In 2010, when Jared Stevenson was a young basketball player at McPherson College, he found himself asking deep questions: Who am I? What am I doing with my life? What’s it all for?

One day, he reached out to the only guy he knew who might have answers about God — his friend Zach, a pastor’s kid who was living in the same party scene he was.

Unbeknownst to Jared, the Lord was sovereignly working in both of their lives. The night before, Zach had been challenged by a TV evangelist’s call for viewers to “get right with God.” At the time, Jared didn’t know what that meant, and the two friends started reading the Bible together. Jared remembers being blown away by Matthew 6:33 — that the God of the universe was inviting him to seek His Kingdom and be in relationship with Him.

After noticing Jared reading the Bible, one of Jared’s coaches started a campus Bible study. In a town where most churches were either preaching universalism or a prosperity gospel, this study became a lifeline for students.

Eventually, Jared and Zach found their way to a gospel-preaching church. The very first Sunday they attended a service, the pastor, Jim, invited them to Pizza Hut for lunch and then continued to meet regularly with them. This was Jared’s first experience with Life-to-Life^® discipleship.

Fourteen years later, Jared now serves with Navigators I:58 and as a pastor at a church in Oklahoma City (OKC) leading the neighborhood ministry team.

Moving into the Neighborhood

If you look at a map of OKC, you’ll notice that four intersecting highways create a perfect square. Of the people currently incarcerated in OKC prisons, a disproportionate amount — nearly two-thirds — come from within that square. It’s an area riddled with gang violence and economic depletion, side effects of the gentrification that followed busing integration efforts of the 1970s.

Jared and many of those he ministers alongside intentionally moved into this area — and they’re planning to stay.

“If you want to see generational impact, you have to decide for yourself that you’re going to live here 15 to 20 years,” Jared says. “This is year 15 for me.”

For Jared, when you stick with people in this way, they become your family: it’s no longer us vs. them, but we as family.

With dispensaries standing where food markets once thrived, streets overrun by substance use, and youth desperate for community, Jared has faced challenges as a pastor and disciplemaker.

For example, this past year Jared unexpectedly encountered a young woman who was a victim of gun violence. After being shot, she lost control of the car and ran right through the wall of the church office. She passed in Jared’s arms as he prayed over her. The individuals involved in the violence were 15 and 17 years old.

That day, Jared revisited questions he has asked himself many times: How was Jesus a man of sorrows and yet full of joy? How can I personally press on in ministry with joy and hope while witnessing so much sorrow?

The Lord continues to meet Jared in these difficult moments by encouraging him through Scripture. He has committed to praying Zechariah 13:2 and Matthew 9:38 over his city — for all false teaching to stop and more laborers to arise as the body of Christ works together to advance the gospel in their neighborhood, maintain a free health clinic, sustain a startup community school, host after-school programs, and build up the local church.

“Stepping into areas where there has been systematic oppression for decades … any kind of real church work is going to be ‘prophetic’ in its nature, meaning it’s going to speak to those things and address some of those issues,” Jared says. “It’s going to preach the gospel and do the work.”

Creatively Reaching Youth in OKC

A few years ago, Jared was reading Proverbs 29 and recognized similar themes in the youth surrounding him: they didn’t know God, they were “casting off restraint” (see v. 18), and they were discouraged.

Jared recalls one kid who would wander the streets, often showing up at Jared’s house to ask for work, trying to earn money. Eventually, the boy got in some serious trouble. “It broke me,” Jared remembers.

With this heavy on his heart, Jared started asking students what they needed. The answer was both simple and complicated: they needed a place to go — a place to belong, to have fun with other youth, to eat and play games.

At the time, Jared’s church didn’t have a permanent gathering space, but he started praying. As he researched after-school programs, he learned that most youth get in trouble between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m. — right after school, before their parents get home.

What if someone stepped in the gap? “That’s what we did,” Jared says. Even before his church had a building of its own, God provided a space for the after-school program through another Kingdom-minded church in the community that graciously offered use of their building!

At the same time, Jared’s family and other ministry families were wrestling with the tensions of raising their own children in this neighborhood. While they were committed to raising up young disciplemakers — followers of Jesus who love like He did, and who understand that everyone is equally in need of the gospel — they didn’t have peace about entrusting their kids to the local school.

One day an older woman pulled one of the other church pastors aside during a neighborhood Bible study, grieved that her grandson couldn’t read. She asked, “What are you going to do about it?” The Holy Spirit brought Isaiah 58 to mind, and this is how St. Paul’s Community School was born.

Grace at Work

Jared carries the young guys from his neighborhood and after-school program on his heart — some of whom he’s known since they were 7 or 8 years old. He watches many of them struggle after they graduate, and that has taught him to be persistent in prayer  and confidently hope in the grace of God. “God’s grace is more merciful than I can even imagine, and He’s sovereignly working in their lives to draw them,” Jared shares.

That grace saved him when he was a junior at McPherson. It sustains him when he’s praying over the victim of a drive-by shooting or presiding over a family funeral. And grace is what he’s pointing his kids, his family, neighbors, congregants, and students toward — because we all need Jesus to be our Savior.

Grateful for God’s provision of the resources and relationships that are helping fuel so many different ministries in his neighborhood, Jared has seen firsthand the gift of seeing disciplemaking thrive in a local church context.

“What’s really great about our church is that there doesn’t seem to be any contentiousness with it,” Jared says. “And so, when we’re talking about Life-to-Life discipleship and training relationships, we’re talking about it in a way that helps us to see where that fits in with the larger map of discipleship.”

When disciplemakers press on in knowing Christ and all that His heart is for — making Him known, tangibly, in word and in deed, and helping others do the same — that’s when we see generations impacted by His grace.

Join us in praying over Jared’s ministry, that they continue to raise laborers to serve in local ministries, represent the heart of Jesus to those they serve, and see their city transformed.

Discipleship Tip:

Long-term presence can be one of the most powerful tools in disciplemaking. When you choose to stay, to show up consistently, and to carry people on your heart over years — not just moments — discipleship becomes family, not a project. Ask God where He’s inviting you to be faithfully present so others can experience His love through your steady, everyday life.

Note: As the Redemption Community Development Corporation (RCDC) started by Jared’s church responds to increasing needs in the community, they are expanding their after-school program from one day a week to four days a week. If you’re interested in giving, please reach out to Jared or give to this project here. If you’re interested in partnering with Jared in ministry in Oklahoma City, you can make a gift here.

During those trips I learned how to read a state road map. I still carry an old-school atlas with me in the car, just in case. But today we can open an app on our phones or on the car dashboard to provide us with cues for our travels. The GPS tells us when to exit, merge with traffic, and change lanes. It can provide alternate routes based on traffic, suggest the closest coffee shop, or exclaim “Recalculating route!” when you miss your turn.

But what’s the one thing necessary for a GPS system to function as it has been designed?

A Destination.

When it comes to raising disciples, we should set our eyes on the destination.

I believe that one of the reasons parents and caregivers struggle to disciple children well is that we haven’t clearly identified the destination for their discipleship and the directions that guide them toward that goal.

How would you describe a child who is entering adolescence as an active disciple? Would you choose words that describe their character: loving, joyful, obedient, self-controlled? Or would you choose words that describe behaviors: reads the Bible daily, asks spiritual questions, worships God? Perhaps you would choose words that describe their depth of knowledge and understanding about God and His Word.

Public and private education systems have stated objectives when it comes to student expectations. Lists of student learning outcomes articulate the goals for students at the conclusion of each grade level. Each child is unique and develops at their own rate, so there are those who will exceed the expectations and others who will struggle. But teachers begin each year knowing the goals and guiding students along the path toward achievement. Like a GPS, they might have to find alternate paths for some or help others get turned back around, but with a clear goal and markers on the way, teachers are able to guide their young disciples.

This is what we’ve been missing in our homes and churches — a discipleship map that states the goal for raising disciples and provides directions toward that goal.

In some Christian traditions, the goal for children has been a public confession of Christ; in others, submission through the act of baptism. In yet other traditions, it has been the completion of confirmation classes. Regardless of our tradition, our goal for raising disciples should be the same as the goal for all disciples: to become more and more like Christ every day.

For three years, Jesus taught the crowds, His enemies, and political leaders, but most often, He was teaching twelve ordinary men from various backgrounds, vocations, and experiences. When He chose the Twelve, He had a goal in mind. Jesus knew that at the conclusion of His earthly ministry He would redeem the world through His death, return to God the Father, and equip His followers with the Holy Spirit to disciple others. He needed a core group of leaders who would follow Him daily (Luke 9:23), continuing His mission “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10) and to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

As Jesus prepared to leave the Twelve to continue His mission, He met with them to give them some final encouragements and admonitions. Woven through Jesus’ conversation in the upper room (John 13–17), we find descriptions of what it means to become like Christ:

• Follow His example (John 13:14-15),
• Love others (John 13:34),
• Believe in God (John 14:1),
• Keep God’s commands (John 14:15), and
• Remain in Christ (John 15:4).

These descriptors provide some direction toward the goal for all disciples.

With the destination of becoming like Christ as our goal, we can utilize childhood development information from the fields of social science, learning theory, and psychology to create a map for discipleship from infancy to adolescence.* Beginning at birth, there are seven directional discipleship markers — approximately one for every two years of life — that parallel the biological, cognitive, social, and moral development of children. Just as Jesus discipled the Twelve from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity, we can use this map to raise disciples who become increasingly more like Christ.

Did you like this article? Check out Teresa Roberts’ full book, Raising Disciples, as well as the accompanying free 8-week parenting curriculum today!

Discipleship Tip:

When discipling someone, consider verbally setting discipleship goals. With a destination in mind, you can orchestrate milestones and implement accountability, making sure that you both are progressing forward in their discipleship journey.

*The faith research of James W. Fowler (Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning, San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1981) and insights of spiritual development from John H. Westerhoff III (Will Our Children Have Faith?, 3rd. ed., Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse, 2012) has also informed this discipleship map.

Meet the Author

Teresa Roberts is Professor of Ministry and Christian Formation, Program Director of Children’s Ministry, and a vice president at Ozark Christian College. She is an expert in children’s spiritual formation training with more than 25 years of ministry experience.

Dr. Roberts holds a Master of Arts in Family and Youth Ministry, a Master of Divinity, and a Doctor of Ministry. She serves in children’s ministry at Carterville Christian Church where she attends with her husband and step-daughter. Learn more at discipleshipguides.com/.

The Holy Trinity is a mystery to me, with its three in oneness and its oneness in three, and I can just barely grasp the deep relational nature of how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit touch and spin and dance off each other and with each other. Hospitality — that generous making room for others and giving and receiving to and from each other from our plenty and sometimes from our scarcity but we do it anyway — seems to flow out of that communal and relational and so generous nature of God. Being holy as God is holy, if we can believe it, catapults us into relationship with others and the practice of hospitality. Holiness is relational, and that is why hospitality fits holiness like a soft leather glove.

Hospitality involves the holy practice of gratitude.

All of this is made easier alongside the holy practice of gratitude. I have this place, this food, this book; please take it and enjoy it as well. We try to believe that everything we have comes from God, and so it is ours not to own but to share. So hospitality is almost always best when it is gratitude adjacent. However, the discipline of hospitality can happen also while you are still a grouchy, miserly mess. Disciplines take discipline. Not everything is easy or feels good right away, but that might mean it’s even more worth doing, and not less.

Hospitality invites humility.

In Luke 14:12-14, Jesus tells us how to throw a dinner party. Dinner parties are, after all, what most of us think of first when we think about hospitality: “‘When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,’ he said, ‘don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you’” (NLT). In Luke 14:8-10, He even discusses seating plans: “When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor … Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table” (NLT).

Jesus knows me so well. He predicts my thirst for status. When we practice hospitality as part of our holiness, we will come face-to-face with our desire to invite first our friends, the people we especially like or those whom we want to especially like us, along with the relatives we are most comfortable with, and, of course, our rich neighbors. We might strut around like a peacock in our own dining room and not even realize we are doing it. Again, our intentional moves toward holiness will show us how far we have yet to travel. Our efforts to do good on the outside will show us how far we are from good on the inside, and in that gap, we learn again of our need for the forgiving, restoring love of God in our own lives and hearts, and how much we need him, even when we are serving macaroni to friends.

We learn something about ourselves — and therefore move deeper into our holiness journeys — when we pay attention to whom we want to welcome in and how we want to welcome them to our homes, our tables, and our lives.

Hospitality helps us to examine our hidden motivations.

As we consider ourselves, we can confess ourselves to God and ask for help. Why am I making this so fancy? we can ask our inner hostess, in an examination of motivation that is a daily part of pushing into our holiness. What is my motivation? Also, Why am I talking about myself so much? And why can’t I stop?

Our honest answers do not bring the dinner party, the coffee date, or the open house to a screeching halt, but instead provide us another opportunity to be honest with ourselves and with God — who is the ultimate and gracious host of heaven and earth now and the new earth that is to come. Make me holy in my hospitality, we might pray. Kill off my show-off-ness, we might ask. Help me listen more than I speak, as my blunt spouse has said I need to work on.

Help me not to be so needy, I can pray as I juice blood oranges for udon noodles with fried tofu and orange nam jim from my expensive hardcover Ottolenghi Flavour cookbook propped open on the counter. Perhaps for a little while, as part of our own healing, we will make a simple spaghetti Bolognese, accept the offer of our guest to bring store-bought garlic bread and let Maureen help with the cleanup, like she always wants to do. We will resist the temptation to offer our guests a tour of our new barbeque and satisfy our thirst for thanks by turning it outward to gratitude to God. What if whenever we yearn for someone to say, “Thank you, you are marvelous for all you have done,” we accept that as a prompt to whisper, “Thank You. You are marvelous for all You have done.”

Hospitality exercises a variety of spiritual disciplines.

Food is just one expression of hospitality. Conversation is another. When we practice holiness through hospitality, we create a space in which other pursuits of holiness can be practiced, such as listening well and not interrupting, putting others first, and offering encouragement and companionship to the person God has placed and we have invited in front of us. From the way Jesus tells us to invite, and the humility presumed in His recommended seating plan, we can assume that we don’t invite people to our table so we can imprison them to hear all and only about us. We don’t tie them to their chairs with our story and our glory.

We can stretch our ability to put others first, and to forgive.

We can practice patience, a fruit of the Spirit we get to work with, toward friends who arrive late (or even worse, early) and those who stay too long. We practice not biting off the heads of those with whom we disagree. If we do bite their heads off at dinner, we can practice the art of unequivocal apology. Apologizing is a holy act. I’m sorry are holy, healing words. Through hospitality’s gift of space opened up and time slowed down, we can “be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep,” which Paul told us to do only two verses after he reminded us to “always be eager to practice hospitality” in Romans 12:13-15.

Discipleship Tip:

Hospitality isn’t about impressing others — it’s about making space for them. This week, invite someone into your home or life with gratitude and humility, focusing on listening and encouraging rather than showcasing. Ask the Lord for opportunities to be hospitable in your community in order to point others to Jesus.

About the Author

Karen Stiller is a senior editor of Faith Today magazine and writes frequently for magazines like Reader’s Digest, Ekstasis, In Trust, and other publications across North America. Stiller is a three-time winner of the prestigious A.C. Forrest Memorial Award from the Canadian Church Press for excellence in socially conscious religious journalism. She is author of The Minister’s Wife (2020, Tyndale Momentum); co-author of Craft, Cost & Call (2019), Shifting Stats Shaking the Church (2015) and Going Missional (2010); editor of The Lord’s Prayer (2015) and coeditor of Evangelicals Around the World (2015). She lives in Ottawa and has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Non-Fiction from University of King’s College, Dalhousie.

This article was originally published on the DiscipleMaker Blog by NavPress. You can also hear more from Karen Stiller through her book Holiness Here and NavPress’ new podcast, “Good Books, Big Questions,” where Karen hosts bold, loving, and sensible conversations about faith.

As Next Gen celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, it’s incredible to look back on how God has multiplied spiritual generations through this ministry’s mission to encourage and facilitate Life-to-Life^® discipleship among teenagers.

The Next Gen Legacy

Next Gen began in 1974 with Dick and Marti Stum. For 20 years, Dick worked as a high school math instructor, eventually joining Navigator staff full-time as God continued to bless and grow their ministry. Dick still actively invests in young men, but now serves with Navigators Encore, having passed leadership of Next Gen to Don and DeAnn.

“God shows up when we give ourselves to kids,” Don says.

Faithfulness and joy is incredibly evident in the Frasers’ ministry to youth. Over the years, there has been a healthy flow of students who go from Next Gen to The Navigators Collegiate ministry, and from Collegiate back to Next Gen and other ministries as Next Gen alumni grow up and decide to come back as volunteers.

A young woman named Kayla is an example of this. Kayla’s faith journey began at The University of Maryland. She was later discipled by DeAnn while volunteering with Next Gen, before and during veterinary school. Today, Kayla serves with The Navigators in Vermont.

Like Kayla, there are Next Gen alumni who are serving as professionals, pastors, and in missions all over the world.

God is using Don and DeAnn’s unique gifts and passions to grow His Kingdom in other contexts, as well. Don is gifted with good technology skills and has served the D.C. metro team in many important operations. For example, he started YouthNet, a Navigator youth network that provides resources and connections for youth ministry friends across the country

Similarly, DeAnn leads an important SHAW (Sexual Health and Wholeness) ministry called “Chosen Again” that serves and supports wives whose husbands are in recovery from sexual addictions.

Don and DeAnn are also faithfully making disciples where they live. Through the Frasers’ intentional disciplemaking, their neighbors are beginning to pursue faith. One of their neighbors has been reading the Bible with DeAnn for the past year and often takes her kids to church with the Frasers.

This neighbor’s husband — a six-foot-nine-inch former international basketball professional — has started to join his family’s church attendance. On one recent trip, he was receptive to Don sharing the gospel. Now, he and Don are reading through the Gospel of Mark and regularly attending a men’s breakfast and Bible study group together.

Impact That Expands Across Generations

As The Navigators celebrate 50 years of Navigators youth ministry in the D.C. area, we celebrate and thank God for the Stums, the Frasers, and many others who have teamed together to disciple high school youth over the years. The impact of their work extends beyond youth to college campuses, those in our broader community, and to the world.

Discipleship Tip:

Don and DeAnn Fraser began discipling youth through simple, consistent Life-to-Life^® relationships. Consider how you can embrace the next generation of young believers — reading Scripture together, listening well, and pointing them to Jesus. Even small moments can spark lifelong faith.

Having served with The Navigators over the past two decades with his wife, Katy, Jesse’s vision for serving the Lord was always centered around structured discipleship: leading Bible studies, helping men grow in their walk with Christ, and inspiring them to pass on what they learned to others.

However, in the past few years, the Lord revealed to him a different kind of mission: that his family farm — Sweet Source Farmstead — could be a place of ministry. It was there that Jesse’s gift of cultivating and passion for relationships converged.

The Journey to Sweet Source Farmstead

Growing up in a missionary family in Kenya, Jesse was raised in a believing home, but had a rocky relationship with faith. “I felt like Christianity was crammed down my throat,” he remembers. “I knew a lot about Jesus, but didn’t have a relationship with Him.”

As a young adult, Jesse joined the Marine Corps. While training in Pensacola, Florida, he was approached by Navigator John Nellis, and Jesse was immediately struck by the way that John carried himself. “It was one of those God things,” Jesse says. “I thought, man, whatever this guy’s got, that’s what I’m looking for.

Jesse got connected with The Navigators Military ministry and felt the Lord open his eyes and transform his life with the gospel. Soon after, he began his personal ministry, wanting to share the lessons he learned with others. After completing his service in the military, Jesse joined staff with The Navigators, discipling men in the Marines in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

After nine years in Jacksonville, Jesse and Katy felt like the Lord was preparing them for a big shift: moving to Raleigh and living on Katy’s family farm. “We were at a low point, and we prayed for God to open up a pathway that we couldn’t see,” Jesse recalls. “We felt like God had something new for us. And then an opportunity opened up to serve at North Carolina State with ROTC students.”

Though Jesse enjoyed the relational ministry of meeting with students on campus for a few years, he started to wonder how God could use some of his other gifts and passions to be an imagebearer for Him in a more holistic way. As he got more involved with the family farm and working with the land, he began to wonder if the Lord was calling him to a new path: to become a full-time disciplemaking farmer.

“I prayed and was discerning how to use my skills in a way that honored God and served our community, as well as something that was fulfilling for me,” Jesse says. “And I started to have this idea — creating a market garden.”

Stewarding the Land and Community

Inspired by Psalm 104:34, the name “Sweet Source Farmstead” recalls how the Father is the ultimate source of joy and gladness in creation. Jesse and Katy have dedicated themselves to sharing this joy with others — cultivating not just crops, but also meaningful connections.

Beginning as a small backyard garden, the Farmstead has grown into a budding market garden. Although the soil on their land had the life “conventionally” farmed out of it over the last 70 years — down to 1 percent organic matter — Jesse and Katy are working to restore the soil through regenerative practices that reflect their care for God’s creation and a commitment to fostering its health and productivity.

“This place matters to God,” Jesse says. “We know God’s plan is to restore all things, and we can participate in that on all levels, for all of God’s creation — humans and the land alike.”

Beyond stewardship of the land, Jesse’s vision for Sweet Source Farmstead extends to fostering community as he prays continually for opportunities to engage and serve other farmers in the area, as well as his customers.

For example, a fellow farmer in Jesse’s community reached out after hurting his back, asking if Jesse could help build a high tunnel greenhouse in exchange for pigs. Jesse had been praying for opportunities to serve his community, and has found through partnering with other farmers, he has built trust that wasn’t there before.

“Through the farm, we have an opportunity to show how we do business, how we work,” Jesse explains. “We do good work in a world where we don’t exploit people — we meet them with honor and value. We are extending the principles and values of the kingdom through the work we are doing. And that’s part of discipleship.”

A Kingdom Beacon

Jesse calls his ministry being a “Kingdom Beacon” — extending God’s kingdom to those who have not yet come to know Him. The Coxes are passionate about holistic living and discipleship, believing their mission is not just to grow food, but to nurture right relationships: with God, people, and the land.

“We’re ambassadors, imagebearers of God,” Jesse says. “What happens here should reflect the heart of our King.”

As part of their mission, Jesse and Katy continue to create spaces for community: through farmer’s markets, community meals, and events on their farm. They envision the farmstead as a hub where people can experience the abundance of the land, as well as the love, joy, beauty, and shalom of God’s kingdom.

“Our calling is to advance the gospel of Jesus and His kingdom through spiritual generations of laborers, living and discipling among the lost,” Jesse explains. “I feel like we are doing that more faithfully now than we ever have, simply through the sense of stewardship over this place.”

Discipleship Tip:

Through farming, Jesse and Katy are cultivating relationships and stewarding their work for discipleship. Consider your everyday work: how does being an imagebearer for God impact your day-to-day mission? God may want to use you not only at work, but through your work. What does that look like for you?

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.

Excerpt from Loyce’s Discipleship Story:

Loyce: “I’m reading the Bible and people are praying for me. They’re trying to help me to understand that I’m changing. That’s what my experience looked like after becoming a believer. I had an identity crisis, okay? Eighteen years of my life I had done things a certain way. And I believed this certain way.

I thought the world was a certain way. I thought God and the Bible were ridiculous. A month before I became a believer, I’m having a conversation with my grandmother, who was a believer at this point. I’m saying, yo, quit talking to me about this Jesus and Bible stuff. It’s nonsense.

Then, to be sitting here reading this Bible and talking about Jesus’ life–I’m a believer— What in the world? That’s how I felt. I’m reading the Bible and I’m asking questions: What is this world? What do I do with this? Why is everyone walking around like everything is okay and everything is normal? The world is not okay. I get to the New Testament and see that we’re all in darkness. We’re not aware of the reality of this spiritual fight. I’m in an identity crisis—who am I really and what am I here for?”

In this five-day online Bible study, we’ll see how Jesus invited His friends (the disciples) to follow Him and what this means for us. We’ll provide simple next steps for following Jesus with your friends. Click the link below to begin this Bible study today!

Begin the Discipleship 101: Following Jesus With Friends Bible study!

Listen in on the conversation with Alice Matagora, author of How to Save the World: Disciplemaking Made Simple as she chats with five disciplemakers to hear what disciplemaking looks like in their daily lives.

In this video, Alice and her friends discuss ways they’re reaching neighbors, friends, and coworkers by inviting them to follow Jesus, too.

The Bourkes knew why she had opened up. They have been gently intentional and prayerful about creating a safe and comfortable atmosphere to connect with neighbors in the front yard of their Detroit home.

“Putting a table and chairs in our front yard has helped create an environment of connection,” Ann shared. “We started with the front porch, but I read about how a turquoise table on the lawn can draw attention and offer a place to linger, so we took that step, rather than always being in our backyard.”

Tom will often sit in the front yard in the morning, reading his Bible and praying for neighbors. If someone stops by and asks what he is doing, he tells them. The reaction is always positive.

Going Deeper

Engaging with their neighbors has been a learning process for the Bourkes. They coach others in all walks of life on how to intentionally share their faith. Tom and Ann wanted to connect more deeply with their neighbors, looking for people within their sphere of relationships who might be interested in exploring the teaching of Jesus. They want everything they coach others to do to be something they are practicing in their own lives.

“I don’t consider myself a gifted evangelist,” shares Tom. “I do know that an authentic relationship is key. As we get to know people and build relationships, we go deeper with those who seem open to reading the Bible and interacting with Jesus. We keep it simple. Our Bible reading group started with three young couples, then another couple asked to join after they heard what we were doing. We read a section of Scripture that deals with a common life issue, such as stress (Matthew 6:25-34), then we ask questions and discuss openly.”

Others on the Detroit Navigators city team also use this Bible reading approach. Tom and Roger VanNoord (who, along with Bob Adgate and Denny Williams, developed The Life Issues Series) were on a panel discussion and someone asked, “How many people who read the Bible with a Christian friend will come to faith?” They answered simultaneously, “All of them!” It has been their experience that those who are truly engaged in reading the Bible with a Christian friend will eventually find faith in Jesus, though it might be a process that takes years.

Not Just for Extroverts

When Tom first starting discipling others in how to intentionally share their faith in the workplace, an executive with a large automobile company who was a Christian said, “I’m an introvert, I don’t do evangelism.”

“People often make the erroneous assumption that evangelism is only for extroverts,” Tom says. “It isn’t about being a salesperson, it’s about gentle intentionality and prayerfulness.” He is committed to speaking truth and praying that God will work in others’ lives.

Tom shares the coaching process: “Many people have notebooks full of information they learned at workshops on evangelism and discipleship. In coaching a group of committed disciples, we’re always talking about the very next step that someone is taking, rather than imparting lots of information. One man I’m coaching realized his coworker is ready to hear more specifics about the Good News of Jesus, so during our time together we talked about ways to make the gospel clear. This just-in-time approach makes our coaching relationships relevant and timely. Ultimately, we want those we disciple to be disciplemakers who will then disciple others.”

Prayerful, intentional, Life-to-Life^® discipleship bears fruit over time—in conversation, in relationship, in pointing to Jesus, and in coaching disciplemakers.

*Name changed.

Discipleship Tip:  

Could connecting with those who live nearby be as simple as putting a table and chairs in your front yard? Sometimes being available and approachable is all it takes to create intentional opportunities for spiritual conversations.

Praying Through Your Neighborhood

Starting conversations with and praying for those who live on your street, in your apartment building, or even a few miles down the road, is not always easy. This is why we created the Praying Through Your Neighborhood eBook. 

We want to give you simple and intentional ways to pray for your neighbors. Our Praying Through Your Neighborhood eBook includes three practical resources to transform 30 days and even your neighborhood walks into an ongoing conversation with the Lord about His heart for those who live nearby!

Find out more and get access to the Praying Through Your Neighborhood eBook by clicking the link below.

Start praying for your neighborhood »