God opens doors for the gospel right in front of people around us, and all they need is to walk through. Often they are eager — they just need some guidance from those that have gone before them. 

Alan and Mitch’s story is just one of the stories of open doors happening within the Navigators 20s ministry. Around the nation, Navigators are helping equip young adults as they share the gospel with their friends, coworkers, and families. 

Would you join us in praying for Alan, Mitch, and Mitch’s siblings as they continue to walk towards Christ together? Pray that the Lord continues to open doors to the gospel and equip believers to share their faith with others, helping them to reveal Jesus’ character through reading the Bible with those in their circles. 

*names have been changed

Discipleship Tip:

Think of someone you could ask to read the Bible with you who may not have read it before. Share this name with someone you trust and ask them to pray with you for this person. Take the next courageous step and invite this person you thought of to read the Bible with you and see how God guides you next.

For Kolten Powell and Neil Larson, this idea of seeking and sharing the gospel to those who are overlooked is at the core of their recent ministry work at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas. Through building Life-to-Life® relationships at a community college system that serves thousands of students — but has no Christian ministries available on campus — Kolten and Neil are innovating a new Navigators Collegiate ministry to shed Christ’s light to students in Austin and the community beyond.

Pioneering a New Ministry Through Prayer

Starting a new ministry from scratch can be a slow and tedious process.

At least, this is what Kolten and Neil discovered after they both moved from doing Navigators Collegiate ministry at the University of Wyoming in order to pioneer a new college ministry in Austin. The city hosts 17 different colleges, and though Kolten and Neil knew they wanted to be innovative with their ministry model, they weren’t sure which specific college the Lord was leading them to serve.

One day, Neil had the idea to walk prayer circles seven times around a few of the colleges, much like Joshua did around the city of Jericho. As they prayed repeatedly around one of Austin Community College’s campuses, something started to happen. “It’s hard to describe, but we felt like something didn’t want us there,” Kolten says. “It became oddly hard to pray.” By the seventh lap, they were keenly aware that the Lord was moving!

“We left and thought, we don’t know what this means,” Kolten says. “But there are 50 Christian ministries at the University of Texas, and virtually zero at any of the 11 Austin Community College (ACC) campuses. And there are 70,000 students that ACC serves. We thought, this has to mean something. Let’s give it a shot.”

Reaching Students by Becoming Students

Building a ministry at a community college looks vastly different than at a typical university. There are no dorms, no dining halls, no fraternities or sororities. And yet, there are students walking in and out of the doors every day who are hurting, lost, and need Jesus.

Connecting with community college students requires thinking outside the box because students don’t live on campus. For Kolten and Neil, the best way to meet students was to become students themselves. Enrolling in a poetry class at ACC, they started to interact with students in their class. “In poetry class, you talk about your feelings a lot, and you jump into deep things pretty quick,” Neil says. “By week three, Kolten and I were driving back home, and we realized that we knew where all the students were spiritually.”

Inviting the other students to go to meals after class or read poetry together, they slowly but surely started to build trust and community. One girl even came to Kolten’s daughter’s birthday party after his daughter made her a friendship bracelet.

“Our whole strategy was to live like Jesus ourselves,” Kolten explains. “We are going to love those around us like Jesus and serve the students’ needs like Jesus did.”

Watching this Austin Community College Ministry Grow 

Taben, a student from poetry class, needed a ride from class one day. As Kolten and Neil drove him home, he started to ask them questions about Jesus. Kolten and Neil quickly learned that Taben had a background in Christianity, as he quoted Scripture and talked about apologetics. Taben had avidly studied the Bible in the past, and yet, he hadn’t given his life to Christ.

Kolten and Neil started to read the Bible regularly with Taben during lunches after class. One day, Neil could see that Taben’s heart was softening. “I asked him, ‘What are you looking for?’” Neil says. “And he told me, ‘I think I just really want Jesus to reveal Himself to me.’ So I asked him to pray for Jesus to answer that.”

The next time Neil saw him, Taben told him that he had been reading Romans 9, and he shared that his conscience was starting to change. “I got so excited about how the Lord and the Holy Spirit were working in him,” Neil says. “Then he paused, looked at me, and said, ‘Yeah, I believe now.’ The Lord was working in his heart the whole time.”

A Vision for Austin Community College Ministry

Neil and Kolten continue to build relationships at ACC by attending classes and hanging out with students in the campus student lounge. They have a clear mission to build relationships with students like Taben, invite them into their discipleship community, and empower them to live out their faith with their classes, families, and friends.

“As we meet people one-by-one, our long-term vision would be to have groups like ours pop up and create disciplemaking communities on all the different campuses,” Kolten says, “[so] that ultimately, God will reach the city of Austin because of the community college system here.”

You can come alongside Kolten and Neil and pray for their ministry as they build deeper relationships with students and share the gospel. Pray that they can form a community of believers that are dedicated disciplemakers, seeking the lost in the community college system and beyond.

“The city of Austin overlooks the community colleges,” Kolten says. “The people at these colleges often are here because hard things have happened in their life, from financial issues to mental health struggles to transportation problems. But I think the more we’re around, the more I can see Jesus wanting to interact with this group of students. This is where we need to be.”

Discipleship Tip:  

Where in your community could you start praying? Pick a location and pay attention to what happens as you pray. Watch for how God might lead you to step out in faith and invite those in your community to follow Jesus, too.

The glow of thousands of faces lights up the room, a powerful testament to the spread of the gospel from generation to generation. 

This was one of the many special moments from The Navigators 2023 National Staff Gathering.

Last month, over 1,300 Navigator staff came together in Irving, Texas. The theme of the weekend was Heartbeat: A Vital Movement of the Gospel, focusing on 2 Timothy 2:1-2: “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (NIV).

The gathering held five plenary sessions, which were designed to inspire, uplift, and challenge staff attendees to continue the work to which they’ve been called. Staff heard insights on the Lord’s vision for grace, necessary aspects of prayer, and how He works through each and every one of us to reach the nations and spread His mission.  

Staff members also enjoyed times of fun and laughter, along with encouraging ministry stories from new and old friends, breakouts to equip and multiply disciplemakers, precious times of prayer and worship, and motivational messages from fellow Navigators and international leaders. 

For many, the National Staff Gathering was a reminder of why they became Navigators — to be a part of a vital movement of the gospel by connecting, resourcing, and developing everyday disciplemakers. 

Though this conference looked back over the past four years since our last National Staff Gathering, we also took time to look forward to the work that is ahead of us as a ministry. You can partner with us as we continue this work for years to come! 

Pray that the Lord works through The Navigators to reach the unreached and create new disciplemakers. Come alongside us to spread the gospel and disciple those in your circles, from family members to coworkers to neighbors and beyond.

Whether you serve on staff or through your everyday life, we are excited to see how the Lord moves through this next season of ministry!

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV).

Discipleship Tip:  

Pull out your phone and find a photo of someone you’re discipling or have discipled. Pray for that person and reach out to offer them encouragement.