{"id":265271,"date":"2025-01-06T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/?p=265271"},"modified":"2025-03-11T10:38:52","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T16:38:52","slug":"patience-and-perseverance-long-term-ministry-lasting-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/blog\/patience-and-perseverance-long-term-ministry-lasting-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Patience and Perseverance: Long-Term Ministry, Lasting Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Imagine moving to another country for the first time. You don\u2019t know a soul, and all of your family and friends are an ocean away. You might know the language well \u2014 or you might not \u2014 but suddenly, it\u2019s your lifeline to be able to communicate with those around you. Everything is new, potentially disorientating, and you have to move forward with patience and perseverance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is the experience for many international students as they take their first steps on US soil. In the midst of the unfamiliar, sometimes it takes a community opening their doors and reaching out in order for a new place to feel like home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Adam Johnson<\/a>, the Navigators International Student Ministry<\/a> (ISM) regional director, this is what ISM at the University of Minnesota is all about \u2014 meeting international students\u2019 physical, social, and spiritual needs to create a place of genuine belonging. From hosting bi-weekly Cross Cultural Connection (3C) nights at a campus church to offering services like airport pickups and host homes, the ISM team\u2019s vision is to form meaningful relationships between international students and Americans, eventually leading to deeper discipleship connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to give people the opportunity to get to know the Bible, to understand the message of Christ and the gospel,\u201d Adam says. \u201cSo it ends up being a funnel, where we meet a lot of people through airport pickups and welcome events and then some of them come to our social events, like the 3C nights. Then through genuine relationships, ongoing evangelism and discipleship takes place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Long Game of Intentional Relationships<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Though initial connections can be easy to make, sometimes it takes a long time \u2014 even years \u2014 before students open up to gospel conversations. This was the case for Adam\u2019s team two years ago, when they held a fall retreat for 30 international students. They took the students to a camp in Wisconsin, where they spent 24 hours having fun and exploring Scripture \u2014 a first for many of the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With such a good turnout, the team wanted to be more direct with the students and how they talked about the gospel. \u201cThere was a sense that we should be a little more bold this time around, since we\u2019d done this retreat before,\u201d Adam says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the weekend didn\u2019t quite go as expected. Instead of growing closer or opening up to God, it seemed like one by one, the students started spiritually shutting down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam remembers how one student, Justin*, told him after the retreat that he just wanted to meet girls, and he didn\u2019t want to discuss God. Another student, Kara* shared similar sentiments. She told a volunteer, Mandy*, that though she wanted to be friends, she didn\u2019t want to talk about the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe started to wonder if maybe we moved forward too quickly in how much we shared with them that weekend,\u201d Adam recalls. \u201cAnd you feel a bit deflated when you put all that energy in, and you\u2019re trusting God with that. We thought, \u2018I don\u2019t know if that turned out well.\u2019 And it didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Adam, the retreat felt like throwing seeds onto hard soil in cold weather. But what else was there to do but to continue watering? They prayed and built relationships, continuing to pursue the students who seemed disinterested in going deeper. \u201cOne of the things we emphasize in our team is that we are building relationships with no strings attached,\u201d Adam says. \u201cWe continue to offer that to these students, and authenticity comes through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, the seeds that seemed long lost started to sprout. As time went on and the students\u2019 circumstances changed, they knew that they could trust the friendships they had built within ISM. Justin started to wrestle with his life\u2019s meaning, and Adam and his teammate started a Bible study with him. \u201cThere was a hunger that had been awakened that wasn\u2019t there when we met him,\u201d Adam remembers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Kara went through a breakup and reached out to Mandy, who had become like a mother to her in the US. In her time of need, she knew that Mandy was safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, through intentional relationship two years later, both Justin and Kara have given their lives to Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sowing Seeds for Harvest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When we think about our own personal ministries and Jesus\u2019 parable about soil and sowing seeds (Matthew 13:1-30<\/a>, 36-43<\/a>), we don\u2019t always get to see if the seeds we sow bear fruit. For Adam, ISM has been one place where the Lord has shown him how his efforts can have long-term effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe often encounter more nos than yeses, and it seems like the soil is too hard and the weather is too cold,\u201d Adam says. \u201cSo we think, is it really worth sowing? I think this story is an encouragement for me, and hopefully for others, to keep sowing. You don\u2019t know when the circumstances or the temperature may change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Adam and his team continue to pursue the international community at the University of Minnesota, as well as in their neighborhoods and churches, they are taking this perspective to heart. By building relationships and spaces of belonging for those in unfamiliar territory, they continue to plant seeds with the hope of harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis year with my team of volunteers, we are reminding them of two years ago when we had this trip,\u201d Adam says. \u201cWe say, look at this picture. We didn\u2019t know who would be around in two years, and now here we are. So the next time you meet somebody, you don\u2019t know what God might do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Names and images have been changed for privacy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

For Adam, it took years to see the fruit of sharing the gospel with his international student friends. Sometimes when we disciple others, we can feel discouraged by the waiting, feeling like we are also sowing seeds on hard soil. When it comes to discipleship and evangelism, patience is key. Consider your relationships with others and how you can invite the Lord into the waiting and long-term vision as you anticipate the growth of those you disciple.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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How to Invite Friends to Read the Bible<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Adam and his ISM team take their relationships with international students one step further by reading the Bible with them and entering into a discipleship relationship. You can also take the next step in your relationships by inviting a friend to read the Bible with you. Check out The Navigators resource, How to Invite Friends to Read the Bible<\/em>, to learn how!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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

With patience and perseverance, Navigators are sharing the hope of Christ with international students at the University of Minnesota.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265275,"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":[56],"topic":[44],"class_list":["post-265271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ministry-impact-stories","tag-disciple","mission-navigators-international-student-ministry","topic-discipleship"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/01725-Article-Patience-and-Perseverance-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\/265271","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=265271"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265315,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265271\/revisions\/265315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265271"},{"taxonomy":"mission","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission?post=265271"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=265271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}