Through the eyes of a parent

The wonderful spiritual growth in my daughter Amy’s life is a giant blessing to my wife Dana and me. Amy is involved with Navs on campus and we are extremely supportive of that. She also involves us in her life and ministry things in several ways. As a parent, I’m also aware that Amy’s involvement in Navs, including STPs, has a “cost” too. We see her less. She also earns less money over the summer, which impacts what it costs us to send her to school.


In thinking over these things, I also considered the non-believing parents of students in our campus ministries. Trying to put myself in their shoes, the costs are high for them as well. With that in mind, as you disciple men and women from non-Christian homes, help them connect with their families. Many of you are doing this very well! Here are a few thoughts and ideas as you continue on in this:

• Role play how the student talks about their faith with their family members.

• Role play how they talk about going to Nav events that may keep them from coming home.

• Coach them on going home to serve and intentionally build relationships with family members. Things like: take siblings out for coffee or ice cream or a movie. Do the dishes, take out the trash, do their own laundry and even others' laundry while they're at it.

• Coach them on how to resolve conflicts with parents and siblings. I just did this with one freshman and he tells me his relationship with his dad improved overnight.

• Encourage them to rise early enough to spend time with God before the family expects to see them up and about.

There's also much more regarding helping students when they go home. That's for another post.