Jason and Christine graduated from Penn State University in 2005. They were both involved with The Navigators during their time at Penn State where the Lord gave them a heart for campus ministry. After graduation, they joined a team of seven and pioneered The Navigator ministry at The University of Alabama. They began dating their second year on staff and were married in May of 2007. They were asked to take over The Navigators ministry at Clemson University in the fall of 2009 and began as campus directors in the summer of 2010. In 2021 they became The Associate Regional Directors for The Blue Ridge Region comprised of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
On campus at Clemson, their passion is to train and equip students to walk with Jesus and to teach them to help others also (2 Timothy 2:2). One particular ministry emphasis is helping students walk in sexual integrity in the midst of the rising levels of pornography addiction. Jason is actively seeking to train churches and parents to prevent the next generation of spiritual leaders from growing up in our churches addicted to porn. Much of his training is available on his "Soul Fire 209" YouTube channel here: www.bit.ly/SoulFire209 or website www.warofthesoul.com. Jason developed a small group curriculum for addressing sexual brokenness called "The War of the Soul" which has been used on many Navigator campuses and is now available for churches.
Christine loves meeting with women student leaders and hosting Bible studies and events in their home. She is motivated by seeing changed students which leads to changed marriages, parents, and church leaders. Investing in students has a lasting impact well into the next generation.
Jason and Christine live in Clemson about 4 miles from Clemson University with their three kids Olivia, Jayce, and Ella and Standard Poodle "Happy". They are grateful for ministry partners who keep them on campus investing in students!
8/31/2024
What are we thankful for as we step back into directing Clemson this fall? Our new team on campus! Six seniors have joined us for a student internship to help Clemson students “know Christ and make Him known!” Each intern leads a team of four student leaders as they multiply our capacity to reach students by leading Bible study, sharing the Gospel, and making disciples. This past week they served ice cream to over 450 Clemson freshmen, sent hundreds of text messages following up, and played lots of ultimate frisbee. Tonight at our weekly student leadership meeting, they will lead a workshop to train our student leaders how to followup with freshmen in one to one discipleship as we help students know God (John 17:3). Please pray for these senior interns as they juggle finishing school, looking for jobs, and leading in our ministry.
“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3
Our Biggest Event of the Fall
Reading the Gospels we see Jesus frequently stepping away to connect with the Lord or bringing His disciples away from the grind to rest. “And he said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while’” (Mark 6:31). The weekend of October 4-6 The Clemson Navigators will host our annual fall retreat. Over the years we’ve seen God use these weekends to grow our community and solidify students’ walk with Him as they step off campus and spend intentional time in God’s Word. Jason will be speaking on how “God Can Use a Broken Life” with three messages from the Gospels. Please join us in prayer as we recruit freshmen to this weekend!
9/30/2023
“That was a really dark time in my life.” A Clemson sophomore described the impact of the isolation from Covid lockdowns during High School. She even considered taking her life. Many of the thousands of freshmen moving into campus this fall were significantly affected by Covid. Yet, in that dark time, the Lord was drawing them to Himself.
At Clemson in particular, at least three Navigator students indicated it was during that season they trusted Christ. It’s often in the midst of our greatest trials that the Lord reaches out to us. In Zechariah the Lord refers to the High Priest Joshua as a brand plucked from the fire. In the Lord’s mercy, He is plucking these students from the fire.
Throughout the Blue Ridge Region, from The University of Alabama, to Atlanta, and Nashville, Navigator staff are helping college students grow in their walk with Christ. Would you pray for these staff as they pour our their lives for students? Fall launch is consistently our best opportunity to share the Gospel with the lost. Thank you for keeping us on campus!
“And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?”” (Zechariah 3:2)
Prayer Requests:
Gospel sharing opportunities with students who are not yet believers who connected with the Clemson ministry.
We are helping shepherd Clemson upperclassmen student leaders. Pray for these students as they balance school work and investing in freshmen.
Jason has 2 classes down and 23 to go pursuing a masters in Biblical Studies in seminary.
10/3/2022
The War of the Soul Goes to Church!
Does your church help congregants pursue sexual integrity? According to Barna, less than 7% of churches have a plan for dealing with pornography. For the past five years, Navigator campuses have used small group studies like “The War of the Soul” to help students address sexual brokenness. This year the study has “graduated” for use in the church for an 8-week transformational small group!
If you asked me for the best route to improve marriages, increase parental engagement with kids, and empower Christians to find their ministry calling, I would vote for a small group environment of vulnerable sharing, accountability, and Scriptural content that routes a path for integrity. Hebrews 12:1-2 reminds us that sin weighs us down from running the race that God has called us to. Please join us in prayer that students and church congregants alike, would “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” so they could run!
PRAYER UPDATES:
Quintin Baldwin and Jason headed to CO in September for collegiate leadership gathering to discuss ministry expansion. The Navigators are pursuing new ministries on 150 campuses within the next 5 years!
Christine is discipling a junior named Sarah, who is leading our freshmen women’s Bible study on Philippians. Most of the women in the study are young believers.
Jason will be coaching young married staff couples this fall. Please pray for strong marriages and healing.
Thank you for your investment in helping students “know Christ and make Him known.” - Jason and Christine
6/3/2022
“This ministry is all yours now!” Trey, one of our seniors, charged our freshmen through juniors that the ministry of the Clemson Navigators is now in their hands, as 18 seniors graduated this spring. And for Christine and I, it’s our last semester as campus directors at Clemson.
As we wrote in our last update, we are transitioning to Associate Regional Directors for the Blue Ridge Navigators. We’ll stay in Clemson and still work with Clemson students, but our main role will be regional, helping 11 campuses throughout the southeast. We are thankful for The Navigator staff in our region (see Men’s and Women’s retreat photos on right) who are laboring to help college students know Christ and make Him known.
After 17 years on campus, this summer we are taking a Sabbatical through July to rest, reflect, and refocus for this next season of ministry. The Navigators define sabbatical as “a guided process where we deliberately trust God for the unfinished as we disengage from normal ministry and leadership involvement to allow for serious evaluation of life and ministry.”
One highlight of our sabbatical plan is disconnecting from technology and heading out to the woods for some camping with our family. We love connecting with God and one another in nature and South Carolina has some great spots near us. Please join us in prayer that God would refresh us and give us clear vision as we transition to this new role in ministry.
Thank you for your partnership in helping students “know Christ and make Him known.” - Jason and Christine
9/21/2021
“Come to me.” Three of the most beautiful words spoken by Jesus. We are invited to come to Him! Time and time again, God beckons and calls us to “Come.” Coming to Him, the Lover of our soul, is what we need. In 2 weeks, I get to share this breathtaking truth with 11 freshmen girls. I remember being a freshman, eating calzones at my Bible Study leader’s house as she shared how to spend “Time Alone with God.” I never knew God wanted me to spend time with Him, that He cared about me intimately and deeply. It was a life-changing night for me!
So, I cannot wait wait to share with these precious women that the God of the Universe cares and loves them so much that He wants to meet with them everyday-to speak to them, feed them, fill them up, and love them. To share with them that the King of Kings is pursuing them, and paid the highest price to know them as a husband knows his wife. After eating dinner and dessert together, I will share about going on dates with God, reading His Word, praying and listening, and falling in love with Him. What an honor, what a joy, to be a part of these girls’ lives!
Would you pray with us that these 11 women would be excited and equipped to meet with Jesus everyday? May the journals we decorate be filled with prayers and intimate times with the Shepherd of our souls. May Jesus fill us up with His Spirit and Word everyday as we come to Him!
Prayer Requests:
All our students to continue to “come” to Jesus everyday and drink, and may “rivers of living water” flow out of their hearts (Jn 7:37-38).
60 Clemson students to join us for Regional Fall Conference, Oct. 1-3, where Jason will be speaking on “Enduring Identity” and “Integrity”.
Open doors for evangelism in dorms and classrooms. As Nav staff, we don’t have access to these facilities due to Covid.
12/10/2020
The Clemson Navigators are:
OUTSIDE: With Covid
restrictions, we aren’t allowed
to use University buildings,
so all of our Bible studies,
one to ones, and Nav Night
meetings are outside. We are
thankful for great weather
this past month.
DIVIDED: The majority of classes are taking place online keeping freshmen on campus in their dorms,
and upperclassmen off-campus. This is a huge hindrance for upperclassmen ministering to freshmen, as
our upperclassmen leaders are rarely on campus. Among our freshmen we’ve struggled to develop
friendships, as they spend significant time alone in their rooms.
INITIATING: With no traditional methods to meet freshmen available (posters, ice cream give-aways,
tabling), we are initiating with freshmen through spiritual surveys walking on campus and pursuing
opportunities to share The Gospel. Sports like frisbee, spikeball, and volleyball are good ways to meet
students.
HOPEFUL: It is a challenging season but we see God working. Students aren’t overly busy and involved,
which makes them more likely to want to talk as we initiate. Many of them are not connected to any
student organizations, which leaves wide open doors for recruiting. But there are serious concerns about
mental health, as students are forced into
isolation, increased screen time, and an
indoor sedentary lifestyle. If students are
exposed, they are required to do a 14-day
quarantine alone in a room.
Please be praying for our ministry, that God
would open doors and build freshmen
community and connect these freshmen to
our student leaders.
Thank you for keeping us on campus!
Jason and Christine Johnston
10/15/2019
-God Can Use a Broken Life-
What’s the greatest danger on the college campus today? We often hear about racism, sexual assault, student loans, and safe spaces. Yet at our Fall Conference 2019, from Luke 18:9-14, I shared an even greater danger, a spiritual condition that could cost your soul. Many college students today call themselves Christians, yet like the Pharisee, they are actually trusting in their own righteousness!
On campus we often conduct spiritual surveys with students and ask, “If God said to you, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?’ What would you say?” Most students who grew up in the church say, “Because I’ve tried my best.” They are looking to their own works to be right with God. “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight…” (Romans 3:20)
The theme for our conference was “God Can Use a Broken Life” and I shared three messages with over 400 students and Navigator staff from the southeast. “The Gift of Brokenness” from Luke 18. “Living Water for a Thirsty Soul” from John 4. And “The Most Qualified Christians” from Mark 5:1-20. You can view these messages on YouTube: www.bit.ly/ABrokenLife.
