I love new adventures and challenges—hiking volcanoes in Nicaragua or getting lost backpacking in Morocco. So when I transitioned from EDGE Corps (a two-year internship doing campus ministry), grad school became my next “mountain” to climb. I dreamed of a well-balanced schedule and many opportunities to witness to my fellow grad students.
The first two months were rough: I was drowning in academic lingo and procedures and faced a tsunami of papers to read, write and grade. I became depressed for not “accomplishing” as much for the Kingdom as I had hoped. The summit seemed so far away.
But one day, as I was lamenting to a believing officemate about these struggles and feeling that—in my efforts to succeed in grad school—I had failed Jesus, he reminded me that every day that I come into the office I am witnessing for my King—I live, love and work differently. As he spoke, the Spirit hit me with the Gospel: “I am not the Light, but I came to bear witness about the Light”—and just as the moon reflects the sun, so I reflect the love of our heavenly Father to my fellow grad students.
It may not feel epic, but it is effective to…
- Have intentional conversations over lunch about family and upbringing
- Keep a positive attitude (especially when others are negative)
- Remember what you talked to people about and ask them about it again later
- Give small encouragement on a post-it note
- Attend social functions and be fun, but not drunk
- Clean up after committee meetings
- Offer my help on anything
Whoa. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom—freedom to love God, love people and make disciples the best I can, knowing God does all the heavy lifting. What an adventure!
Resources
- The Case for Christ (1998) is a classic apologetic “mystery,” written by Lee Strobel. The book is fast-paced, informative and just fun to read. In 2017, the book was turned into a movie (which is currently available on Netflix). In addition to capturing the argument of the book, the movie also portrays the gracious, caring way the experts Strobel talked to gently exposed him to the truth.
- The 9 Arts are simple practices from the life of Jesus that make spiritual conversations flow more easily with spiritual seekers. It is a great resource for learning to engage the lost world in everyday life.
- How are your own adventures going? Take this quick survey (and earn a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card) to tell us how’s it going – and how the Nav20s might be able to help!
