{"id":264243,"date":"2024-07-08T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-08T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/?p=264243"},"modified":"2024-08-22T09:37:10","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T15:37:10","slug":"reaching-the-police-the-navigators-first-responder-ministry-in-seattle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/blog\/reaching-the-police-navigators-first-responder-ministry-in-seattle\/","title":{"rendered":"Reaching the Police: Navigators First Responder Ministry in Seattle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Doug Heric<\/a> first joined the police force at 40 years old, he found that more in his life changed than just his career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Navigators Doug Heric and Darren Lindblom, as well as Officer Tony Grosz, all help with the Navigators First Responder Ministry’s Fellowship of Warriors events, where they share a gospel message with first responders and their families.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Originally, Doug was very involved with his local church in the Seattle area, attending multiple times a week. However, after spending nights and weekends on duty, he was suddenly lucky to be able to attend once a month. With a demanding work schedule and atmosphere, he gradually started to unplug, and he found himself growing more and more distant from his church community and faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe spiraled into a cynical place, so I was crying out to the Lord for someone to find him and meet his need,\u201d Christine Heric, Doug\u2019s wife, says. \u201cSo when Chris Green<\/a> showed up, it really was an answer to prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, Doug met Chris, who oversees the Navigators First Responders Ministry, after Chris started talking to him about what Life-to-Life\u00ae<\/sup> discipleship<\/a> can look like. \u201cHe would come on ride alongs with me, and he would meet me at times when church doesn\u2019t happen,\u201d Doug recalls. \u201cAnd I saw that working in my life. It worked for me, and I wanted to do that kind of ministry for others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming alongside other first responders the way that Chris did for him, Doug joined the Navigators First Responder Ministry<\/a> as an associate, meeting men while still working as an officer. After retiring from the police force in 2020 after 12 years of service, he came on full-time staff with the Navigators. Seeing the impact the ministry had in their family, Christine also joined as an associate Navigator to mentor other officers\u2019 spouses who may be struggling. Together, they\u2019ve been pioneering new ways to reach first responders and their families in the Seattle area and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meeting the Unique Needs of First Responders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Starting in Seattle, Doug began to contact officers he already had connections with to share the gospel. These relationships led to video calls, meeting for coffee, and walking through Navigator resources like the Growing in Christ<\/em><\/a> Bible study. Since then, his ministry has grown disciplemaking communities of first responders from coast to coast in the United States, reaching from the state of Washington to New York and Philadelphia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large part of the Herics\u2019 ministry is meeting and understanding the unique needs and culture of first responders and their families. From post traumatic stress to hypervigilance to long hours with little sleep, first responders often deal with events and emotions that many can\u2019t relate with and often misunderstand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey need someone to come alongside them,\u201d Doug says. \u201cThe way that we as humans often deal with trauma is substance abuse, addictions, and other unhealthy ways of coping. So we walk with them and understand those things, and we don\u2019t judge them for it, being aware of resources and solutions that can help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To build community and relationships with first responders and their families, Doug has started partnering with local churches across Seattle to host \u201cFellowship of Warriors\u201d events, where dozens of first responders and their families come together to connect and hear the gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c50 to 75 people show up for these events, but that includes spouses and families,\u201d he says. \u201cWe want to make sure the families aren\u2019t overlooked \u2014 that\u2019s an important part of our ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating Generations of Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Doug has been able to see the Lord work firsthand in the life of one first responder whose family now regularly attends the Fellowship of Warrior events. This officer had dealt with a high profile, controversial incident that required him to have a court appearance. Doug met him during this difficult time and began to disciple him, walking him through a Bible study and memorizing Scripture together. As they continued to meet, Doug and Christine watched as the officer\u2019s countenance and perspective transformed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we first started meeting with him, his wife was hesitant because he was already gone so much,\u201d Christine says. \u201cBut after a few weeks, even his kids would come up and say, \u2018Oh good, Daddy, are you meeting with Mr. Doug again?\u2019 They could see that he changed \u2014 he had come back to them. It was such a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that officer is meeting with another man from the Fellowship of Warriors group, passing on what Doug taught him. \u201cIt\u2019s a really encouraging story of generations, where I was meeting with John*, and John\u2019s meeting with Roger*, and Roger is now going to be meeting with his brother,\u201d Doug says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christine has also seen the impact and importance of creating support groups for spouses. One woman, Natalie*, started meeting with Christine a couple years ago. Natalie\u2019s husband was struggling with his work as a first responder, and she was having a hard time connecting with the Lord. Christine remembered a teaching she had heard about how it takes 12 minutes every day for three weeks to create a habit, and she challenged Natalie to create a 12 minute habit of spending time with the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the end of the three weeks, I asked her how it went,\u201d Chistine says. \u201cAnd she said, \u2018I want more than 12 minutes.\u2019 And now spending time with the Lord is her priority, and she is working out of that overflow. When I met her, she had never really opened a Bible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Natalie has connected with a female first responder and has started to shepherd her in her faith. \u201c[Natalie\u2019s] been drawing her back to the Lord and her faith, and it is like copying and pasting from the books I once read with her,\u201d Christine says. \u201cIt\u2019s been fun to watch her engage with others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pray for the First Responders Ministry in Seattle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As Doug and Christine\u2019s ministry continues to grow and thrive, you can come alongside them in prayer. Pray that the Lord would raise up disciplemakers to partner with them in reaching the lost among the first responders community, and that the Herics can continue to build trust and relationships with officers and their families across the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to see generational discipleship, where we are making disciples who make disciples,\u201d Doug says. \u201cIt\u2019s a big country, and we don\u2019t have that big of a group in the first responders ministry. The goal is to multiply, and that is our prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to hear more about Doug and Christine\u2019s ministry or come alongside them in their journey with first responders, you can visit their page here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Names have been changed for privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Discipleship Tip:<\/p>\nDoug and Christine are so effective at ministering to first responders and their families because they understand their unique needs from their own experience of being involved with the police force. Who are the people or communities in your life that you share distinct experiences with, and how can you meet their needs? Think about how you can grow your pre-existing connections into Life-to-Life relationships to help others know the Lord better.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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 3 Ways to Help Someone Grow Spiritually<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Herics are fostering disciplemaking communities among first responders, but how can you<\/em> come alongside others in your networks? Check out our resource, \u201c3 Ways to Help Someone Grow Spiritually,\u201d to gain some useful tips on how to help those around you grow in their relationship with Jesus!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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

Learn how The Navigators are growing discipleship communities through a first responder ministry in Seattle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_helpful_pro_status":1,"_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":[1060],"topic":[46],"class_list":["post-264243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ministry-impact-stories","tag-disciple","mission-navigators-first-responder","topic-evangelism"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/070924-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\/264243","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=264243"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264446,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264243\/revisions\/264446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264243"},{"taxonomy":"mission","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission?post=264243"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=264243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}