By Josh Kerby

When you think of ministry, I am sure your first thought isn’t rafting. There are several wilderness ministries, but they aren’t as well known. So why did we decide to do wilderness ministry? We could have chosen to start any other ministry, but this wouldn’t have followed the vision God gave us. God gave everyone at Journey Quest a passion for the outdoors. We allowed Him to take our passion and use it for His glory.

God can use us anywhere

if we allow Him to

God has used the wilderness to shape the lives of Moses, Joseph, Elijah, Paul, and even Jesus Christ. When I read in the gospels, I find Jesus did a lot of His ministry in the wilderness. The wilderness isn’t foreign to God; He created it and knows how to use it to bring Him glory. Journey Quest uses the wilderness to help and encourage others to pursue their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Just like Jesus did His ministry in the wilderness, we want to do the same.

When God asks us to follow Him, I don’t think He intended for it to be boring. I don’t think we need to share the gospel in a boring manner either. I think the gospel is best shared when we have fun experiencing it.  In my life I have found that my relationship with Jesus grows deeper when I am out in the wilderness, and the same is true for those that come on our trips.  There are so many analogies we can use to share the gospel.  For instance, one of my favorite challenges to use on peaks hikes is to have each guest pick up a burden rocks. Near the beginning of the hike, I share with the group how we all have burdens in our lives and ask them to find a rock that represents their burden. I then tell them to put the rock in their pack. At the top of the peak, we pull the rocks out of our packs and share what the burden represents in our lives. I love to see as they start to understand that we carry around this unnecessary weight on our shoulders when we hang on to our burdens. I continue to explain how Jesus asks us to surrender these burdens to Him. There are many different analogies we can use in the wilderness to help others understand what it looks like to have a relationship with Jesus.

I believe the strength of our relationship with Jesus depends on the environment in which we build it

So why the wilderness? I think it is what God called us to do. I believe the wilderness is one place we can experience God. I believe it is an excellent way to not only experience God but to deepen our relationship with Him. I see it as a healthy environment to build that relationship. Where are you building your relationship with God?

Subscribe to our weekly blog updates