During high school, Chris put his identity in soccer and academics. He was the captain of the soccer team and one of the leading scorers. He planned to play soccer in college, but that dream ended when he tore a ligament in his knee during his senior season. All he had left was academics.
Chris describes his transition to college, saying, “When I got to college, I started partying. After my first quarter at UCLA my GPA was a 1.8. I had been an A-student in high school! One day I was in tears as I talked to my dad on the phone, I said, ‘Dad, I am the stupidest non-athlete here at UCLA.'”
At the same time Chris was starting at UCLA, Jason arrived on campus as a Navigators EDGE Corps intern. Jason says, “The idea of investing in the lives of other people scared me because I didn’t feel equipped. Over time God addressed each one of my insecurities.”
Jason met Chris and kept trying to engage him in spiritual conversations, or meet with him to read the Bible together. Chris was one of the hardest students to track down. It took Jason most of the school year to meet up with him.
When Chris felt like his life was falling apart, Jason came alongside him. Chris shares, “One of the things that I really admire about Jason was his persistence. He was there waiting patiently while my life fell apart, and thankfully he was there to help me pick up the pieces. I’m super grateful for that, because that’s ultimately what got me where I am with God.”
Jason continued Life-to-Life™ discipleship with Chris, so he could develop a foundation as a new Christian and also learn to share his faith with others. Jason helped Chris develop a vision for spiritual generations.
Investing in college students gives Jason the opportunity to be part of the spread of the gospel, far beyond his own reach. He says, “As I invest in college students, I get to watch them grow and become laborers where God has called them. Then they invest in other people, who invest in others. All those people will go places I will never go and take the gospel to people I will never see. That excites me!”
Now Chris is part of EDGE Corps at UC San Diego, investing in students, as Jason invested in him. He talks about the next generation of disciples: “I have the opportunity to pour into people like Sam and Gavin with the hopes that they will pour into other people. When I think of Gavin and Sam I don’t just see two people but I see thousands of people. I see the people they will invest in for the rest of their lives, reaching even more people. It didn’t just start with the person who invested in Jason, but it starts at Jesus and how He invested in His disciples and how they invested in others. We are just one tiny branch on a huge tree of discipleship and spiritual generations.”
This is so very encouraging. I am 92 years old and have been growing more and more devastated at what I see as the break-down of our society. Praise the Lord for your work, and it has helped me to have a better view of things just to read your story. May the Lord Bless you mightily.–
Hi Chris in this story is actually Bruce. I am Chris, so Bruce was impacted by Jason went on Edge Corps at UCSD impacted and discipled Sam. After Bruce left Sam was a junior and impacted and discipled me (Chris) my life was changed in college and I have since graduated from UCSD. I am now on EDGE Corp at NAU where I am discipling 4 men and the 3 men I discipled at UCSD are still disicipling there in my absence, that is what I call spiritual generations at its finest. Bruce’s converserion story is 6 years old thought I’d fill you in on what happened since then!
I am interested in finding out if there is a program in the Denver Area for the local colleges (ie. Metro State, Red Rocks Community College, Arapahoe CC, CU Denver). I know of some students that might be interested in being part of a group.
I love this story – and in many ways it is my story. A Navigator laborer invested unusual time with me and God build a strong foundation of faith. In fact, he did it such a way that I could follow his example and help other men to know Christ and see them established in their faith. Thanks to God for one on one Ministry.
I will be 70 years old in March 2019. My roommate in the Air Force introduced me to the Navigators. I saw spiritual qualities in his life that I had been searching for but had not found for myself. We were roommates for about 6 months. God used that 6 months to transform my life! That’s life-to-life discipleship at its best. I have had a long and blessed life and still engage people of all ages to come to Christ, become disciples and disciple-makers. I frequently tell people about the impact the Navigators have had and continue to have on my life.
That is what of us are called to do, make disciples who will make disciples for God’s kingdom.glory to GOd!!