Our History - The Early Days
The ministry of The Navigators
began in the 1930's through the call of God to a young Californian
blue-collared worker, Dawson Trotman. Dawson caught a vision to teach
discipleship principles he found fruitful in his own life. He began to
teach high school students and local Sunday
school classes. Then in 1933, he and his friends began to extend their
work among sailors in the U.S. Navy.
Dawon taught sailor Les
Spencer the principles of Christian growth. They spent many hours
together praying, studying the Bible, and memorizing Scripture. When one
of Spencer's shipmates asked him the secret of his changed life, Spencer
brought the man to Trotman. "Teach him what you taught
me," Spencer said. "You teach him!" Trotman responded. And that
was the beginning of The Navigators.
Spencer did teach the sailor, and soon the two men were meeting with others. Eventually, 125 men on their ship, the U.S.S. West Virginia, were growing in Christ and actively sharing their faith.
Many hours were spent with individual
sailors in Bible study, Scripture memorization, and prayer, with an
emphasis on each teaching another what he had learned. By the end of
World War II, thousands of men on ships and bases around the world were
learning the principles of spiritual multiplication.
At the same time, the high school
students whose lives Dawson had touched went on to reach out to others
around them in Southern California. Today, nearly seventy years later,
we minister not only in the military and with students on college
campuses, but in the marketplace with businessmen and women, among
homemakers, ethnic groups, international students, in countries around
the world—wherever there are people who need Christ.
The Navigators was incorporated in
California in 1943. In 1949, The Navigators' first overseas missionary
left to serve in China. Others soon followed to other countries. The
Navigator headquarters was moved to Colorado Springs in
1953 with the purchase of the Glen Eyrie property, former home of city
founder General William J. Palmer.
The Glen Eyrie property is now headquarters to
the U.S. and International offices of The Navigators, Glen Eyrie
Conference Center, and our publishing division, NavPress. A
few miles away is Eagle Lake Camp.
Our aim is to make a permanent difference
in the lives of people around the world. Our purpose—To know Christ
and make Him known—describes the center and direction of the ministry.
From the beginning, we have sought not only to reach people for Christ
but to equip them so that they, in turn, can help fulfill Christ's
commission to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19).
Navigators spend hours with new believers
individually and in small groups. They study the Bible, pray, witness,
counsel, and teach. It is a ministry of individual, intensive training
on a person-to-person basis.
The Navigators is a faith ministry
supported by the contributions of individuals and churches. Field
staff—those directly involved in field ministries—are actively
involved in raising support for their area of ministry.
Order the book Daws from NavPress
