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Two unconventional missionaries document their experiences in Travel the Road

Kicking off its third season on Trinity Broadcasting Network this month, the reality-TV adventure Travel the Road picks up where season two left off in Afghanistan and moves south, into Africa, among the most dangerous war zones on earth. Led by extreme missionaries Tim Scott and Will Decker, the half-hour Saturday night show features the footage of their gospel-spreading expeditions across the globe, from the leech-infested jungles of Southeast Asia to the frozen steppes of Siberia.

Since it first aired in 2003, Travel the Road has been through 55 nations. Capturing their experiences on a small handheld camera, Scott and Decker believe the gospel message should know no bounds. Scott, 29, speculates the show has inspired tens of thousands of viewers to take a missions trip.

“We’re in a generation where younger people are so willing [to do anything], even willing to give their lives,” Scott told Charisma. “You see them doing extreme sports and all of these [wild] things. How much more could be [accomplished] if we can get this generation to live that abandoned for the Lord?”

Scott’s missionary partner, 33-year-old Decker, believes the success of the show is due not only to its high adventure but also to the impact of the supernatural. “I have literally witnessed with my own eyes the power of God,” Decker says. “I have seen the sick healed, demonic possessions released, and above all the power of salvation filling the hearts of many.”

Before becoming an award-winning TV series, Travel the Road had its roots in Scott’s own journey. As a 19-year-old, the Colorado native had ambitions of moving to New York and becoming a stockbroker. But he says a missions trip to the Czech Republic in 1998 changed those plans. “I kind of had one of those moments [and saw] two ways that I could go in life.”

Scott says he struggled with the raw realities of surrendering his own plans for what he knew in his heart was God’s calling—preaching the gospel, even if it meant death. “I [decided I would] rather live 30 years full out for God on this earth, than 80 years of thinking what could have been.”

For Decker, who became a Christian during their initial expedition in 1998 that was not filmed for TV, the radical call to lay down one’s life for Christ is answered through action. “You only get one chance to live this life, so don’t waste it on regret,” he says. “Don’t sit around and think if you should or shouldn’t be a person of action. Take faith and be bold.”
Paul Steven Ghiringhelli

Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly

The PBS program Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly will be airing a series of special reports this month on the homosexual ordination controversy. With a showdown looming between the U.S. Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion over theological issues, including homosexuality and scriptural interpretation, Religion & Ethics will be on location in New Orleans as Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams meets with U.S. Episcopal bishops to discuss whether a church schism can be averted.

Sky Angel plans to dramatically change the way it delivers multichanneled television. During the next year, the TV delivery system will phase out dishes in order to send its 30-plus channels into homes via broadband Internet. The process, which is called Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), requires high-speed Internet and a small set-top box. With both accessories, transitioning subscribers will be able to access Sky Angel programming by way of a traditional TV set, personal computer or handheld instrument.

Billed as a faith-based version of MTV, Daystar television’s new program Soundcheck airs live performances from bands such as Skillet, BarlowGirl, Pillar, Ayiesha Woods and The Afters. Co-hosted by Jonathan, Rachel and Rebecca Lamb, the children of Daystar founders Marcus and Joni Lamb, Soundcheck also features candid one-on-one interviews with some of Christian music’s most popular artists.