The Navigators History

"One day as Jesus was walking along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon, a commercial fisherman, and his brother, Andrew, fishing with a net. Jesus called out to them, 'Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!' And they left their nets at once and went with him."

Jesus' story cascades down through centuries. In the early 1930s, a California lumberyard worker named Dawson Trotman caught a vision to pass on discipleship principles he was finding fruitful in his own life. In 1933, Trotman began teaching 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. Trotman's response - "You teach him!" - was the beginning of the Navigators.

Bible study mushroomed on a thousand ships and bases. After World War II, many of these men left the Navy but they took with them not only a burning heart for God but also a vision of passing on their passion. They repeated the discipling process as students, lay people, and missionaries.

Six decades later the Navigator disciple-making movement has spread in more then 100 countries, served by 3700 staff of 50 nationalities using 120 languages. It ministers among 138 people groups in 130 languages. Thirty percent of Navigators minister cross-culturally.


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