Signs of Life: ASL interpreter comes to Christ

When Morgan, a student in the University of North Florida’s American Sign Language Interpreting program, began attending NavNight to fulfill a class requirement, she wasn’t expecting to also fulfill a deeper longing. She wasn’t expecting to meet Jesus.

Navigators Marcus and Olivia Morgan had welcomed similar students to observe their meetings before, allowing them to get in their required 60 hours of sign language interpretation observation for the semester.

“There is a young woman in our ministry who is deaf, so there is an ASL interpreter at our NavNights every week to accommodate her,” Olivia says. “As Morgan observed the messages every week, the Lord began to soften her heart toward the gospel, and she became more and more curious about who Jesus is. As the weeks passed, her desire to know more about the Bible and who God is grew, so she asked a lot of questions. After reading the Bible with two students a few times and seeing the Bridge illustration explaining the gospel, Morgan accepted Christ!”

Morgan says the loving atmosphere was irresistible.

“I was really moved at how encouraging and supportive all the students were,” Morgan says. “It was like a little family. When I started UNF, I felt very alone. Only when I went to Navs did I feel better connected to myself and my friends. My home life isn’t the best. It was like I had finally found my family.”

Olivia began meeting with Morgan in Life-to-Life^® discipleship, teaching her how to spend time in the Word, how to pray, and helping her understand her new identity as a child of God.

“I think it’s so important for students to have a person or small group of people where they feel safe to ask questions—especially hard questions,” Olivia says. “Like so many college students, Morgan needed someone to walk with her as she learned how to follow Jesus. In the middle of one of our meetings she stopped and said, ‘I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t ask someone these questions.’”

Morgan says her discipleship relationship with Olivia has brought fullness and balance to her life as a student and a daughter of God.

“I felt lost for a long time, and I struggled with school and managing classes, but after praying about it every morning and meditating on the Word of God, He helped me manage my time better,” Morgan says. “I don’t know what I would do or where I would be right now if I hadn’t found Navs.”

Please pray for The Navigators ministry on campuses across the country. Pray that God would continue to open unexpected doors for the gospel as staff love and serve students.