One-to-one ministry is in part the “bread and butter” of the Navigators. This type of ministry involves a commitment of two individuals coming together regularly with a view toward building and encouraging one another in the Lord and equipping one another for personal ministry.
Paul told the Romans in Romans 1:11-12 that he longed to visit with them so that he could help make them strong spiritually and be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. One-to-one ministry involves not only passing on knowledge and skill, but also values, heart, and passion. Its objective is not information, but transformation – living, looking, and leading more and more like Jesus.
My former supervisor, John Ed Robertson, gave his life to the mentoring process. One of the last papers John Ed wrote was entitled “The Along-Sider.” He says, “We come alongside laborers and leaders to help them in their context. As I have thought about it, that pretty well summarizes a big part of what I have tried to do for the last 34 years.” There are hundreds of laborers and leaders in France, the United States, and around the world, in part because John Ed was committed to this person-to-person ministry. I am one of the beneficiaries, and, like John Ed, I am committed to giving my life and God’s truth away one person at a time.
John Ed passed on to be with the Lord on […], following a bicycling accident. I attended his memorial service together with 800 other individuals who gathered to celebrate God’s faithfulness and John Ed’s commitment to serving Him.
One of my fellow Navigator staff mentioned to me that of the 800 in attendance at least 250 of them would consider John Ed one of their closest friends. You may ask yourself, “How can that be?” The answer is that John Ed was a man who loved God, depended on Him, and gave his life and the Gospel away to people, one person at a time.