Editor’s Note: Sarah Campbell and her husband Stowe served with Navigators on the University of Oregon campus for more than seven years and faithfully attended UFC before relocating to Christchurch, New Zealand six years ago with their three sons — Tristan (16 in July), Brody (14), and Ethan (almost 12). Today they work with Navigators World Missions to reach future leaders of this post-Christian country with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s a joy to catch up with Sarah and learn how to pray for her in this season of her life and ministry.
I grew up in Texas for most of my life, but we moved when our first two sons were toddlers to raise our boys in Eugene. So, I consider Eugene our home and greatly miss our friends and church family. One of my roles within our college ministry here is to help train our student leaders as well as help our staff team process what God is teaching them. I meet with our Bible study leaders weekly to prep them for leading the weekly Bible study as well as meeting weekly with our staff team to help process emotionally and relationally.
I also disciple two staff and four students. I love diving into people’s stories and helping point them to Jesus. It’s probably why I studied health and nutrition and also do personal training as a side business. I love meeting new people and getting to know their stories and coming alongside to encourage them. I’ve been able to do both my ministry role here as well as a part-time job of teaching fitness classes and training clients. I do love being outdoors and running or biking. I enjoy reading and cooking, and if I’m honest, a good old, cheesy Hallmark movie.
One of my favorite verses is a classic Navigator verse that I quote all the time from 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Anyone in Christ is a new creation, the old has gone the new has come.” I feel like it’s me preaching the gospel to myself and others daily. It’s so easy in sin struggles to wonder if I am any different at all. This is a reminder to me that Christ in me is what makes me new — and allows me to stand before God in heaven. His Spirit will continue to work in my life until the day of completion when Christ returns (Philippians 1:6). This is refreshing to a “recovering performer.” It is Christ in me, not my achieving that does the work.
Pray that I would stay personally committed in my walk with God, that I would stay in the Word, and that I would stay humble and repentant, allowing the Spirit to continue to work in my life. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with my many tasks in a week, and I never want to lose sight of my own time with God.
Please pray for the women I am discipling. There are a few who have yet to fully understand the verse I shared above. They still think they are unworthy of Christ’s love and continue to work in their own efforts to earn His love, which is draining their joy and hope. Pray they begin to spend consistent time with God and allow the spirit to work in their lives.
Also, I am running a Bible discussion group with a friend reading through Mark with some of our peers. We have invited four women into this and two who are not yet believers have committed to come. Both of them are so close to accepting but have said “I don’t know if I’m willing to give up my lifestyle and the change that means.” Pray they would open their hearts to Jesus and continue coming.
And one final thing as we go into winter over here. It’s a tough season of sickness because homes are quite cold and moldy. It’s quite expensive to heat the homes, and the insulation is terrible. I suffered terrible sickness all last winter, so please pray for health for myself and my family.