The city of Boston is known for attracting the best of the best. Filled to the brim with prestigious universities and industry experts, it’s a place where intellect is cherished and there is a high barrier to Christianity.

In the midst of the city, however, the Lord is shining His light in the darkness, making the gospel known. In college campuses, workplaces, churches, and even prisons systems, The Navigators are making disciples who are passing their faith on to the next generation, multiplying God’s kingdom.

One of these disciples is Sophia, who has dived into her faith and seen the Lord move through her time in Boston. Throughout college, summer missions, and now the workplace, she has seen The Navigators mission come to life.

Pursuing the Lord in Every Season

Raised in Brazil, Sophia originally came to Boston to study neuroscience at Boston University. She grew up going to an international Christian school, where she first developed and deepened her faith in the Lord. However, when she started getting involved with The Navigators towards the end of her college years, she learned what it looked like to be in Christian community.

“When I first got connected with The Navigators, what appealed to me was this aspect of community,” Sophia says. “I didn’t always meet people who knew God at school, so seeing people that I could talk to about real things and who knew God drew me in.”

Though she started going to Navigators events her senior year, Sophia primarily grew in her involvement with International Student Ministry (ISM) on campus. At ISM, international students would meet once a month for meals and faith-based discussions. “It was an equally welcoming space for people who weren’t Christian,” she remembers. “There were opportunities to build relationships, and people of all faith and cultural backgrounds would come.”

When Sophia attended a Navigators retreat, she learned about opportunities for students to go on mission trips over the summer. Growing up surrounded by many cultures in Brazil, Sophia was always drawn to missions. Not sure what life would look like after graduation, she applied for two Navigators mission trips — Uganda and Croatia — thinking she would only be able to attend one. To her surprise, she ended up doing both in a single summer.

“As I prayed, I thought, ‘God, this is kind of scary,’” Sophia recalls. “I didn’t know how I was going to fundraise that much money. But I knew the Lord would provide if he wanted the door to be open. So I said yes.”

For four weeks in Uganda, her team worked with villages for community development — meeting spiritual and physical needs — and saw what ministry looked like in urban and university settings as well. Then, she headed off to Croatia for two and a half more weeks to help with a children’s summer camp.

Through both trips, Sophia learned about service and meeting others’ needs. “There are going to be times in my life where I think I don’t have anything left in me, and I learned what it looks like to rely on the Holy Spirit to give me strength and see the significance of what I’m doing,” she explains. “It’s important to be able to set aside the things that I need at certain points to be able to see others’ needs above my own.”

Now Sophia continues to serve others through her work as a clinical research coordinator at a hospital in Boston. Her heart for discipleship has continued to grow, and she remains involved with The Navigators through the workplace ministry in the city, Gospel at Work, where she and other professionals meet every other week to discuss how they are making disciples and seeing the Lord move through their individual jobs.

“After coming back from missions, I still wanted to be involved with The Navigators, so finding a group of people who are working as well, thinking about how we can serve God in what we do, has been great,” Sophia says. “God is allowing us to pour into others’ lives who don’t know Him yet, and we are able to do that for our communities.”

God’s Kingdom in Boston and Beyond

Sophia is just one of the many passionate disciplemakers in Boston who are trying to shine the Lord’s light on the city, and she is an example of the interconnectivity of the greater Navigators ministry in Boston.

“Sophia’s story is special to us because she represents our vision for what we want this ministry to grow into,” Robert Meyer, a Navigators Representative at Boston University, says. “She started out at a college campus, and now she’s moved into the workplace. As she grows as a disciplemaker, she will have an impact across the city. People like Sophia can help us launch our ministry in new directions, in ways we haven’t even imagined yet.”

As Sophia looks back on her journey over the past few years, she can see the thread of how the Lord has used The Navigators in her life, encouraging her faith and surrounding her with a community of like-minded believers in Boston.

“From being involved with campus ministry to being on missions trips to then getting involved with Gospel at Work, having this group of people who love Jesus and want to be a part of God’s kingdom is so critical,” she says. “I cannot imagine doing life with anyone in any other way.”

Pray that the Lord continues to use Sophia and other disciplemakers in Boston to make an impact, softening hearts in college campuses, workplaces, and beyond.

Discipleship Tip:

Sophia is passionate about engaging others for Christ — at college, around the world, and in her workplace. Think about your surroundings, peers, family, friends, and coworkers. Who is around that you can engage with in a faith-based relationship? How can you make the most of the season of life that you are currently in?

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.

While many who have been impacted by The Navigators have come on staff or joined EDGE Corps, (two-year collegiate ministry internship), others have helped carry on our mission right where the Lord has placed them in their everyday callings.

Rick Bereit is one of those longtime everyday disciplemakers.

Years ago, after serving in the military for over 20 years and having impactful relationships with Navigators such as LeRoy Eims, Joe and Pam Holt, John Boyd, Paul Drake, and Harvey Oslund, Rick wondered if it was time to pursue full-time ministry.

When he talked to a Navigator at a couples’ retreat about going on staff, he received a surprising answer: “He said, ‘No! We want you to stay right where you’re at. In the military, you have more access to people than any Navigators staff could have!”

From that point on, Rick had a changed perspective. Going on staff was a precious calling, but it wasn’t the “next step up” as he had thought previously. Learning how to make disciples wherever you’re at is important, and this is something Rick has instilled in those he has discipled for many decades.

Rick remarks, “We want to keep them in their occupations in their locations in their neighborhoods where they’re insiders.”

Discipling New Believers

Rick has a soft spot in his heart for new believers who have never been discipled because that was a part of his personal story. After coming to faith at a Billy Graham crusade in Phoenix, Rick entered the Air Force Academy with a hunger for Life-to-Life Discipleship^®, though he didn’t have the words to express it at the time.

Through the Lord’s guidance, in 1967, Rick met an upperclassman who encouraged him to memorize Scripture through the Topical Memory System (TMS). While serving in the military, he also formed a deep relationship with LeRoy and Virginia Eims.

“I was able to watch his life, his family, and Virginia’s life, and he was the guy that got me started walking with the Lord,” Rick recalls.

Navigators have left deeply formative impressions on Rick’s life that he has passed on to people he has discipled.

“As I look back over my life, and I look at my own habits and how they were developed, I can point to a Navigator that challenged me in that area,” Rick reflects. “I heard Harv speak several times about generously, sacrificially giving… I got to hear Jim Downing talk about meditation on Scripture… a missionary talked about reading through the Bible in a year, so I set up the habit of reading through the Bible every year.”

Over many decades, Rick has followed the Lord’s calling as he’s discipled people from all walks of life. At the Air Force Academy, he knocked on freshmen’s doors and started discipling 14 of them once a week through a Bible study.

Those he discipled went on to become a pastor in New England helping other pastors incorporate disciplemaking in their ministries, an aviation mechanic who took care of airplanes in South America for missionaries, a woman who moved to South Africa to disciple women in college, a couple who regularly practice making disciples in Poland, and so on.

When asked why making disciples is so important today, Rick answered, “I’ve done this for 60 some years, and I can point to people that are walking with God and the impact that those people are having in other people’s lives. I can’t think of anything more exciting than that in the Christian life — to spend a little time with someone and then just see them blossom and flourish and become fruitful themselves.”

Since the beginning, The Navigators have been equipping people like Rick on how to make disciples and  impact generations. We can only imagine what the Lord has in store for the years to come.

Discipleship Tip:

Consider where God has positioned you—where you live, work, and play. Have you thought about how to make disciples there?  Who are the people you cross paths within each of these positions? Name one friend in this circle of influence and invite them to hang out.

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Yet after nearly 40 years on the job, Ken’s retirement was in sight. He sensed God leading him to build up new leaders for the flourishing Bible study network. He found one in fellow Bronx resident Mike Flores.

At the time, Ken worked in Queens, analyzing data regarding NYCHA apartment repairs. A Bible study member there told him he should meet her supervisor, Mike Flores. She had noticed Mike reading his Bible. Ken wanted to know every “serious believer” at work, and soon he introduced himself. Mike began attending the study.

Impressed with the younger man’s potential, Ken saw Mike as someone who was serious about his walk with the Lord. The two men began having lunch together once a week to study the Bible and encourage one another. They attended men’s retreats together. They had a special nickname for each other: “Man of God.” 

Early on, Ken issued Mike a challenge. “People make time for the things that are important to them. How important is the Word of God to you?” 

Mike rose to the challenge. “The more time I spent in the Bible, the more I became obedient to God’s Word,” he says. “I learned how to be a better husband and father.” 

As Mike grew spiritually, Ken encouraged him to lead the office Bible study. But Mike was not ready and avoided leading a study until God urged him to take the step of faith. He listened and obeyed. Now, years later, he is next in line to lead the network of Bible studies Ken developed. 

Ken and Mike’s friendship continues to deepen. After 10 years, they still meet over the Scriptures. 

“He’s a spiritual father to me,” Mike says. “He encourages me and gives me solid counsel, instead of what I want to hear.”

Mike is now discipling a younger man. Ken predicts, “Mike will do what I’m doing better—more efficiently, more creatively. And then there will be someone who does it better than him. That’s my legacy.”

Discipleship Tip:

Invite someone from work to join you for lunch. As you get to know this person, see if they want to read the Bible together during future lunches.

Spending working hours constantly responding to crisis or emergency situations can lead to problems at home, he says. “First responders come home depressed. 

Alcoholism is high. Many police officers are on their third marriage by the time they retire.” 

This sort of reaction is a coping mechanism to numb the pain or deal with the stress. Without God, they have no hope. But many are finding the hope they desperately need through The Navigators First Responders Ministry.  

Intentionally Reaching Those You Work With

Chris Green, who was serving as a reserve police officer in the Portland, Oregon, area, was grieved by the brokenness he saw in his colleagues. God prompted him to do something about it. In 2012 he launched The Navigators First Responder Ministry. 

The ministry addressed a unique challenge of working with first responders: “If we want to reach them with the gospel, we’re going to have to use insiders,” Chris says. “Outsiders are not going to reach this culture.” 

So, Chris recruited SWAT commander Tony Kollias to begin encouraging the people around him that there was a better way to deal with the stress—through God. Tony, too, understood the importance of the insider in this ministry.

“In law enforcement we don’t trust people,” he explains. Bringing in someone from outside, who’s not part of the culture,  would not be effective. “But to have one of those trusted people who’s a Christ follower share Christ on the inside of the culture, that works. God wanted to use me in the community where He had placed me—inside the Sheriff’s Office.” 

Chris reports, “Just in his own agency, I bet Tony has impacted 50 people. He’s led numerous people to Jesus, he’s discipled many, many people, and he’s challenged people to disciple.” 

How to Change Your Work Culture

Tony began inviting first responders to his home for Bible studies. He made one of the objectives clear from the beginning. “The goal is, to go and do likewise. If you’ve been changed through this, then go and start your own group.” And that’s what happened.

As people encountered Christ, the whole culture of his team began to change. 

Instead of using drinking and other vices to cope many turned towards God. 

“Our SWAT parties used to be centered on drinking,” he says. “Now they’re family parties—we invite them to bring their kids.” Each month the First Responders Ministry in Portland hosts a get-together for those on the team and invites their families. They share a biblical message to both kids and their parents—helping to bring families together, not tear  them apart.  

Tony felt called to retire from the SWAT team and is now ministering full-time with The Navigators. Because insiders are so effective in ministry, Chris is recruiting other retired first responders who have been discipled by Navigators to join in the work. As with Tony, their firsthand experience of the intense challenges these men and women face daily can open doors for the gospel of hope to transform lives.  

Pray for The Navigators First Responders Ministry

In the United States, 4.6 million first responders serve, rescue, and protect us. These men and women need the hope found in the gospel! The Navigators First Responders Ministry now reaches and serves 18 different regions throughout the country. 

How you can pray:

• Pray that God will raise up more laborers and leaders in the areas where we are developing new ministries. (Matthew 9:37)
• Pray that the many regions where ministries are forming would mature and have lasting fruit. They include Seattle, Southern California, New York City, San Antonio, Minnesota, Tampa, and Washington, DC. (Isaiah 54:2-3)
• Pray that first responders and their spouses would have vision and passion to reach their families and co-workers for Christ and help them grow in their faith. (Matthew 28:18-20)

Discipleship Tip:  

Ask God how you can show His love to those you work with and watch for the opportunities He provides—like inviting a co-worker to read the Bible with you!

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When we read the gospels and observe Jesus’ life and ministry we most often notice what he did for the crowds.

He taught them, fed them, healed them, and even John noted that if every work Jesus did while on this earth was written down, the world could not contain the books that would be written (John 21:25). There’s no question that Jesus had and still has a heart for the world! 

Because of that, it comes as a surprise to many that amidst all that Jesus did for the masses He spent approximately 85% of His time with just 12 men.

It wasn’t because of a lack of care for the masses that Jesus focused on the few…but rather quite the opposite!

Jesus focused on the few for the sake of the many! His method for reaching the world was through building deeply into a select few and teaching them to do the same.

Jesus loved everyone, helped many, but invested in just a few. If we hope to take the gospel to the ends of the earth His method must also become our method.

“Ask God to give you one.” The same challenge that Dawson Trotman gave to Les Spencer in 1933 that started The Navigators can be our starting point today.

To add to the struggle, Ron’s sister was diagnosed with cancer, his wife was in the hospital with COVID and his mother-in-law had an infection due to her diabetic condition and in a hospital back east.

“Tim Chou, my friend and my first point of contact with The Navigators, stepped in immediately to lend me a hand with my family of four kids.” Ron shared. “I went to God and cried out to Him and I submitted myself to Him. I see how He carried me through that time.”

Ron wasn’t the only one who recognized how God cared for him through tough times. He also had the people in his workplace Bible study observe his faith and hope in Jesus and pray for him, too.

How a Bible Study Began in My Workplace

In early 2020, Ron and his co-workers in the medical community had stepped into an unknown season. They recognized the toll it took on them as the world around them changed with many losing their jobs due to lockdowns and failing businesses. 

While this hospital community was used to seeing sick people, Ron describes the scene as eerie and empty, feeling like something more would happen. 

“We experienced this pandemic season first-hand,” Ron shared. “My co-workers and I love music and we all play instruments in my department. So, we started bringing guitars and playing during break times. At first, we played secular music, like R&B and then we would move to gospel songs.”

Then this jam session grew. 

“Next we decided to include other departments, but we needed a new spot.” Ron shared. “We started in this little pathway in the hospital and took our jam session up a notch by talking about life. We shared our struggles, disappointments, and challenges.”

The little pathway in the hospital didn’t last for long, so Ron and a few others approached the hospital chaplain about using the Meditation Room. 

“It used to be called the Prayer Room, but living in a secular community they had to change the name,” Ron shared. “We were straightforward with the chaplain and shared that we were going to do Bible study and if he wanted to join us he could. And he did!”

The Meditation Room became the new home for this Bible study and worship/jam session during their lunch break. While typically there weren’t many people in there, during this COVID season it became a place to rest because so many at the hospital had to take on long shifts. 

“So we just jammed and then we shared the Word. It unfolded into a Bible study and became routine. After discussing a verse we share our prayer needs and then pray for each other,” Ron shared.

Through God’s guidance and Tim’s influence, Ron had replicated the type of community and discipleship relationships he had longed for and found.

Where I Found Community

Prior to this, Ron had prayed that God would provide a Life-to-Life^® Discipleship community for him and his family, while living in a different part of San Diego. 

It was through his times playing basketball that he met Tim and eventually moved into the same neighborhood. His local church is across the street from where he lives. 

“Tim has impacted my spiritual life and still does. We meet once a month for Bible study, but also meet weekly to play basketball and and often hang out together with our families,” Ron shared. “It is a blessing to have this community around. Not just for me, but for my family.”

Ron knew the blessing he had found in this Life-to-Life discipleship community needed to be shared. 

Sharing My Faith with Co-workers

At first, Ron didn’t want to disclose to his already burdened co-workers all that was going on in his life with his wife and mother-in-law both in the hospital and sister battling cancer, but realized that God could use his struggles and faith-testing time as a testimony. 

As this medical community watched, Ron’s wife made a full recovery and even finally got a job after waiting for such a long time without one. They also heard about how Ron’s sister didn’t have to go through extensive treatment because they had caught her cancer at a very early stage. Even his mother-law got the necessary treatment to fight the infection. 

“My co-workers who met with me for Bible study were in awe of what God did,” Ron shared. “There are definitely people coming who have never heard the gospel. When we have these Bible studies we’re bold in worship and sharing the Word with whomever is there. We don’t pry into their belief systems, but show our relationship with Jesus.”

After weeks of these routine worship and Bible-study lunches, some medical professionals even came to the hospital on their days off just for Bible study and community. They use social media to encourage and challenge each other through sharing Scriptures and short devotions. 

One of Ron’s co-workers recently shared how she liked the devotion he had posted. He had incorporated the topic of sports to share about difficulties in life. It was her interest in sports that grabbed her attention. Ron says he enjoys finding common ground with people he meets because that’s where conversations about God can start. 

“Be truthful and let your life situation speak, while putting God first. Whatever it may be: good, bad, happy, sad, joy, trial, our lives are full of unknowns,” Ron shared. “But if you share your unknowns with people, then they become known, and could become your testimony.”

About the same time, Jeni’s friend, Karen Warin (Navigators Workplace), had the vision to start a group that would encourage women who were disciplemakers. Karen knew that there were many women in Albuquerque who were individually meeting with others and engaging in Life-to-Life^® discipleship. She intentionally gathered these women together to grow deeper in prayer, Bible teaching, and networking to better equip them in their own disciplemaking ministry.

Jeni joined Karen’s first group, which met monthly so that the participants still had time to continue discipling those they were meeting with outside the group. Then Jeni started her own group, following the model Karen had used in the first group. Jeni was teaching again, using her gifts. She thought of three people to invite as she started the group. Word of the group spread, and God brought 21 women to her home to be equipped and encouraged as disciplemakers.

“My home isn’t that big,” says Jeni. “I didn’t even know that 21 people would fit in my living room. God is doing this—how else do we explain the amazing growth in the networks of disciplemakers! It shows me that God Himself is pushing us to fulfill the Great Commission.”

As a young adult someone shared with Jeni the vision that if each Christian discipled just one or two people, we could reach the world for Christ. That made sense to her mathematical mind, and she got over her fears of sharing about Jesus and started investing in women—in making disciples. That vision and commitment has been a hallmark of her life.

Now the group of disciplemakers that she started after Karen’s group has multiplied into more groups, as two women started their own groups, and Jeni started another group, and the movement continues.

Taking the First Step

Often when the women start meeting, they are reluctant and don’t know how to take the first step in disciplemaking. “God is faithful and always brings each woman someone they can disciple,” shares Jeni.

Jane had been a Christian for her whole adult life and was skeptical about disciplemaking but decided to come to the group, thinking it was just another Bible study. She was in her 70s and had never shared her faith or discipled anyone. As the leader, Jeni started asking God what Jane needed. God impressed on Jeni that Jane needed to have practice in discipling. So, they started meeting together one-on-one and each week Jeni would take on a role of a different type of person and Jane would disciple her.

As Jane become confident in how to disciple someone, her life was transformed. She recently started leading a new group and is filled with joy, investing her life in God’s calling. Jane is also training a co-leader in the group, to further the multiplication.

Going Beyond Local Disciplemakers

Joniva was a young career woman in Albuquerque when she first connected with the Navigators. She left her full-time job and moved to Tucson, Arizona, for discipleship training. During her four-year involvement with Navigators Collegiate in Tucson, she grew a heart for the world. She went on to serve overseas. When Joniva returned to the U.S. nearly five years later, she saw people through different eyes. Her overseas experiences drew her heart to people of other cultural backgrounds. God led Joniva to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she met international students at the University of Arkansas. That was when she met and shared an apartment with two sisters from Malaysia.

In 2019 the older of the two Malaysian sisters found Joniva on WhatsApp.

Later in 2020, Joniva joined Jeni’s third disciplemaking course. “It is just the training I’ve wanted and needed,” says Joniva. “It has given me the confidence, enthusiasm, and vision for disciplemaking as a life mission.”

In God’s timing, Jeni’s course prepared Joniva for a discipling role with her Malaysian friend. Then her friend started discipling her two nieces just in time for them to be ready for college.

In addition to meeting with her Malaysian disciple, Joniva is discipling a group of local women and a friend in Illinois. Now both Karen and Joniva meet with three different groups of women in various locations using Zoom. The focus of these groups is to develop women who want to make a difference in their neighborhoods and social circles with not-yet believers, to help move them toward a life of faith.

The call to be a disciple who makes disciples is one that offers rich purpose to everyday life. “To be used by God is a humbling and gratifying blessing,” Joniva shares. “I am merely His vessel, and I look forward with excitement and anticipation to what God will do simply because the adventure ahead belongs to Him. It is His ministry, and He is totally responsible for the outcome.”

Praise God for the multiplication of disciplemakers! Pray that everyday disciplemakers will continue to be equipped and encouraged as they respond to God’s call on their lives.

After going back and forth in his mind, Roger decided that thought was the evil one trying to dissuade him, and that the Holy Spirit was prompting him to have a spiritual conversation. So, Roger asked Bryan a simple question—“Who is Jesus?”

Bryan quickly responded, “The way, the truth, and the life.”

God had been preparing Bryan for that conversation! He had come to faith a few months earlier but had not had a chance to grow in Christ and was eager to know more. The two agreed to meet for breakfast one morning the next week before Bryan started work. As they met, it became clear to Roger that Bryan had a zeal for God but very little knowledge. They started reading through John 1 together. The next week, the pandemic shut down the opportunity to meet face-to-face.

With years of experience in disciplemaking, Roger listens to God and those he interacts with to discern how to move forward.

“I don’t want to rush someone any faster than they want to go in terms of Bible study and learning about God,” Roger says. “So usually I will have one meeting, then ask when they want to meet again. Once things shut down, Bryan and I met on the phone to read and discuss the Bible together for an hour. As we were wrapping up, I asked when he wanted to meet again. He said, ‘tomorrow.’ That pattern continued as we met for four days in a row. Then we shifted to meeting twice a week.”

Soon Bryan asked if his friend, Christian, could also meet with them and read the Bible. Christian was also new to faith and eager to grow. Roger brought Navigators Workplace staff Jon Hans into the group to help with the discipling relationships and Bible study. Roger had discipled Jon for nearly 10 years and knew that he would connect well with the young men, who were closer to Jon’s age than Roger, who is in his 80s.

A Door to A Community

As the weeks of Life-to-Life^® discipleship turned into months, with phone meetings twice weekly and periodic park or backyard times, it became clear that God had bigger intentions for these eager young disciples. They both want to share the Good News and the truth of the Bible with more people in their relational circle. Both Bryan and Christian are Chaldeans, a historically Catholic ethnic minority mostly from the current country of Iraq. The Detroit area is home to 100,000 Chaldeans, and they share a vibrant community life. 

Bryan has a heart for reaching out to his family first. “I particularly want to reach out to my brother and show him who Jesus is so he can see the truth and be filled with the Spirit,” Bryan says. “I want to share the Gospel, the truth of the resurrection so that others may know and experience what I now know.” 

Christian and Bryan are eager to engage their friends in conversations about biblical truth. Recently, they did a study in Romans with two of their friends, sharing the truth in Romans 8 that Jesus knows what we need even when we cannot describe it in words—“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Romans 8:26).

From Disciple to Disciplemaker

As Jon continues to disciple Christian and Bryan, he is impressed with their heart for others.

“They understand that this isn’t just for them,” Jon says. “They are always wanting to invite friends and family any time we are gathering. They want to share what they are learning with others.”

Jon went through this same transition from disciple to disciplemaker, as he grew in his relationship with Jesus. When Jon first met Roger in 2011, he thought he knew what it meant to be a Christian, but he quickly realized he had no real knowledge of Jesus or faith. He was new in his career as a financial planner and Roger led Bible studies and lunch discussions at the company where Jon worked. At first, Jon decided to attend because a free lunch sounded good. But he quickly realized he was hungry for more than lunch.

“I realized that even though I knew a few things about faith from my childhood, like many millennials, all the actual beliefs I lived my life for were contrary to faith,” Jon says. “Once I started following Jesus, meeting with Roger, and going through Scripture, I experienced a transformative peace in my life.”

After growing as a disciple, Jon started discipling others. He started leading a Bible study at work and meeting individually with people who wanted to go deeper. He took what he was learning from Roger and poured it into others.

While using his skills as a financial planner and also discipling people, he realized that he wanted to shift the focus of his life and go all-in for discipleship. Now with Navigators Workplace, Jon pours into men like Bryan and Christian, to grow the next generation of disciplemakers who will reach new disciples in their spheres of influence.

Pray that many in the Chaldean community in Detroit will come to know and follow Jesus! As you consider your own community, where is God calling you to reach out and make disciples?

A year ago, Corey had just graduated from college and was taking his first steps in an ambitious climb up the finance career ladder.

“Corey had a plan for his life, but faith wasn’t really a part of it,” Navigator Alec Glass says. “Things have changed a lot for him since then.”

Corey had grown up in a Christian household, but a personal relationship with Jesus was sorely missing.

“To me, faith was about where I went on Sunday mornings, instead of truly living as a follower of Jesus,” Corey says. “This all changed last May, when I had dinner with my friend Erica, who is involved with The Navigators. During dinner, we had some honest conversations about faith, I shared some of my objections, and then she gave me The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.”

Corey spent several months asking tough questions, praying, knocking on heaven’s door with a seeker’s heart. Then, last fall, he decided to accept Christ! Erica put him in touch with Alec, who serves with Navigators 20s in Minneapolis, to help him grow spiritually and get connected with other believers.

“This completely changed my perspective on my life,” Corey says. “Before, my goal had been to work in finance, go up the corporate ladder, and live a ‘good life.’ Now, I am entirely dedicated to living for Christ and following Him where He leads me.”

So impassioned was Corey by his newfound faith in Christ that he began to sense a call to full-time pastoral ministry. He left his job to attend seminary in August.

“I often pause and thank God for the incredible changes He’s worked in me,” Corey says. “God has used the people in The Navigators to completely transform my life, and I pray that others will have similar life-changing experiences through my ministry.”

For Erica, who fervently prayed for Corey before he came to Jesus, the most exciting thing about Corey’s story was his transformation.

“I’ve seen him move from questioning the veracity and authority of Scripture to embracing its commands wholeheartedly,” Erica says. “That transformation is only because of Jesus—so all glory goes to Him!”

For Alec, the chance to experience God bringing disciples into His Kingdom is exhilarating.

“My heart comes to life when I have a chance to invest in someone like Corey,” Alec says. “It is a joy to help someone grow closer to Christ, regardless of where they are in their faith journey. The passion he has for his newfound faith and his hunger to grow make it such a gift to be a part of God’s work in his life.”

Corey’s faith continues to grow as he faces the future with Jesus.

“God has been deepening my faith through adversity,” Corey says. “These last few months and all that is going on in the world and our nation have pushed me in a way that I haven’t been pushed before. I’ve really had to lean into God and His Word. Even when I am struggling, I still have confidence in God.” 

For all three friends, Life-to-Life^® discipleship proves a powerful force.

“We were created to be in relationship with others,” Erica says. “God said in Genesis 2 that it was not good to be alone, and I think we’ve all felt that most clearly during the pandemic. When there’s someone willing to spend time with you, teach you, correct you, cry with you, laugh with you, encourage you, and share their life with you, it’s tangible proof of His love for you—as well as an opportunity for obedience in passing that gift on.”

Please pray that God would use more people with testimonies like Corey’s to influence countless others with the power of the gospel.