Nanyang Technological University

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” - Matthew 9:36-37

A ministry run by volunteers

Hang around the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Navigators and you will observe that there are no full-timers running the ministry. Rather, nine families and a number of single graduates who volunteer with the ministry persevere with passion to multiply labourers and to trust God for more student converts through the harvest field of NTU. These volunteers who stay on after graduation continue to put time and effort into supporting the ministry. After they marry and have children, ministering to the students becomes a family effort.

These volunteers see the ministry as �an incubator or as a training institute where we encourage students who have graduated to consider staying behind and to be trained further with the hope that one day they will be ready to leave our ministry to do a similar or modified work in other ministries or in a place where God calls them to.�

A perennial problem that all ministries face is that the students are constantly busy! At the beginning of the academic year when the ministry makes initial contact with them, students are often very open to get involved in various activities. However, once the term proper starts, the many demands on their time often mean they have to give up activities outside of their studies. Once that happens, the ministry begins to lose them.

The move by the Government in 2004 to switch from a six-day work week to a five-day work week has not made it any easier. Students now have to attend classes in the evenings, while the weekends are taken up by hall activities and inter-hostel games � all making it difficult for students to meet for Navigator activities or Bible studies.

To address the issue of students being unavailable, the ministry in the past has concentrated on building relationship with classmates, door-to-door and hostel evangelism to reach out to more students. In 2004, the ministry started to take a different approach. Five large events were planned over the course of the year to attract and reach out to students. The events included kayaking, movies, barbecues, a welcome dinner, life skills and self discovery seminars.

Through these events, friendships were built which resulted to a number of Investigative Bible study (IBS) groups and eventually two converts. There is also a fruitful work among foreign students.