Fanning the Flame: Spreading the Gospel Through a Firefighter Bible Study

A firefighter in Grand Junction, Colorado, David Fisher is passionately leading a growing firefighter Bible study with The Navigators First Responders Ministry, helping men know Christ and pursue a relationship with Him.

However, only a couple years prior to his current ministry, David remembers a time where he almost gave up on his faith.

Raised in a Christian home, David always believed in God but had never made his faith his own. Over the years, he married his wife, Hannah, served in the Air Force, and became a firefighter in 2016 in Grand Junction, Colorado. However, the things he had seen in the military and as a firefighter weighed on him, and it made him question if his beliefs were grounded in something real.

“I started to grapple with the idea of truth — is this something I can be confident in?” David recalls. “I was going through a crisis of faith.”

During that time, David met a couple at his church who happened to be related to Darren Lindblom, The Navigators First Responders U.S. Director. The couple passed David’s phone number along to Darren, knowing David was a firefighter and hoping Darren would reach out.

Months later, David had a breakthrough where he decided to re-surrender his life to God. He prayed for the Lord to use his life to impact others and to make it obvious how he could do so. To his surprise, he got a call from Darren the next day.

“Darren told me that he had my phone number for four or five months, but hadn’t felt led to call me yet,” David remembers. “So when he called, it felt like confirmation — God saying, ‘I’m real, and I’m working in your life.’ It gave me purpose.”

Leading a Firefighter Bible Study

Darren began to disciple David, developing his personal walk with the Lord in his role as a husband and father, as well as in the workplace, encouraging David to live out his faith in the firehouse with the other men. At the same time, Darren’s wife, Gina, began to disciple Hannah, pouring into her life and sharing how she could be an impact to the other first responder wives.

“In our work with first responders — when we get around guys who are passionate about the Lord — we call them fire breathers,” Darren says. “David is a fire breather. It was easy for me to come alongside him and point him in the direction of walking with Jesus and being a part of the Great Commission right where he is.”

Since then, David has been growing a Bible study in his firehouse. After the end of their shift once a week, the men will meet at a coffee shop to share about their lives and go through Scripture and prayer. David has designed the group to be a safe place where non-believers and believers alike can feel heard and seen, pointing each other to truth.

“A lot of times, we will just sit and talk and ask questions and build trust,” he says. “Rather than being talked at, people want to be known. So we recognize that it’s a journey for everyone, and that things will come with time as they continue to seek.”

Many first responders, firemen included, experience hardships and trauma on a regular basis, and these difficulties can lead to serious mental health struggles or deteriorating personal lives. Though there is a rise in resources to help, a lot of solutions are secular and don’t give a “why” for the brokenness of the world.

For David, speaking the Christian worldview into these settings is vital. “The more I understand the Christian narrative, the more beautiful it becomes — why would I not want to share that with others?” David says. “I want them to know they have a personal God who wants to know them and loves them. We see a lot of suffering in this job and world. No other worldviews can really answer that.”

Sometimes, the people saving lives are the ones who need help the most. David is a good example of The Navigators First Responder Ministry’s approach at large: to encourage everyday disciplemakers on the inside of police forces, ambulances, and firehouses to share the light of the gospel where they are.

“It’s easy for first responders to write people off in the church because they don’t understand what we’ve gone through,” David explains. “So I want to say, ‘I’ve gone through this too, and I believe I have answers and can help if you’re willing to listen.’ Having Christians inside their world, doing life and running the same calls as them, seeing how you respond and handle situations — that’s how you build trust and make a difference.”

With long, unpredictable hours and trying work conditions, first responders’ families are often impacted and in need of support and community. Hannah has also taken up the mantle of discipleship, mentoring the wives of men in David’s firehouse. “I’m getting to know some of the wives really well, being able to pray for their families and support each other,” she says.

Moving Forward with First Responders

As David and Hannah continue to follow the Lord and grow their connections, they are excited for where the Lord is leading them. David is working to become an associate staff with The Navigators, which will give him resources to expand his network to reach more firemen across his area.

“David and Hannah have a vision and heartbeat to see God work among firemen and even police in Grand Junction,” Darren says. “He’s going to help us grow our firefighter ministry and fan the flame around the country as he is able.”

From being discouraged in his faith to being discipled and becoming a passionate disciplemaker of others, David’s journey has been an encouragement and representation of the exciting work taking place in The Navigators First Responder Ministry.

“We have an unprecedented spiritual interest among first responders in our country, and God is doing work among them,” Darren says. “Pray that He would see the gospel advance fruitfully, and that He would raise up disciplemaking leaders in agencies and firehouses around the country.”

Discipleship Tip:

David and Hannah have both benefited from being discipled by Darren and Gina, being inspired to live out their faiths in their home and community. Do you have someone discipling you, encouraging you and keeping you accountable in your faith? If not, consider praying that the Lord would place someone in your life to guide you as you seek to share the gospel with others.