In 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” God sent ministers for each stage of the Corinthian church’s journey. He does the same for each of us. For Andy Davis, two of those men were Steve Chamberlain and Tim Schuman.

Davis writes, “Steve was a fraternity brother who patiently and lovingly shared the gospel with me and invited me to Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) meetings. He lived out his faith in Christ before my eyes, showing me that loving Christ could be woven into the fabric of every single day. For the first time in my life, he opened the Bible and read portions of the New Testament to me. . . . His patient love toward me was a key tool in the Spirit’s hands for my eventual conversion.”

After Davis’s conversion, God brought Tim, a Cru staff worker, into his story. “He met with me weekly and taught me how to study Scripture systematically. He encouraged me to memorize Bible passages through the Topical Memory System of the Navigators. He brought me to a healthy, Bible-preaching church where I met Christians of all ages. He demonstrated how to live for Christ’s glory in simple day-to-day activities like tuning up a car and making scrambled eggs for breakfast. . . . Tim’s love for verse-by-verse exegesis, through the radio ministry of John MacArthur, set the pattern for my lifelong approach to the Bible, allowing me to see the glory of God in the face of Christ as depicted in line after line of Scripture.”

We all need evangelists like Steve Chamberlain and disciple-makers like Tim Schuman. Who has God sent to fulfill those roles in your story? And perhaps more importantly, where has God called you to plant and water?

Hear more of Davis’s testimony in his 2019 article, and consider joining him and other TGC Council members for our Expositional Preaching cohort this fall. Davis will teach on how to preach practically, with applications that work in people’s lives.