2011

family update >>>

Savannah turned 4 years old in October. She con nues to show herself to be a headstrong, sibling-protec ng, rst-born. Seth is 1.5 years. A er visi ng the eye doctor in November to check out his lazy eye, we discovered that Seth is a li le nearsighted. He is ge ng used to wearing glasses. Now Savannah wants glasses, too!

DEC

thechaofamily.com

savannahnavs.com

912 660 6478 (Ma s cell)

ma @thechaofamily.com

the

Chao Family

<<< ministry update

Evan Staph is one of the new laborers

that God brought to us this year. He lives at Man Zone (guys ministry house) and works as a rescue swimmer for the Coast Guard. Below is his story in his own words.

San Diego
In 2009 Rose and I began thinking and praying about joining the work of the Navigators among the US Navy. We have recently decided to leave the Savannah Navigators in the hands of the local leaders and move our family to San Diego this summer to join a team in pioneering a movement among the Navy. The US Navy has had a major part in the Navigators movement around the world. Beginning in the mid-1930s God began laying the founda on for a worldwide movement of the gospel through a blue collar lumberyard worker named Dawson Trotman and a handful of ac ve duty sailors sta oned in California. Dawson began teaching these men the basic principles of discipleship, echoing the call of 2Timothy 2.2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. By the end of WW2 there were thousands of men on ships and bases around the world learning the principles of discipleship and spiritual mul plica on. Many of these men returned a er the war to be trained as missionaries, pastors, and disciple-makers and became the founda on of a worldwide movement of the gospel. It is our hope to see another movement of the gospel emerge from the US Navy. The San Diego area is home to approximately 85,000 Navy personnel as well as many marines, college students, and civilians. Please be praying even now that God would strengthen the team that is already at work in San Diego, and pray that God will draw many young men and women to himself who are hungry to learn about God and will dedicate themselves to the call of 2Timothy 2.2! For more on Navigator history during WW2 read the book Valiant in Fight by Laverne Ti www.amazon.com/Valiant-Fight-RemembranceLaverne-Ti /dp/B000K051AO Source: www.navigators.org/us/aboutus/history

As long as I can remember I was looking for the bigger, be er challenge, pushing myself physically and mentally to achieve worldly things. A er gradua ng from Coast Guard helicopter rescue swimmer school in 2009 I had a great sense of accomplishment in what I had done. Although I knew God, I did not glorify or give thanks to Him for the things I had achieved, and my heart was darkened. I began to live an empty life, turning to pleasures of my esh for fulllment. A er coming home from work one day to my lonely one bedroom apartment in 2011, I felt an emp ness that I had never felt before. By Gods grace I felt compelled to begin praying and asking God to send godly men in my life. Less than a week later I was invited to a Navigators Bible study. I was challenged by what I sawmen and women with a deep hunger for Gods word striving to understand and memorize Jesus teachings. A er spending a short amount of me around the group I could see that these people truly loved Jesus. I knew that I had to turn my life around if I wanted to follow Jesus. A er cu ng myself o from bad company I began to live life for Jesus devo ng myself to Gods word and to fellowship with commi ed followers and to learning to reach out to my coworkers. Soon a er I moved into one of the ministry houses with men that are sharpening my character like iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27.17). As I learn the fundamentals of discipleship, Im nding that following Jesus isnt complicated but is denitely not easy. I now know that I am charged with the biggest challenge a man could ever face and will take more fulllment and joy in Gods involvement in my life and the lives of those I invest in than in any daring rescue I will ever accomplish. As a prodigal son who has come home, I intend to charge hard a er Jesus proclaiming His message wherever He calls me by word and ac on ll the day I die.

Laborers...
Every Sunday our laborers gather to share updates on their personal ministries, study the bible, and be encouraged and exhorted. These laborers are the nucleus of the group in Savannah and are the ones making disciples and leading groups throughout the city in various contexts (collegiate, military, and civilian). Many of these people will be the next genera on of leaders in Savannah as the network con nues to grow with Gods help. Please pray for these laborers and leaders that they would grow and mature without loosing their zeal for Gods kingdom, that their hearts would be increasingly gripped by the need to care for and disciple those that God has entrusted to them, and pray that God would mul ply this group and use them to lead many to Christ and send many laborers into the harvest. (Mat 9.38)