NOAH&KATIE
  • Welcome
  • About Us
  • Connect With Us
  • Follow Us (blog)
  • Support Us

Noah's Monday update: 2/9/15

2/9/2015

0 Comments

 
Hey friends,

We're in the thick of the semester and exciting things are happening.  This evening, we'll be hosting the Nav Men at our house for our weekly Discipleship Group (small group Bible study).  Katie provides the treats and snacks, and the guys love it!  This semester we're examining the book of 1 Peter, using a study I put together.  You can check it out below if you'd like to see what we're doing or join us in the studying the book yourself.  I'd be happy to send you a copy!

Last week, we discussed study #1, an overview of the book.  Part of this involved giving the book our own title.  One student, who has just become a Christian in recent months titled it:  "Suffering:  God's gift to us."  Wow!  Profound insight from a new believer!  Paul taught this in Philippians 1:27-30 (ESV)...
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
This young man is learning first-hand in his life that following Jesus will entail suffering.  But back in 1 Peter, he's anticipating a message of hope in the midst of suffering as well.  And that gives him the courage to move forward!

Please pray for our men (and women!):  that they'll dive wholeheartedly into this study (despite the many distractions they face).  We're anxious to see the Lord transform them as they study and apply His word!

Thanks for praying!

-Noah
spring_2015_uww_navs_1_peter_study.pdf
File Size: 1039 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

0 Comments

Video: Review of 2013-14

1/12/2015

0 Comments

 
In case you missed it on the way in, click below to view Noah's review of 2013-14...and our first eighteen months at UW-Whitewater!
0 Comments

Noah's wednesday update: whoa!  Where did the year go?

11/19/2014

0 Comments

 
Hey friends,

It's been a long time, and a poor job we've done of updating lately!  Sorry about that.  We'll do better in the coming months :)

God's been doing great things on campus, and a very cool community of Christ-followers is continuing to come together!  Please continue to pray- especially for a strong finish to the semester in these last few weeks!

If you're on our list, you have or will receive the following letter.  We hope you'll consider our ministry in your year-end giving!  Below are FIVE cool options that would help.  Take a look at head to nknavs.org/2015 to take action.

Thanks friends,
Love, Noah
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Noah's MOnday Update:  8/18/14

8/18/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
While planning and praying today in Laurentide Hall, I noticed something:  campus is quiet!  Eerily quiet!  Like the calm before a storm.

Must mean there's a storm coming!

Indeed there is!
  
Two weeks from yesterday is freshmen move in here at UWW!  In the days leading up, campus will start to buzz with more and more activity....RAs, athletes (like one our students on the football team!), student orgs, etc.  Our student leaders return late next week for vision-casting and training leading into our Fall Kickoff, one of the most important times of our ministry year.

In the meantime during this calm, I'm praying.  Asking...begging the Lord to move mightily in the coming weeks.  There are freshmen coming to campus whose whole life trajectories will be altered (for better or for worse!) simply based on the people they meet in the first couple weeks of campus life.

Picture
Who will we bump into while we're walking and praying on campus?  Who will we carry boxes for on move in day?  Who will fill out one of our spiritual interest surveys?  I'm asking the Lord that the students He brings us into contact with will be like the good soil Jesus talked about in Matthew 13:8, 23.  

I rejoice at your word
    like one who finds great spoil.
I hate and abhor falsehood,
    but I love your law.
Oh that the Lord would bring us students like this...now or in time!

Please join in praying for us and the Whitewater students.  Use the above passages and watch your mail for a new prayer card from us.  (if you're not on our list, you can join it here.)

Thanks for sharing our heart for God's Kingdom!

For Jesus,
Noah
0 Comments

Noah's Friday Update:  5/16/14

5/16/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Smash!

Last Thursday we celebrated the end of this semester's PURE group.  PURE is an opportunity for men (there's a group for women as well!) to find encouragement and help to forsake sexual sin that has dominated them for years.  God's done a wondrous work in their lives, as they've forsaken internet pornography, masturbation, and sexual activity outside of God's good design.  Our world teaches that unbounded sexuality is the key to happiness.  These young men found freedom and joy in their hearts as they've embraced God's design.

As a part of our closing ceremony, we had men share "two-word testimonies."  Who they were before PURE and what they are now.  Here's what I heard from these men...

Deceitfulness.... Truthfulness 
Secretive..... Open 
Zombie... Light
Denial..... Acceptance 
Hell..... Hope

With these words come stories of struggle, hopelessness, and shame....followed up with light, truth, and healing.  They wrote their old identities on pieces of wood and burned them, symbolizing their death to sin through Christ's death on the cross.

These men are putting into practice Paul's words from Romans 6:12-14...
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
We ended our time by allowing them to take some genuine, somber anger out on the devices that have enslaved them for so long.  It was truly a solemn exercise...a joy to see them exercise their power as men, no longer as slaves but as masters.  We then held each other up (literally!) and prayed for one another.

Please pray that God would continue to deliver university students from bondage to sexual sin.  Pray that these six men would continue in purity, and would help others to find freedom as well.

Thanks for praying with us!

-Noah
0 Comments

Noah's Friday Update: 3/14/14

3/14/2014

0 Comments

 

"SAFE"

Picture
Spring Break is just a week away and the university police are handing out these spring break "safety tips" to students passing by.

It's tempting to be cynical.  The message is, "enjoy the American spring break party experience...just do it safely."  It seems comparable to giving students a sheet of safety tips before they gather with a whole bunch of people to play with gasoline and lighters. 

These safety tips seek to address the danger to student's bodies as they head to the beaches in Florida to party.  What's missing is the "safety tips" for these students' hearts.

GK Chesterton said, "Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain.  Meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure."  


Please pray for Whitewater students- that they would experience the weariness that comes with seeking worldly pleasures.  And pray that on the beach or back on campus, God would bring one of His people into their life to share where true meaning, purpose, and life can be found.


Thanks for praying!


-Noah

0 Comments

Noah's Wednesday Update: 3/5/14

3/5/2014

0 Comments

 
This week, in preparing to teach at NavNight, I printed out a few more paper outlines than the usual 30.  I printed out 80!

That's because tomorrow night, I have the privilege of speaking as a guest at NavNight at the University of Illinois!  Tomorrow we're returning to Champaign-Urbana for our first visit since we moved north back in June.  We're excited to return to a community and people that hold a special place in our hearts.

Printing my outlines reminded me of what God has done at Illinois over the last five years.  We had the privilege of watching the Illinois ministry grow by leaps and bounds.  God is continuing His wonderful work there.  It's then exciting to think about where the Whitewater ministry could be in five years!

The Illinois ministry is doing a series of messages on "How many people are in The Navigators?"  As staff we get this question frequently, and it can be hard to answer.  Do we say 100 (the number involved in bible studies at Illinois)?  Do we say 80 (the number who come to NavNight)?  I'm speaking on 25....the number of non-believing students who are reading one of the gospels with their Christian friends.  I'll be talking about how evangelism sounds scary to us, but how a different perspective (seeing ourselves as Christ's ambassadors [2 Cor 5] and viewing evangelism as a process rather than an event) can help us make a real impact for Christ among non-Christian friends.

Would you please take a minute now to pray for me?  Pray I would speak clearly, that God would be glorified, and that students at the U of I would be challenged to trust God to use them to share the gospel on their campus.  You can pray the same for Whitewater students as well.

Thanks friends!  Grace to you this week!

-Noah
0 Comments

Noah's Friday Update:  2/7/14

2/7/2014

2 Comments

 
Hey friends!  Hope you are staying warm.

Speaking of warm, sometimes people ask what our work looks like in the summer when most of the students are gone from campus.

Sometimes we have a specific summer assignment like staffing a training program or overseas trip.  Other times, like 2013, the summer holds a variety of responsibilities including lots of planning and preparation for the upcoming school year, shepherding students from afar (phone, etc), regional or national responsibilities, support raising, and PRAYER.

Prayer is never something we want to neglect, even during the busiest times.  But the summer can provide a unique opportunity (and warmer weather!) to spend extra time asking the Lord to move in mighty ways on our campus.  I enjoy preparing the campus for students' return by walking around campus and asking the Lord to work.

Recently I saw the beginning of an answer to one of my summer prayers that brought me back to those sweaty days of anticipation and faith, reminding the Lord what He called us here for and asking for His help.

One of my summer pleadings with the Lord:  that the dining halls and university center would be teeming discipleship relationships:  staff and older students meeting younger students to pass on things they've learned and help them grow in Christ.
Picture
This was my view from the 2nd floor of the University Center on a recent Thursday.  The white, green, and red circles highlight Navigator students and staff passing on the things they've learned to the next (spiritual) generation.  I didn't set this up.  We all happened to be meeting at the same time.
  • The white circle is me and a sophomore who is blossoming as we study God's Word.
  • The younger woman in the green circle is already discipling her good friend who just came to Christ last semester.  A third spiritual generation!
  • The red circle contains one of our student leaders who is learning to disciple younger men, and is excited to do so!
  • Ok, so the blue isn't a discipling relationship.  But it is one of our students studying with her Christian boyfriend.  We pray for godly relationships among our students as well!

The Lord is clearly moving as you and our staff team and students pray.  Would you please continue to pray?

After a recent conference, I've added a prayer to my list:  that we'd be a WINNING campus.  No, not that we'd win competitions, but that we'd be raising up laborers from among students that we'd WON to Christ.  We'll help all the already-Christians God brings us, but we're trusting Him for a vibrant mix of these and those who we've recently shared the gospel with.

Would you join us in praying that our ministry would WIN souls?  At least three have received Christ this year.  We're hoping for more!

Thanks for standing with us!
-Noah
2 Comments

Noah's Wednesday Update 12/18/13

12/18/2013

0 Comments

 
Last week, we hosted students in our home for a Christmas Party!

~Thirty students joined us for a lively evening of food, games, and conversation.  There were Christmas sweaters, white elephant gifts, the Christmas Story, and lots of laughs.  The time was a great blessing to us, for three reasons in particular:

  • Students in our home.  Between having young kids and Katie's MS diagnosis, we haven't had students in our home this semester as much as we've had in the past, and it's something we truly enjoy.  It was a blessing to welcome so many into our family environment, one of the best ways to share life and the love of Christ with them.
  • Many kudos to our hard-working staff team!  This party was really a microcosm of what this semester was like.  We couldn't have pulled off this semester (and needless to say the party) successfully without the help, support, and presence of Nick and Leanne.  They have served us so selflessly, and it's been such a blessing!
  • Continued ministry opportunities.  Even amidst the chaos and food, we met a girl who came to the party on her own after finding our ministry link on a church website.  She's eager to growing in Christ after wandering over the past years.  We appreciated the opportunity to talk with her for the first time...in our home!


Most students have headed home.  The next month will bring holiday travels, continued recovery for Katie, and lots of planning and preparation for the spring semester, which will be upon us quickly.  Please pray for wisdom for us as we continue to advance the gospel and cultivate a disciplemaking community here at UWW.

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas!  Thanks for standing with us!  

-Noah
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Noah's Tuesday Update: 9/24/13

9/24/2013

0 Comments

 
*sigh*  My heart is sad at the moment.

Some of you have seen my conversation journal that I use as an evangelistic tool on campus.  I ask people "if they could write a note to God and He would read it, what would you write?"

It's been a great well to have spiritual conversations with people, to stretch myself beyond my comfort zone, and open doors to new relationships.

Today we bumped into Sam.  Here's what he wrote.
Picture
Phew.  Deep stuff.

I could see pain in his eyes as we talked briefly with him.  He's had six open-heart surgeries, and is currently on a waiting list for a heart transplant.  He doesn't go to church, but believes in God.  I offered to pray for him, and did.  Would you pray for him today, that God would grant him a new heart, and that if he doesn't have one now, a new spiritual heart?

Thanks.

Yours on campus,
-Noah
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Follow Us

    Stay updated with ministry and family life through our blog.

    Categories

    All
    Baby
    Christmas
    Ellie
    Freshmen
    Friday Updates
    Katie
    Life
    Ministry
    Navs
    Noah
    Pictures
    Prayer
    Pregnancy
    Random
    Site Updates
    Spring Break
    Stp
    Thanksgiving
    Things We Didn't Know...
    Video

    Archives

    December 2016
    December 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    March 2008

"More potently than by any other means, change the university and you change the world."  --Charles Malik

© 2009-2019 Noah Haas
Picture
Photo used under Creative Commons from Grandpa & Grandma T.