UCM Nav Staff                        

Campus Director- Brendan Riggs 

I grew up in a little town in north central Missouri called Marceline. My father was a pastor and my mom worked at my school. I learned a lot of biblical knowledge and morals from my parents and my church, but I was unable to grasp that salvation came through Christ alone. When I was about 14 I began to feel guilty about the thoughts and actions of my flesh. To cover this up I began to get as “religious as possible”. Some people get attention by being good at sports, or a great actor, or naturally funny. I got attention by leading religious activities and looking as moral as possible. When it came time to go to college I chose elementary education because it was somewhere I could be seen making a difference. I then chose Northwest Missouri State University because they had the strongest elementary education program in the area.

I came in as a freshman in 2003 and found a smal campus ministry that I could be a leader in. I felt great about my self and thought I was doing what God wanted me to do. At this same time John and Jess Payton were just starting the Navigators at Northwest and were busy following up with surveys students filled out in the Northwest Student Union. I filled out one of these surveys and as a result John came knocking at my door. After that meeting I started attending a bible study with John and a couple other guys. That year I came to understand what it meant for Jesus to really be Lord of my life. God used John and those guys to help me learn how to live for the Lord and not for myself. Since then I have grown in the Lord and God has given me a passion for college students. I want God to use me to invest in others lives as John invested in mine. This passion had brought me back to Northwest for two years to help others understand what it means to know Jesus and live for the Lord in Maryville. This Summer I moved to Warrensburg and am excited to  serve as Campus Director and trying to start up a Navigators ministry here at UCM. I am praying that God will use my life in a couple students here as he did John in mine at Northwest.

History of The Navigators

Navigators have invested their lives in people for more than 70 years, coming alongside them one to one to study the Bible, develop a deepening prayer life, and memorize and apply Scripture. The Navigators is an interdenominational, nonprofit organization, dedicated to helping people navigate spiritually, to know Christ and to make Him known as they look to Him and His Word to chart their lives.

In 1933, Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators, began teaching sailor Les Spencer the principles of Christian growth. They spent many hours together in Bible study, Scripture memorization and prayer. A shipmate of Spencer's soon asked him about the secret of his changed life. Spencer brought the new man to Trotman and said, "Teach him what you taught me!" Trotman's answer –"You teach him!" – was the beginning of The Navigators.

Spencer did teach the second sailor, and the two in turn reached others. Soon, 125 men on board the USS West Virginia were growing in Christ and actively sharing their faith. By the end of World War II, men on a thousand ships and military bases had surrendered their lives to Christ and were learning the principles of Christian discipleship as a result of The Navigators' ministry.

After the war, the ministry of The Navigators expanded to college campuses (the first at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in 1958) and numerous communities throughout the U.S. In 1948, the first overseas Navigator missionary was sent to China. Others soon followed to Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

Today, tens of thousands of individuals worldwide are being reached for Christ as the work of The Navigators grows. Internationally, more than 4,000 Navigator staff of 64 nationalities serve in more than 100 countries around the world A heart for individuals continues to motivate us to teach on a one-to-one basis. Our ultimate goal is to equip them to fulfill 2 Timothy 2:2—to teach what they have learned to others. .

BELIEFS

The Navigators hold several core beliefs that form the foundation of our ministry. We Believe:

That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are inspired by God and inerrant in the original writings, and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life. In one God, the Creator; eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

That Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, and that He was and remains true God and true man. That God created Adam and Eve in the divine image; that they sinned, and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God; and that, as a result of Adam's sin, all human beings are now born with a sinful nature and stand guilty before God.

That the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice; and that all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood.

In the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into Heaven, and in His present life there for us, as High Priest and Advocate.

In the blessed hope of the personal and imminent return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

That all who by faith receive the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God.

That the Holy Spirit indwells and gives spiritual life to all believers, enables them to understand biblical truth, empowers them for godly living, and equips them for service and witness.

In the bodily resurrection of the just and unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting punishment of the lost.