Reveal Our Root Through Our Fruit.

So this weekend was our Navigators Winter Retreat, and I could not be any happier with the way it turned out. God really answered our prayers for the weekend and we got to see some real ministering taking place among the students. We have almost entirely all new students attending Navigators this year, and so we shared with them that they are a brand new generation of students and that they could make this ministry what they wanted to be. We encouraged them to take this ministry and run with it, to ask questions, seek answers, meet with people, share the gospel, be poured into; and the results, I believe, were awesome!



John 15 and Intimacy With Christ

This weekend I was to give a talk to the students. We did things a little differently than most years in that this was much more of an equipping weekend. Firstly, we did not have a guest speaker; secondly, the talks were given by staff and myself (being an intern). We offered up two sessions on the Saturday where three talks were available each session, giving the students a chance to choose which talk they wanted to go to. My talk was a discussion group on John 15 and what intimacy with Christ looks like and how that is a mark of a disciple. Both talks brought something different to the table, but remained mostly the same in regards to what was being shared. I had an absolute blast and it was a real time for growth, not just for the students, but for me as well.

One of the things that jumped out to us was that often when God gives us a command, it is then followed by a promise. In the case of John 15, I will refer you to verses 12-15 where it says:

"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you." John 15:12-15

What an incredible statement this is! What religion in the world makes this kind of promise? That if we love one another as Christ loves us, we will have complete and total intimacy with God? This was a real eye opener for me. I have read John 15 several times and have always skimmed past these verses without really giving them a second glance, but this weekend God really opened them up to me with a whopper of an understanding! We continued to explore just what John 15 was talking about, in regards to loving one another, what it meant to bear fruit and we came up with the need to die to our selfishness, as well as one of the more cheesy sounding phrases I have come up with so far; to reveal our roots through our fruits.

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:4,5


This was another thing that jumped out at us; that intimacy with Christ is what allows us to serve others with a selfless heart; that the glory of God and His kingdom and the encouragement of others thus becomes our motivations. If I may paraphrase one of the students (who is also a born again believer as of 6 months ago):


"Without Christ, we feel as though we have gone above and beyond ourselves when we serve, while with Christ our motivation is completely in Him and the love He gave us. We want to give that same love to others. It doesn't become about us anymore."





God Goggles, Washed Feet and Other Highlights!

This was such an incredible weekend for sure. There were so many opportunities for growth as a community of believers as well as a chance for one person, who does not yet know Christ, to learn more about Him and see the Joy we have in Him! This young girl has been brought to Church before and had come to understand Christians having something she couldn't quite put her finger on. When she left the retreat this weekend she admitted that she felt as though her heart had changed, that she was in some way different! We could not be more excited for her and plan to continue meeting with her in the future to see what questions she may have!

Another highlight was a guest we had with us. Andy Utley with the Navigators in Halifax, soon to return to his native Australia with his wife and kids, was able to join us, and it was an absolute pleasure having him there! He shared on the importance of using our time wisely, especially for our students still in University; how this was the best time to get connected with people and ask for mentor-ship, investigate questions, find answers, etc. I could not help but feel like his talk had really struck a solid cord with the students and could sense a real change within that community. I am really excited to see how it translates into the rest of our semester!

Daniel, our first year intern, humbled himself in obedience to the Lord and washed the feet of every single person at the retreat. This was an incredible witness to everyone there in regards to the mark of a disciple. Willingness to first of all; not run away from what God places on our hearts, and secondly; to take a step back in ourselves and put the needs and feelings of others first. The whole thing came in to close with our new student exec president in eagerness washing Daniel's feet. It was the cherry on top of the icing for me, getting to see that. I sat there watching and reflected on the actions and couldn't help but praise God for making that weekend together so successful! Christ modeled intimacy with God for us, as well as intimacy with each other, what a powerful promise and action.

Lastly is the student I have been meeting up with personally for the last semester, Hudson. I am so thankful to God for putting this student into my life and could not be more thrilled with the journey Hudson is on! We had talked about the idea of "God Goggles" together in the past and got a chance to talk about them a bit more this weekend. The idea is that sometimes God lends us goggles in which we can see people as He sees them, a process meant to help us love those people even more, and to pray for them. We have been talking together about what that means, what it looks like, and how it affects our relationships with others. We have made a promise to one another to serve our immediate communities, the ones closest to us, the way Christ would and then to branch out from there. Acts1:8 demonstrates that we start with where we are and move out from there, and so we are going to keep one another accountable to that.

Please continue to pray for the students and for God's ministry on campus! Pray particularly that God guards each of the students and what they learned at the retreat, that they would become convicted of their role on campus and what intimacy with God has provided them. Pray they would see the heart of this picture and be challenged to share those same gifts God gave them with others. Thanks so much for reading, for your prayer, and your support!