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 Scipture. 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.

Internationally, Mike Treneer is general director of The Navigators, of which the U.S. Navigators are a part. Alan Andrews is the U.S. director, working with a National Leadership Team that oversees the U.S. Navigator ministries.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.