1st annual Partnership Banquet with the OSU Navigators

On June 3, 2017 the OSU Navigators hosted their first of many Partnership Banquets in Corvallis.  We were very grateful to Ted and his staff at Old World Deli downtown for the great food and facility.

Members of the community joined us for an evening of thanking God, and discussing how we pray to see God use our efforts at Oregon State to see Lifetime Laborers sent to the world through OSU.

Throughout the evening guests heard student testimonies from students like Audrey Bernard.  Some of our friends and Partners in the community were not able to join us for this great evening.  We missed you, and hope you are encouraged by reading what Audrey had to say.

Audrey: "Well, like any great story, it starts with Ultimate Frisbee. My roommate has an intense love for Frisbee so when we saw some people playing on the field, we decided to join. Immediately after walking onto the field, the staff greeted us like we were old friends. They asked for our names and actually remembered them. Someone mentioned that it was a Christian group called the Navs (which was completely lost on me what the name actually stood for). I began researching the “Navigators” and found that their values and beliefs matched mine. Their goal was to “know Christ and to make Him known.” From then on, I knew that I wanted to be a part of their mission. Afterwards, I was invited to a worship night and got connected to a Bible Study where we studied Romans. Quickly, I knew God was convicting me to put my faith into action.

I guess I should also explain my back story. I was saved when I was pretty young, and as with many things, I became bored of the whole “God thing” extremely quick. I memorized the material enough to get a pat on the head, but I never actually did anything. Even through middle and high school, I would just go through the motions because I thought that’s what all good Christian do and that God would punish me if I didn’t. Until college. After going through Romans, I knew I needed to get on fire for God. Winter term came around and a program called Timothy Team was put on. For the entire term, we learned different aspects such as a daily quiet time, realizing where our priorities are, and most importantly, how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. They presented practical things I could do to grow in my relationship with Him. The biggest thing about Timothy Team was the witnessing. Honestly, that scared me… a lot. Talking to people about things that are uncomfortable? No thanks! However, I learned ways to initiate the conversation such as World Surveys and how to present the gospel in a way that doesn’t put them to sleep such as the bridge illustration. After each encounter, I knew that this is what God wanted me to do all along and funny thing was, I found that I actually enjoy talking to people!

The Navigators really helped me this year figure out where I was in my spiritual walk. Through Timothy Team and meeting with the staff weekly, I know that being a life-long disciple maker is what I need and want to be. One night at our worship night, we talked about the people in our lives that are Paul's, who is the disciple makers, and Timothy's, who are the disciples themselves. After Timothy Team, I knew that I wanted to be a Paul to someone. Luckily, I have already begun training a disciple myself so she, in return, can train another one. One by one, we can reach a lot of people on this campus if each one of us tries to reach someone else. Despite spending a lot of money going to college to get a degree, my true treasure is lying in Heaven. I would rather progress the kingdom of God than progress the success of myself. And that is what God, and the Navigators, have taught me this year."

Thank you so much for your encouragement and support.  We couldn't be at OSU without you!

To Know Christ and to Make Him Known,

Kyle and Katie Nelson

OSU Navigators Baptized

When Katie and I first began this new movement at Oregon State, one of our prayers and goals was to establish a culture of evangelism among the Navigators at OSU.  Over the years we have learned, as many of you know, that it is much easier to establish a new culture than to change one that already exists.  So we decided to intentionally place the gospel, prayer and evangelism as pillars of the OSU NAVS right away.

A couple of practical steps we took in evangelism were to pray for the lost on campus regularly with our staff and students we were meeting.  We put time in our schedule to spend time be in the dorms and share the gospel with at least one non-believer each week.

As our culture of Evangelism has begun to be established, I have enjoyed seeing our students on campus striking up conversations with fellow students, and taking risks in sharing their faith in Jesus.  Now, as new freshmen connect with the Navigators at Oregon State, one of the things they notice is that the NAVS are a place where Christians encourage each other to be bold and share Jesus!

Matthew, Joey, Mense and Evan were baptized on June 4th

Our first OSU Navigator to put their faith in Jesus came in the spring of 2016.  Joey had met one of our staff, taken a spiritual interest survey, and got to hear the gospel illustration.  Throughout the rest of the school year the two met together to read the book of John and discuss faith in Jesus.  After putting his faith in Jesus, Joey decided to be baptized, along with three other OSU Navigators on June 4th, 2017!

7 students put their faith in Jesus for the first time this year through our ministry at OSU!

Thank you for your prayers and support, and may God reach many, many more!

Kyle and Katie Nelson