Julie Leads Generations
posted by Navigators on November 16th, 2016 in Discipleship | Generations
Dave and Julie McIntosh lead our Navigator work at Macquarie University. This is one story of what God has been doing through Navigators to grow generations of disciples. Julie shares:
During my first two years serving at Macquarie University, it felt as though almost all of our female students graduated or moved away. Questions of inadequacy and God’s plans plagued me. Among 40,000 students on campus, the vast majority need Jesus, and yet it seemed there were few women interested. Our prayer letters repeatedly asked for God to bring women into contact with us who I could invest in.
Our vision was, and continues to be, to see Christian students develop a heart to introduce the lost to Jesus and to be equipped to invest deeply in the lives of others. Our prayer is, with God’s help, to raise a generation of Christian students discipling the next generation of labourers.
Three years on, in January this year, as Dave and I reflected on our first semester leading the Macquarie team and anticipated the arrival of our first child, our prayers changed. We praised God for the women He had brought into the ministry and asked for wisdom in continuing to lead them as we adjusted to being parents. Our heart for generational ministry was not just our vision but a necessity to keep ministering to these women.
Our heart for generational ministry was not just our vision, but a necessity to keep ministering to these women.
Dave and Julie are leading the next generation of leaders at Macquarie, made possible by partners like you!
During a summer study, God encouraged me greatly as he revealed some of the ways he was working in Zoe, a student I had been discipling. God had been enlarging her heart for the lost to know Jesus, especially for those on campus at Macquarie. She prayerfully considered an invitation to join our student leadership team, not taking the responsibility lightly, but committing wholeheartedly and making big decisions reflecting this commitment!
Throughout the year, I have had the privilege of meeting weekly with Zoe, witnessing God’s Word penetrating her heart and transforming her. Zoe has become increasingly intentional in her relationships with others on campus, seeking opportunities to connect and speak into their lives. We began leading a study together, which she now leads on her own. She has grown in taking the initiative to love and lead like Jesus did, investing in the lives of those women she disciples – beyond just leading Bible studies. We have been praying together about how she can foster this same heart for discipleship in the women she leads.
We have been praying together about how she can foster this same heart for discipleship in the women she leads.
I am excited to continue serving alongside Zoe on campus, and for her to join our team visiting the Filipino Navigators in January. What a privilege it has been to walk alongside Zoe, to labour together with her and to witness her grow as a disciple-maker.
This is what God has called the Navigators to do – to make and sustain generations of disciples who will labour together to advance the Gospel of Jesus and His Kingdom. God is doing that here at Macquarie, thanks to the support, prayers, gifts and partnership of friends like you!