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Angel Boothe
Georgia State University Team Member 2014 STP was really where I learned what following Jesus looked like practically. I was surrounded by hundreds of other college students who had a hunger for God unlike I had ever seen before. I grew up in the church, but I didn't really know what the Gospel truly meant for my life and how to live that out. I knew of Jesus Christ, but I didn't know Him personally. Being challenged for a summer to have quiet times, X-TAWGs and bible study preps all while working, interacting with a group of girls, really helped me grow and learn that there is nothing compared to knowing and serving Christ. I learned what it meant to love others well and put God's desires above my own. STP also helped me realize the importance of sharing the gospel and that we don't just have a relationship with Christ to keep it to ourselves. I can definitely say that STP was life changing and helped me gain a different perspective on life and relationships through the lens of the Gospel. |
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Alex Sullivan
University of South Florida Team Member 2014, Team Leader 2015 I deeply cherish my summers spent with The Navigators at SMS. This experience provides two very unique opportunities that I have seldom seen elsewhere. First, it is a chance to see what genuine Christian community looks like. SMS will encourage you to be loved by letting others into the hardest parts of your life, a very scary but liberating experience. Second, I have been able to use STP as a proofing ground for taking God at his word and making extreme strides in my faith. I dared to trust God with big things and SMS provided the place to put that trust into action. God is no more present here than he is anywhere else, but having a community of people chase after him together helped me to more clearly see just what he is capable of doing. |
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Meaghan Cave
University of Georgia Team Member 2012, Team Leader 2014 My two summers at SMS were definitely two summers that I will never forget. Not only did I get to meet some really amazing people, I also got to spend time devoted to growing in my relationship with Jesus. At the beginning of my summer as a Team Member, I didn't exactly know what to expect. I was just kind of along for the ride, but as we studied scripture together, the theme of grace began to emerge. Through all of the workshops, NavNights, and meetings with my Team Leader, I realized that for so long, I had been so legalistic about forcing myself to spend time with my Creator, that I forgot to enjoy that time. It was there in the mountains of Tennessee that I finally began to enjoy spending time with my Savior, entering into his presence, and allowing Him to teach me even more about himself and how He loves me. It is a one of a kind atmosphere of experiencing the Lord with 120 people from all over the country, and there is nothing quite like it! If anyone is considering any STP, just go! Not only will you form habits that you will keep the rest of your life, but you have the very unique opportunity to spend 8 weeks of your life devoted to meeting and growing with Jesus. |
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Luc Lawrence
University of Florida Team Member 2013, Team Leader 2014 I became a Christian at a young age, but I never understood what it really means to have a relationship with God until I went to STP. The most impactful thing I learned was who I am as a result the Gospel. I was overwhelmed by God’s unwavering love for me, and that I get to pursue a relationship with him. I got to experience that surrounded by other students also striving to become more like Jesus, and I made lasting friendships. STP changed the direction of my life! |
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Barbara Santana
Vanderbilt University Team Member 2015, Team Leader 2016 Whether or not you're considering vocational ministry, SMS is unique in that it emphasizes the experience of living out God's truth in the workplace. Great workshops on God's will for professionals prepared our community for humble servanthood at work, and trained us in navigating opportunities to share the gospel with our coworkers. Sharing God's truth with one of my coworkers is one of my dearest memories from the summer, and I am so thankful for the Biblical teaching and encouraging community with which God equipped me to do so through SMS. |
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Cameron Outlaw
University of Florida Team Member 2012, Team Leader 2014 As a team leader, I was responsible for the overall spiritual, emotional and physical well-being of my three team members. Talk about feeling pressure. I felt that in order to succeeded at leading I had to always know what to say, always have the perfect lesson prepped, always keep it together. Essentially, I had decided that I needed to be perfect to have a "successful" summer. The summer of 2014 God demonstrated that growth and faith are His gifts to give to His beloved children, not mine. He showed me how He leads and will never stop leading me. I saw immense growth in myself and my guys because eventually I broke under the impossible expectation of perfection I had placed on myself. His gentleness lead me to repentance and trust. He delights in using me, brokenness and all! He is a big God; He is used to drawing straight lines with crooked sticks like me. Being a team leader provided me the experience with God to place me on a journey of faith based on grace, not performance or capacity. I would recommend attending any type of summer training program with The Navigators; it changes lives. |
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Jasmine Parks
University of Tennessee - Knoxville Team Member 2016 What I expected from my summer in Pigeon Forge was lots of new friends from different campuses and learning new things about God and practical ways to live for Him in my everyday life. What I did not expect was a complete transformation of my heart and my mind and for the Lord to work so drastically and speak against many lies I had believed to be true my entire life. I learned through various workshops and talks, quiet times and XTAWGs ("Extended Times Alone with God"), and Bible studies what it means to live in freedom because of Christ and what my identity is because of the gospel. I now understand the concept of grace and what that means for me in my life. The gospel became a lot more personal to me over the course of the summer. I’m finally fully experiencing God’s love, and because of that, my ability to love others well has grown exponentially. My summer at STP was one of the hardest summers of my life, but there is a community there that is unlike any other that you could ever experience. It was difficult in every single way, but it is so worth it. The intimacy with the Lord I experienced there and continue to participate in, as well as the fellowship with other believers and ways I learned to be intentional with nonbelievers, has changed my life for the better forever." |
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Trey Martin
Clemson University Team Member 2012, Staff 2015 The greatest area of growth I experienced during STP was a change in my attitude toward the Bible. Before I went to STP, I thought the Bible was the word of God but I didn’t really enjoy reading it. In fact, I didn’t read it. I had gone to a private Christian school for years and had Bible classes. Because of this, I thought I understood what the Bible was about and so couldn’t get anything out of reading it frequently. I thought, “I already know the ‘punchline’: Jesus died for my sins. Then why do I need to read it every day?” However, my team leader at STP pointed out that at the bottom of it all was a harmful assumption. He said, “Trey, you think you have to learn something new every time you read the Bible. But that’s not always going to happen, and if that is what you need every time you will be frustrated. But what if you saw time in the word as spending time with God, becoming more familiar with who he is, being reminded of something you already know about him, then I promise you will come to value it.” So I tried. That summer was the first time I made time to read the Bible every morning, and now I love it. Until this summer the Bible seemed so dry and merely informative but now I see “beautiful things in your law.” There was a day near the end of the summer where I was reading the Bible and I realized that I could read it for the rest of my life and not get bored. This was a huge turning point in my relationship with Christ. |
