{"id":261862,"date":"2023-11-06T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/?p=261862"},"modified":"2023-10-16T08:32:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T14:32:42","slug":"inviting-others-to-life-to-life-discipleship-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/blog\/inviting-others-to-life-to-life-discipleship-at-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Inviting Others to Life-to-Life Discipleship at Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The idea of a Navigator Home was created by Dawson Trotman in 1933 when he and his wife, Lila Mae, bought a home in San Pedro, California, and dedicated it to full-time ministry. Not only did the house provide lodgings for servicemen away from their base, but the couple used it as an opportunity to intentionally disciple those that lived with them, building a space that was a breeding ground for ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The
The Preckels have started a thriving and growing ministry of disciplemakers in Albany, New York \u2014 all through opening the doors of their home. Front row: Tabatha Anderson, Emmy Monson, Abby Monson, Brittanie Farnum, Taylor Preckel. Second Row: Kara Phipps, Katie Monson, Holly Monson, Serena DeJulio, Mike Prentice, Jason Preckel. Back Row: John Potter, Nathaniel Adair, Joseph Carpenter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For Jason and Taylor Preckel, the original Navigator Home has become an inspiration for their own ministry today. Living in Albany, New York, the Preckels have opened the doors of their home to invite young adults to live with them and pursue Life-to-Life\u00ae<\/sup> discipleship<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating a Space for Life-to-Life Discipleship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Long before they started discipleship at home in Albany, Jason and Taylor had both experienced the impact of intentional, Life-to-Life discipleship firsthand while living in Savannah, Georgia. Taylor had been discipled by her cousin, Ashley, who was involved with the Navigators Collegiate<\/a> ministry, and she eventually moved into a girls ministry house on campus. Meanwhile, Jason was being discipled by Navigators Military staff Cecil Bean<\/a> and John Kreitzer<\/a>, with the latter going as far to invite Jason to live with him for a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen John moved me into his home, he pitched it like this,\u201d Jason recalls. \u201c\u2018If you want to be like someone, you\u2019ve got to get around them. The more time you spend, the more exposure you can get to their lives, the better.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experience of being intentionally invested in spiritually gave both Jason and Taylor a heart for deep, relational discipleship. After they got married, they were involved with the Navigators Collegiate and Navigators Military<\/a> ministries in Savannah. However, after five years, they moved to Albany to build a ministry. Jason had previously lived in Albany before moving to Savannah, and he had struggled to find discipleship training there. Now, the Preckels wanted to create a space in Albany to grow and train disciplemakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Albany, Jason started working for the post office and Taylor got a job as a teaching assistant. However, much of their time was spent getting involved in their church\u2019s young adult ministry. \u201cWe wanted to find people who were interested in going deeper in their walk with Jesus, wanting more than simply showing up to church on Sundays,\u201d Taylor remarks. \u201cWe were committed to finding individuals that wanted to walk with us through life \u2014 who we could help grow to a place where they could help others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investing in Spiritual Generations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It didn\u2019t take long for those very people to start coming out of the woodworks. Taylor started inviting girls to read the Bible with her, and one girl \u2014 Abby \u2014 started showing up every day. Seeing Abby\u2019s desire for growth, Jason and Taylor asked if Abby and her sister wanted to move into their house to do real Life-to-Life discipleship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The girls said yes and moved into the second story of the Preckels\u2019 home. But the ministry didn\u2019t stop there. Eventually, Jason and Taylor converted their two-story garage into a bachelor pad for four additional guys to move in as well. Now, they are intentionally pouring into a dozen young adults on a regular basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to help them with learning how to meet the needs of others, how to help someone read the Bible, learn to pray, and walk through the things in their life,\u201d Taylor says. \u201cIt\u2019s not just discipleship for them, but it\u2019s investing in leaders who can help the next generation as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the young adults they are discipling have begun to pass on what they\u2019ve learned to others. Abby is now leading Bible studies and meeting with other women to help them grow in their walk with Christ. Another girl, Kara, has discovered her heart for investing in others and took another girl under her wing, teaching her the basics of the faith and baptizing her last semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGod started exponentially growing our reach to the point where we\u2019ve started to see The Navigators\u2019 addition versus multiplication concept played out,\u201d Jason says. \u201cI\u2019m discipling John, and John is discipling Nathaniel, and Nathaniel is investing in a myriad of dudes. Taylor invested into Abby, who\u2019s investing into Emmy, who is now following up with other women. It\u2019s happening in day-to-day life because you\u2019re willing to live your life around other people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Doing Life Together is Discipleship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1 John 1:1<\/a> says, \u201cThat which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked up and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life\u201d (NIV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Jason, 1 John 1:1 is the basis of how they live out discipleship through their home and community. \u201cWe wanted our lives to be something that people could touch with their hands in order to see how we were doing discipleship,\u201d he says. \u201cOpening the doors to say, \u2018Hey, come into my home.\u2019 There\u2019s something about simply doing life together where a lot of things can be caught and taught.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Preckels continue their ministry, you can come alongside them and support them in prayer. Pray that they continue walking with the Lord and following His lead as they build their home in New York for ministry, and that those they are training are equipped to continue spreading the gospel for generations to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we are praying for in Albany,\u201d Taylor says. \u201cWe want it to be a place where people can come and receive the help and growth that they need to go and make disciples, wherever they go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Discipleship Tip:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes discipleship at home can be more challenging because you see those you live with on good days and not-so-good days. Find one way to encourage someone in your home and even offer to pray with them. See how they respond and use it as an opportunity for more conversation and intentional connection.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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Are You An Alongsider?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Do you desire to come alongside someone like the Preckels? The \u201cAlongsiders: Life-to-Life Discipleship\u201d FREE resource unpacks how Jesus and the apostle Paul lived out Life-to-Life discipleship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click the link below to download your copy of and be encouraged and equipped to take your next step as a disciplemaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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DOWNLOAD NOW<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jason and Taylor Preckel, live in Albany, New York, and have invited young adults to live with them and pursue Life-to-Life\u00ae discipleship at home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_helpful_pro_status":0,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6337],"tags":[1483],"mission":[150,10349],"topic":[44],"class_list":["post-261862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ministry-impact-stories","tag-disciple","mission-navigators-collegiate","mission-navigators-disciplemakers-for-life","topic-discipleship"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/11.07.23-Article-Web.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"The Navigators","author_link":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/staff\/thenavigators\/"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261862"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261896,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261862\/revisions\/261896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261862"},{"taxonomy":"mission","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission?post=261862"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=261862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}