Living Proof: Advancing The Gospel Through Relationship

“ You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.”

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬

31 years ago, I said yes to the call that God placed on my life.  This verse is the call on my life! Looking back on the last several months, it’s been amazing to see God’s hand on my transition to collegiate men’s ministry with the Navigators.

I will apologize in advance about the length of this letter but I want you to know what God has been up to and how you can partner with me in reaching this generation of young men for Jesus

Living Proof

One of the foundational books that has shaped my ministry is a classic Navigator book “Living Proof: Sharing The Gospel Naturally” by Jim Peterson. It helped me discover the power of following Jesus’ example of leading with relationship to lead people to and grow them in a relationship with God!

Allow me the privilege to share about two amazing men I am going through this book with, Caleb and Andrew. Each of these men have a desire to reach other men around them for Christ.

"Dunking Out" with Andrew before playing 5v5

I met Andrew playing basketball during summer freshman orientation. As a part of our weekly rhythm, before we dive into the book, we play full court pickup where we have been establishing relationships with the guys we play with. Afterwards, as we go through the book, it isn’t uncommon to have some of the guys we played with stop at our table to chat and ask what we are up to.

From the rec to dinkytown to his dorm, Andrew is always looking for opportunities to share Christ in a relational way. He’s even starting to read the bible with another student in his dorm.

Some 1v1 Fun @ "The Weekender" with Caleb (left) and Caden (right)

Caleb is a senior at UW Madison. We met a couple years ago at our regional conference, “The Weekender” where it was suggested by a mutual friend that we challenge each other to some 1v1. This opened the door to a discipling relationship where we meet via FaceTime once a month to “chop it up” about making disciples.

Last year after playing, Caleb introduced me to Caden, a guy he plays basketball with and have been investing in. He suggested Caden challenge me to some 1v1, and this year, Caden called me out the first night of “The Weekender”. As we battled Saturday and Sunday, Caden shared about Caleb’s influence on him and how He’s now paying it forward with guy named “Bronco”

With each of these men, the relationship started with basketball and has moved towards the Gospel and discipleship. This is just one story of how the gospel is moving among our collegiate men.

Collegiate Men’s Initiative

The increase in the numbers of men seeking to be mentored/discipled has led me to start the “Collegiate Men’s Initiative. The goal of CMI is to help collegiate men to believe in, belong to, become like Jesus and help others to do the same. Men are searching for a biblical definition of what it means to be a man.

This fall @ “The U”, we have added a second men’s small group through our partnership with “The Avenue” Campus Church. At Bethel University, I have recently started meeting with a student who has been actively sharing the Gospel and starting to make disciples there.

This spring, through a partnership with Project5130 (a Chicago based ministry helping young men discover their biblical identity as a man) we are planning to have our first men’s weekend here in the Minnesota/Wisconsin area. I am excited to share more about this and other things happening in the next newsletter.

Need Your Help!

As the year comes to a close, I am so grateful for those of you who support this ministry financially. Thank you for allowing me to serve GenZ college students.

With my new role as Men’s ministry specialist has come the need to increase my budget as my reach is expanding beyond the Univ. Of Minnesota.

 There are two ways to help:

1. Would you consider a year end gift to help with the increased costs this semester. I am trusting the Lord would provide $10,000 in special one time gifts. Would you consider a one time gift of $100, $200 or even $500 or $1,000

2. The second way would be if you would connect me with people you believe would be interested in hearing the vision. I need to raise an additional $1,500-$2,000/month to bring me to a healthy operating budget going forward. I am believing for 15-20 new supporters at $100/month

To give a gift please click the link below.



https://donations.navigators.org/s/support-staff?sf_ac=w01&_gl=1*1tpszb1*_gcl_au*MjAyMzM3OTQ3OC4xNzY3MDU4NTQw*_ga*OTY1Nzg5ODI2LjE2OTE0NjM0MjY.*_ga_FDPSCFS58G*czE3Njc2ODIzNjEkbzYkZzAkdDE3Njc2ODIzNjIkajU5JGwwJGgw

Thank you for all you do to help collegiate men discover their identity in Jesus Christ!