Ted Pilling has served as a Navigator Rep for 52 years, including as the National Student Director, International Missions Director and Second Half Living Co-ordinator. His driving passion throughout has been to see people follow Jesus for the rest of their lives.

The foundations of many generations 

I met the Navigators in 1966 and ‘spiritual generations’ was often mentioned, but it wasn’t until the summer of ’68 that the Lord got my attention through words which have become my life verses:

‘If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in’ (Isaiah 58:10-12, RSV).

I’ve always considered the first part as my responsibility, understanding that there is a cost. The rest is God’s promise, which he has faithfully kept all these years. ‘The foundations of many generations’ has been the focus of my ministry ever since.

Helping someone disciple someone else

I am the product of someone who lived and breathed spiritual generations. He taught me early to ask God to lead me to people in whose hearts he was already at work – those who might be the key to second and third generations.

As with parenting, a lot more is caught than taught! Let me illustrate. During a prayer meeting, I realised I shared a mutual friend with someone in the group. When I asked him, he replied that this person had led him to Christ and discipled him. ‘How did you know?’ he asked. ‘It’s the way you prayed,’ I replied. Spending time helping someone to walk with the Lord – showing them how to pray, for example – is a great privilege.

The transition from helping someone follow the Lord to helping them help someone else is both profound and exciting. Reading together Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonian church is a good place to start. The relationship Paul had with this church and the heart he communicates will provoke discussion and provide a focus for praying together. Consider, for example, how he lived among others for their sake (1:5), how his love for them made sharing life and the gospel a delight (2:8) and how their firm faith gave him life and joy (3:7-8).

In case you find this more daunting than exciting…

Let me encourage you! 2 Corinthians 4:1 reads, ‘Having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart’ (RSV). It was impressed on me very early that God is at work in people’s lives and we are called to join him in what he is doing. What a privilege that is – and also very freeing.

We don’t need to have all the answers. There have been times when I’ve struggled to remain alongside people who are suffering, when all I can do is be present for them and listen.

Some years ago, I woke in the middle of the night. I was having a conversation with the Lord about a particularly difficult situation in someone’s life and the Lord seemed to say to me, ‘You really care for this person, don’t you?’ ‘Yes,’ I answered. ‘You don’t understand,’ the Lord said. ‘The depth of my love for him is far greater than you can ever know. Allow me to be God in his life and in your life, and let go of all the strategies you have thought up. I am God over their life and yours.’

The journey continues

I’ve recently retired from being a Navigator Rep at 75, but that doesn’t mean my wife, Linda, and I have retired from our calling!

Realistically our capacity and energy levels are reduced, so we need to be more focused in what we do. But, as I write this, we are asking the Lord to confirm how he wants us to invest our time in his work. Without wanting to pre-empt what the Lord will say, we want to remain available to those we have been walking alongside for many years, helping them walk closely with God and others for many more years. And so the journey continues…