By Eric Baugh
A few years ago, a Navigator from Ohio said something that has stayed with me: “We should never look back on our time at university and say that was when we grew most in our walk with God. In every stage of life, we should be growing with God. That growth looks different at each stage.”
Life in your 20s can be a make-or-break moment for faith. For those who graduated last year and stepped out of student ministry, this is a time when faith gets tested and refined. No Navigator staff member is nudging you to go deeper each week; no one is making sure you’re doing more than turning up to church on Sunday and a midweek Bible study. No one is spurring you to live out the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). At this stage, you need to want growth for yourself more than your mentor wants it for you, if you’re going to keep deepening your relationship with Christ and labour for a lifetime.
Navs 20s exists to make that practical. It is a space to think about what living faith looks like in the busyness of real life, and to encourage each other in doing so.
Cat (leftmost on the title photo) is one of our newest 20s members, a recent graduate now working in early childhood education. She spent several years in the Navs student ministry at UC, including time living at the Navigators flat, where we host Bible studies. That proximity drew her deep into the community, and she became an integral part of it, bringing energy and genuine enthusiasm.
She’s still very much involved. On Tuesday evenings after work, Cat co-leads a Bible study at Navnight alongside fellow recent grad and 20s member Benj. She’s also recently joined a monthly Zoom call with a cohort of women from across New Zealand who are intentionally reflecting on what it means to share their faith with colleagues at work.
Outside work, Cat is reading the Bible with two of her friends. She says, “While trying to share the Bible with my Buddhist friends, I’ve realised that the hardest part is often simply inviting them to read it together. I can sometimes sense their hesitation but I keep sharing the gospel through daily conversations and genuine friendship, trusting that God is at work in their hearts even when I can’t see immediate results.” Cat is committed to labouring in the harvest God has placed before her, even amid the challenges and uncertainty of reaching friends who aren’t yet open.
Navs 20s is built around Bible study, shared meals, and community, but at the heart of what we do is helping each other think through practical ways to reach the people in our lives who don’t yet know Christ. That’s what we bring to prayer: asking God for compassion, boldness, consistency, and tact to reach those around us. That boldness looks like moving towards colleagues and building genuine friendships, so that when the Holy Spirit opens a door, the gospel comes from someone trusted, not just a workmate.
We meet not only to encourage one another, but to spur each other on to serve the people God has placed in our workplaces, neighbourhoods, and communities. That is why these conversations matter.
I long to see Cat begin reading the Bible with her two friends, and to see them come to faith. I long to hear about a 20s member at a law firm sitting down with a colleague and helping them see that there’s more to life than making partner. To hear how someone prayed with a grieving workmate and offered them the hope of Christ. Sharing “not only the gospel of God but our lives as well” (1 Thessalonians 2:8).