Christians and "Survivor" I've never watched an entire episode of any of the Survivor programs, but I've been fascinated by the way some evangelical Christians who were contestants in the game used it as a springboard for sharing their faith. And I've wondered why professing Christians would even want to participate in such a cutthroat activity in the first place. This ChristianityToday.com interview with season four winner Vecepia Towery-Robinson addresses the issue as well. In a game with so much deception and maneuvering, it may be surprising that several past survivors have been Christians. In fact, two of the six winners, season two's Tina Wesson and season four's Vecepia Towery-Robinson were regularly shown practicing their Christian faith. For Vecepia, the decision to try out for the reality show was divinely inspired.
I've also been interested in how others have tried to use Survivor contestants as "Christian celebrities," along the lines of Christian sports heroes like Kurt Warner. One entrepreneurial webmaster, Brent R. High of FaithSite.com, created a Christ-centered fan site for Tina Wesson, TinaW.com, as an evangelistic outreach to the lost in cyberspace. According to this press release on the site, "We are incredibly excited about the possibilities Tina's website holds for reaching lost souls," High says. Unfortunately, the site has not been updated since the fall of 2001, the link to the message boards is broken. What kind of witness is that to the online world?