Jimmy Sites has hunted alongside Amazon warriors and faced off with bears in Alaska, but one of his toughest challenges didn’t happen in the wild. It happened in a room full of first- through fourth-graders.
Sites hosts a national TV and radio show, “Spiritual Outdoor Adventures,” and travels the world sharing God’s word with people who hunger for adventure. He is one of a small number of outdoorsmen who has turned his love for hunting and fishing into a full-time ministry – and sometimes that includes speaking to a rowdy group of children.
“I’m just sitting there thinking, ‘What would make me connect with these kids?'” said Sites, who also is the teaching pastor at New River Fellowship Church in Franklin, Tenn.
“I just got up there and said, ‘I’m an adventurer. … Do you want to hear my stories?’ They all said, ‘Yea!’
“That’s what I do,” he added. “I share my adventures – and I weave in spiritual application – . Everybody loves adventure.”
Sites has teamed up with fellow hunter Jason Cruise, founder of the Outdoor Ministry Network, to write a devotional book, “Into the High Country,” released by B&H Publishing Group. Another new release is “Success Afield: Principles for a Sportsman’s Life” by Joey Hancock, who also is a national speaker and outdoor TV personality.
In both books, the authors share dozens of hunting and fishing stories, mixing in spiritual principles and discipleship. Many of the stories include the joys of shooting wild birds and “monster bucks,” while learning in the same paragraph how to live for Jesus Christ. Using people’s interests to draw them closer to the Lord is nothing new, he said.
“Jesus was always picking up on what people were interested in and using that to teach a spiritual lesson,” Sites said.
This type of ministry is about adventure, Sites said. When following Christ, the adventure never ends.
“You can live on the edge of adventure for God, and that is really what Christianity is all about,” he said. “It’s risky. It’s high adrenaline.”