This being the season to give, we’d like to gift you with two snapshots of the people you’ve helped this year by your prayers and financial support. (What a great team we make together with Jesus!) We’ll end with how valuable and needed your contribution is going to be in the coming year.
The first snapshot involves an unexpected conversation I had with a veteran staff. I was in her city to speak at a student retreat. She pulled me aside before the retreat to go for a walk:
I’m scared. Fantasies of leaving my husband have
intensified over the last couple of years. I don’t know what to do.
What a thrill and joy it was to bring some healing and encouragement to their marriage – something that can’t help but spill out onto their ministry to others.
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Iron sharpening iron is a messy process
of grinding away the unnecessary,
the inaccurate and the imperfect.
-- Alex
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The second snapshot involves my bi-weekly meetings with “Alex.” Here’s how he describes our journey together:
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When I first met Ron, I was a man who had lost my bearings
despite how I appeared. I was productive, effective, efficient…
Just below the surface however, the waves of disappointment,
uncertainty and grief that had been battering my soul ultimately
broke me.
Ron’s gentle prodding and guidance allowed me to explore the
underlying reasons for my words, thoughts and deeds. It was
not all pats on the back and "way-to-gos." Iron sharpening
iron is a messy process of grinding away the unnecessary, the inaccurate and the imperfect.
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Alex puts it well. “Iron sharpening iron is a messy process.” But the beauty of it is that it woke up his heart. A heart that was, underneath his frantic flying around the globe, actually hungering for Jesus! A new joy and passion is spilling out in the way he connects with the men he meets with.
On behalf of my colleagues and the students they minister to… and on behalf of Alex and the men he meets with, THANK YOU for your investment in all of our lives!
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The top two challenges
staff face in ministering
to university students
are the issues of
sexuality and anxiety.
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An investment that keeps on giving…
In August, the Canadian Navigator National Leadership team asked us to consider giving ourselves to three things. They want us to:
- Help them serve the country by being their shepherd and coach.
- Take on the role of shepherding and coaching supervisors and city leaders with marriage, family and personal issues that get in the way of their own growth and ministry.
- Equip and coach staff on how to step into the top two challenges they face in ministering to university students: the issues of sexuality and anxiety.
As huge as this task seems it’s one we feel the Lord has “grown” us into over the years. The beauty of it is that we get to invest our lives in people who are already investing their lives in others. We get to multiply what we do by equipping others in this work in Canada and abroad. How cool is that?
Would you like to have an impact across Canada and internationally?
As many of you know, this work is made possible by the generosity of people who love investing with us. That support has taken a big hit these last couple of years due to retirement, job loss or death. This, along with the additional ministry expenses of this new mandate, means we’re looking to God to provide for the $3,000/ month needed to step into this.
Given the interest you’ve shown in the work God has entrusted to us, would you pray about joining our financial support team? This link will show you how to do that.
Warmest Christmas wishes,
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