How to Build Boldness: Sharing the Gospel in Jacksonville

What does it look like to step out of your comfort zone into bold faith?

This past summer, 58 students from across the Mid America and Central Plains regions gathered in Jacksonville, Florida, for a life-changing experience with The Navigators Summer Training Program (STP). For eight weeks, they not only received biblical and discipleship training, but were challenged to live out their faiths in real time.

For many, the summer wasn’t just training — it was a transformation that changed their confidence in disciplemaking long after the STP ended.

Turning Theory Into Action

Living in dorms at the University of North Florida, the students balanced full-time jobs with an intense discipleship curriculum. Between Bible studies, worship nights, speaker sessions, and one-on-one mentorship, they dug deeply into what it truly means to follow Jesus.

“Every week, we’d focus on a different topic, whether it was the Word, walking with Jesus, or what it means to have an identity in Christ,” Navigator Cassidy Purdy says. Cassidy and her husband, Adam, were the STP directors for the summer and are full-time Navigators staff at Northwest Missouri State University.

On Saturdays, however, discipleship theory turned into action. Armed with newfound skills and the Bridge to Life illustration, students headed to the beach to evangelize — approaching strangers with the gospel and stepping far outside their comfort zones.

“We wanted to give them reps to build their confidence, letting them see how God shows up and that they can actually share their faith,” Cassidy says. “Coming into it, they were afraid, but when they left, it’s what they were most thankful for. They saw how God met them in their fear, showing them that He is the God of the universe — and that includes Jacksonville Beach.”

From Fear to Boldness: Stories of Transformation

This past summer, the students had over 700 gospel conversations with strangers. From those discussions, 22 people gave their lives to Christ and were connected with local churches.

“One pair of students went out sharing and ended up leading a whole family to Christ,” Cassidy explains. “The parents and the kids, too. It’s so powerful, and now those students will have that story in their heads for the rest of their lives.”

For one student, Ethan, sharing his faith on the beach led to a renewed heart for evangelism back home. At the beginning of the summer, Ethan was nervous about sharing his faith with strangers. After sharing his feelings with Adam, Adam gave him a challenge: “Do it scared.”

His first day on the beach, Ethan was terrified. However, the Lord showed up, and Ethan ended up leading a man to Christ. “Ethan’s whole attitude towards sharing his faith shifted after that,” Cassidy says. “He realized that it could actually change people’s lives.”

Ethan went back to Northwest Missouri State University this fall semester after the STP with a new energy for sharing the gospel with his friends. Since then, he has led four guys on his cross country team to Christ. “He’s now got this confidence that God can use him anywhere, and four men’s eternities have been changed here at Northwest because of that,” Cassidy says. “It’s really powerful to see how his life looks so different from before.”

Similarly, another student, Karinne, has seen the ripple effects of her summer experience back at her university. Asked to be a team leader for the summer, Karinne accepted but didn’t feel qualified for the leadership position.

“She felt like her whole life needed to be perfect, living up to the standards that she or someone else has set for her,” Cassidy shares.

“We explained that the reality of her work is defined by Jesus and not what she does, and that really sunk in for her.”

As she led women over the summer, her confidence grew as she discovered what it meant to lead from a place of weakness and submission to God’s plan, not perfection. Now, she has taken that attitude back to her sorority at Northwest Missouri State University, and she has become an instrumental part of the women’s ministry there.

“The other girls want to follow her,” Cassidy says. “It’s so sweet because she is leading out of that place of weakness, finding her identity and worth in Christ instead of what she does. And now she’s accepted a position with us on EDGE Corps!”

A Ripple Effect of Impact

The lessons the students learned at the Jacksonville STP will stick with them for the rest of their lives, impacting countless others along the way. For Cassidy, this group of special students is just a small example of how the younger generation is on fire for the Lord, representing the powerful ways the Lord is moving through them.

“I see God doing awesome things in this generation of college students,” she says. “Gen Z’s desire to impact the world is so strong, and they want to make the world a better place. When you add following Jesus to that, the world will actually change. I want to fan the flames because God is going to use them.”

Join The Navigators in praying for the next generation of believers, that the Lord continues to give them a heart for discipleship and reaching the lost — changing the world one campus at a time.

Discipleship Tip:

For many of the students at the Jacksonville STP, sharing their faith with strangers was uncomfortable, if not terrifying. However, we can all learn from Adam’s advice to “do it scared.” What fears are holding you back from discipling others? Consider how you can lean in further, instead of backing out when you are presented with an opportunity that makes you nervous.

Related Resources

Opening Doors to the Gospel Through Generosity

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The Bridge to Life

When you’re not sure if friends have surrendered their lives to Christ yet, the Bridge to Life is a great way to help them make that decision. Continue Reading

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