In August I had the opportunity to participate in two Texas based Nav events, a gathering of DFW staff and laborers on 8/16 in Plano and the NavVida Hispanic national conference in San Antonio on 8/29-31.
Darrell and Cindy Jolley were recently appointed as our Nav city leaders for DFW. Darrell came out of the Nav work at UT Austin a few years after I did. He is a layman, is actively involved in his home church in Grapevine, has a personal ministry to Muslim immigrants in DFW, and serves as CFO for a business in Dallas. Cindy was one of Kathy’s roommates years ago, and came out of the college ministry that I led at Grace Covenant Church in Austin 30 years ago. It was a delight to stay overnight with the Jolleys while in Dallas and catch up on what is happening in their lives. The half-day gathering was a cross-mission event, designed to bring DFW Nav staff and alumni together who serve across the 10 U.S. based missions of The Navigators. Rob Mahon shared three messages with us out of Matthew 9:35-38. Rob has served with the Navs in Japan and Thailand, and has led the Nav city work in Albuquerque for past 20 years. He is the brother of John Mahon, who led the Nav collegiate work at UT when I was an undergraduate there in the early 70s.
It had been 8 years since the last NavVida (Nav Life) national conference. We spent three days together in a hotel on the San Antonio riverwalk. 5 main sessions, 3 workshop sessions, and 2 affinity group gatherings focused around ministry to the 1 in 6 Americans who are Hispanic. Old friends from my college days spoke in 2 of the 5 main sessions. Eddie Broussard, senior VP for U.S. field ministries for the Navs, was our opening night speaker. Eddie was involved with the Navs at Texas A&M when I was at UT. We co-led a Nav summer training program for UT and A&M students in Dallas in 1979, and were roommates that summer. Eddie has become a gifted communicator and has spent many years in cross-cultural ministry in the U.S. and Eurasia. Alex Mandes and I were involved with the Navs together at UT and then attended Dallas Theological Seminary together. Alex lives in San Antonio, is a former church planter, and currently serves as the national director for ethnic ministries for the Evangelical Free Church of America. It was a pleasure to reconnect with these old friends.
One of the big perks in rejoining with the Navs has been reconnecting as colleagues with friends that I have known for many years.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
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