First off, thank you so much for joining me through this last year as partners in my ministry to students at the University of New Mexico. I would not have even made it to campus without your support. You have all been so generous and so faithful, which has allowed me to focus in on the students that I have been blessed to work with.
I want to share with you a couple of exciting stories that stand out from this last year. The first is a student that got connected with us this past spring whose name is Aaron. Aaron’s roommate this past year was one of the first freshman I met on campus, and I got along with both Aaron and his roommate really well right away. They both joined my Bible study in the Fall, and Aaron stuck with me through the Spring semester. I think part of the reason I enjoyed having Aaron around was that he reminded me of myself in a lot of way. He had also grown up in a Christian home, and was looking to get connected with a Christian ministry, and similar to me, Aaron came in with a desire to follow Jesus and share his faith with his friends, but lacked some of the tools and confidence to do so. Through the Bible study I led, Aaron and two other guys (Keenan and Ruben) were able to study God’s word and learn a lot about Jesus through the book of Mark. This summer Aaron joined three other UNM students and about 70 other students from the Rocky Mountain Region at the Summer Training Program that I helped staff. It is so fun to watch guys like Aaron experience the explosive growth that happens at one of these programs. Aaron was even able to start talking with some of his co-workers about the Bible and after this expressed a desire to talk about his faith with students at UNM. I am so excited to hear about what God is going to do through Aaron back on campus this fall at UNM, and very sad that I will not get to be there to be a part of it.
Another neat story comes from one of the guys that I worked with this summer. Daniel and I were (seemingly randomly) paired together as he was one of the student team leaders for the summer program. However, it was definitely not a coincidence that Daniel and I were paired together. Even though Daniel and I come from very different backgrounds, we immediately connected and it seemed that every time he would be struggling with something, it paralleled something that I had been through in the past. It is joy to work with guys like Daniel that are eager to learn and grow and are taking their faith with God seriously, on their own. Daniel and I got to talk about some really important questions, like: Is God good, and more importantly is He good to me? Can I trust God’s promises? How do these spiritual truths impact my day-to-day situations? By helping Daniel through these questions and others I was challenged to re-examine my own beliefs in these areas and to firm up my reasoning behind my beliefs. Seeing the growth in both Daniel and Aaron is the reason I know that God used me this past year in other people’s lives. And I am excited to see in this upcoming year how the experiences that I have had this past year have shaped me, and how God will use me in the lives of others.
I want to take some time now to explain the upcoming transition. I am very excited that on August 4th, I started medical school classes! I am very excited and nervous for this transition, but I trust that it will be an adventure. I know that I will continue to need your support in prayer, as this will surely be one of the hardest things I have done. Even in the first week I am seeing the increase in the amount of information that I will be expected to know is significant. I will do my best to keep updating my blog with my experiences in medical school. I am sure there will be plenty of stories to pass on as I begin this new stage of life.
I have another exciting opportunity coming up as well. I have been invited to continue on as Navigator staff through another ministry called Nav Fusion. The vision of Nav Fusion ties in with an exciting part of the Navigators vision to have “laborers next door to everywhere”. This allows part time Navigator staff to go to places where there are not full time staff. By sending in this way, the message of the Bible goes to more people, which ultimately fulfills the mission statement of “Knowing Christ and Making Him Known”. I have been invited to stay on in a position called Associate Staff. The expectation will be that I spearhead a Bible study and continue meeting with a couple people to mentor them, similar to the relationship I had with Aaron and Daniel mentioned above. This is something that I am hoping to continue regardless, but that would be much harder without the support that I will receive. To do this I would like to maintain a small level of financial support, which will all go to help with ministry expenses and travel to conferences. One example of this is the Physician’s conference run by the Navigators every Spring. This is an opportunity to learn from some older doctors about what it looks like to follow Jesus in the context of practicing medicine.
If this sounds exciting to you, I am asking a few people to continue supporting me, as my ministry focus shifts from undergraduates at the University of New Mexico to medical students at the University of North Dakota. Since I will no longer be receiving a paycheck, I am only hoping to maintain $200-300 per month in support. This will go partly to monthly ministry expenses and will also go to help scholarship some students to conferences, which will help dramatically when it comes to convincing poor medical students to attend. I understand that some of you will not be interested in continuing to financially support me, so if this is you, please go through your Navigator account or ask me to discontinue any automatic gifts. Please feel free to ask any questions that you have about this transition, and remember, there are no bad questions!
I also encourage you to contact Jake Slabaugh (jakeslabaugh2.8@gmail.com) or Ethan Kooyenga (ethankooyenga@hotmail.com) to continue receiving updates and to continue supporting what God is doing at the University of New Mexico. Both of these guys were instrumental to the success of this past year, and are returning in the Fall to continue working with students there.
Again, thank you so much for your support (through prayer and financially) through this past year! It is so encouraging to have had you on my team and to have partnered with you through this incredibly impactful and influential time in my life. You are all a blessing to me, and I hope to stay in contact with you through the upcoming years!
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