Book Endorsements
“Few books have been written about adventure learning from a Christian perspective. Given the rich history of adventure learning that is found in the Bible, this lack of literature is an irony that many in the field of faith-based adventure education have long lamented. Recognizing this gap in literature, Bruce Dunning has gone beyond lamenting and has given us something that cannot be found elsewhere.
Within these pages, Bruce outlines 19 principles that are essential for crafting effective Christian adventure learning experiences. What I especially appreciate about his work is that, while some of these principles can be found in secular literature, the principles outlined here are based on specific examples found in the Bible. Drawing on Scripture and his 30+ years of experience in the field of adventure learning, Bruce weaves together a theological foundation for outdoor adventure ministry.
This is a book I have been waiting for, a must read for anyone in the field of Christian adventure learning.”
— Amy Smallwood
Assistant Professor of Outdoor Leadership, Simpson University
Board member and former president of Christian Adventure Association
“Biblical adventures were divinely designed to transform God’s people and Bruce Dunning’s comprehensive review teaches us how to facilitate similar adventure learning today! This has the potential to be the main textbook for any Christian outdoor leadership course—it is written with an educational flow while maintaining an engaging level of stories, adventure techniques and interesting theoretical models. Reading the principles laid out in his work, you will feel like you are joining Bruce in an outdoor adventure Bible study, soaking in the wisdom of a true wilderness scholar.”
— Andy Bathje
Executive Director of Confrontation Point Ministries
Professor of Outdoor Recreation
Asbury University
“Bruce Dunning has spent decades immersing himself in the study of adventure and the scriptures to bring us these biblical principles of adventure that can be applied in, and beyond, the outdoors. He spells them out in theory and with specific, practical applications so that any willing leader or educator can be refined.”
— Craig Lomax
Co-founder of Rock-N-Water and Kids In Creation
“I teach Adventure Education at a college that intentionally integrates faith and learning. Bruce Dunning has put together in one handy book the essential principles of Adventure Education with all the Biblical references one might want to illustrate these points. For me it is a go-to resource I will use in all my classes both inside and out!”
— Cyd Quarterman
Assistant Professor, Outdoor Leadership and Education
Toccoa Falls College
“It was with great pleasure and excitement that I read this book. Without a doubt Bruce Dunning has focused on two life-altering realities: the life saving power of God through His Son, Jesus Christ, and the life changing power of adventure learning. For lay-people and ministers alike, this is a must read book. Bruce has done an outstanding job of presenting the awesomeness of God, the saving grace of Jesus Christ and the impact of adventure based learning.”
— Dick Hammond
Co-author of “The Empty Bag”
Owner of Leadership on the Move
“God of Adventure is a seminal and significant piece of work that will definitely bless those in Christian adventure ministries and beyond. Bruce Dunning’s detail in carefully searching Scripture to support specific principles he developed is excellent as he weaves together a biblical/theological perspective on adventure. His involvement in camp life as a child and his leadership in Medeba added much wisdom and credence.”
— Dr. Bud Williams
Associate Professor Emeritus at Wheaton College
“The idea that individuals can grow through challenging situations and become people of greater strength and faith is not new— it permeates the Bible and stories throughout human history. In this text, Bruce Dunning takes this concept and provides a firm biblical foundation, and then offers some practical guidance on creating environments and programs to help this happen. His long career in the field and his passion for the topic are evident. This book will be useful for young programmers early in the field, as well as more seasoned practitioners who need a way to explain how and why we do what we do.”
— Dr. Lester R. Zook
Outdoor Ministry and Adventure Leadership
Eastern Mennonite University
“In this groundbreaking book Bruce Dunning offers the field of Christian adventure ministry a sound theoretical and theological basis for helping people to make positive changes in their lives. Not content to re-work old ideas of adventure, Bruce has diligently scoured Scripture to point us to a firm foundation for the practice of adventure as a means of learning about God and his desire to have a relationship with us. The ideas throughout the book resonate with my own experience of 30 years in the field. They give me a framework for describing, understanding and creating Christian adventure learning experiences. Bruce’s ‘questions to ponder’ really did make me ponder and left me ready for the next adventure. If you feel that there must be another way to communicate Christian truth but are not quite sure what it is, then look no further than this book. It will show you how adventure can be a vital means of learning about and responding to God.”
— Dr. Phil Simpson
Chief Executive Designate, Abernethy Trust
“God of Adventure is an exciting yet meticulous exploration of how Scripture reveals that followers of God can be transformed through adventure experiences. Bruce Dunning has developed 19 key principles that are useful in helping create leaders in camp and youth ministry. I can attest to how God has used adventure to help shape me during opportunities to lead or participate in challenging outdoor experiences. Ultimately, Bruce reminds us that it is not so much the adventure experience that is important as it is that lives are transformed in the process! As a college professor, I meet many young adults searching for new experiences and adventures but many fail to appropriately process and apply that which they have experienced on short-term missions or summer camp ministry. This book has the potential of being an incredible tool for those in Christian education and leadership development in helping students realize how these 19 principles echo God’s desire for us to learn from and ultimately be changed by the landscape of adventure we travel.”
— Garth Friesen
Professor at Steinbach Bible College
“This is a good primer for those starting down the path of adventure ministry, and resource that provides background and a good foundation for the key ideas which undergird this approach to learning.”
— Greg Robinson
Author of “Adventure and the Way of Jesus”
President of Challenge Quest
“Bruce Dunning has provided a foundational text for Christian adventure educators everywhere by showing us the educational precedent that God has set for us in the Bible. He illustrates how the Lord works with His people throughout Scripture, and then clearly translates those illustrations into insightful principles and techniques that we can use in our education of others.”
— Hannah Mikul
Director of Explore Program, Prairie Bible Institute
“Bruce Dunning did an excellent job. He speaks out of experience. This book provides organization for the living organism of Adventure Learning. It is Christcentered and will be a valuable tool for small group use in various settings. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to teach truth not only from the pulpit, but also through practical application.”
— Hans Peter Royer
Director of Upward Bound Center, Torchbearers International
“Adventure facilitators will appreciate Bruce Dunning’s insightful and accessible ideology, and will find themselves referring to this work again and again.”
— Jim Badke
Author of “The Christian Camp Counselor”
“Adventure learning has long been with us but seldom understood or valued as the powerful tool for learning and personal transformation as this book so clearly shows it to be. Bruce Dunning has crafted a solid biblical treatise for adventure learning with great applications to ministry and personal life. It is valuable reading for any youth worker or Christian educator who is willing to go beyond the normative approaches to the teaching-learning paradigm in helping young people become all that God first created them to be.”
— John H. Wilkinson
Executive Director of Toronto YFC
25 full-time years in higher Christian education
“The enterprise of Christ-centered, Bible-based wilderness adventures, and the life-transforming power they have, is something that very few have taken the time to understand deeply and write about. Bruce Dunning, through his book God of Adventure, has stepped up and filled this gap. The book is a powerful tool to help others make a positive difference in peoples’ lives through Christian adventure experiences.”
— John Vandervelde
Executive Director of LeaderTreks
"Finally! A book has been written for adventure learning leaders that is grounded in Scripture. This well-researched and highly readable text will be a valuable resource for Christian educators desiring a stronger theological basis for their practice."
— Ken Kalisch
Author of "The Role of the Instructor in the Outward Bound Educational Process"
Associate Professor of Outdoor Education, Montreat College
“In this book, Bruce Dunning clearly and explicitly explains that adventure is a fully-formed biblical concept, as important and crucial to understanding God’s nature as are the concepts of love, mercy or forgiveness. He also thoroughly demonstrates that God has been using adventure as a teaching tool since the early days of biblical history. This is one book that won’t be gathering dust on the shelf; I see it as a real tool and source of validity, confirmation and inspiration for those working in the Christian adventure industry. I highly recommend it, both to those just starting out and to those long-time practitioners who need a sense of renewal and remembrance of why we work in this field.”
— Matt “Spinner” Allen
Non-profit Consultant and Wilderness Educator
“Memorable, powerful… and very actionable! If every ministry leader applied the concepts in this book to their work, adventure ministry today would look a lot different. A must-read that reinforces why experiential methods in ministry work—and work well! Brilliantly written and highly recommended.”
— Michelle Cummings
Author, Speaker and Consultant on leadership, teambuilding, and experiential learning
Training Wheels
“Bruce Dunning‘s book will become a great resource for our camp ministry as well as a text that I will use in my classes. He has compiled a great amount of biblical research that will shape the way we use adventure to minister to the next generation.”
— Mike DeBoer
Outdoor Leadership Professor - Denver Seminary
Executive Director, Camp Id-Ra-Ha-Je
“This book will make an important contribution to a whole host of Christian ministries. I can immediately see it being helpful to various camping ministries, discipleship programs, youth ministries as well as other programs in the Church. It is well structured, with a strong theological perspective, and good biblical material used effectively throughout. I know that this book will be helpful as we refine and develop the Outtatown Discipleship School. In recent years we have been working toward greater clarity regarding the educational goals and objectives in all aspects of our program. We found that there was very little Christian material for ‘adventure’ as an educational component and this book will make a contribution that will be felt in our program in the years to come. Thank you for providing something we were looking for.”
— Paul Kroeker
Former Dean of International Programs and Outtatown Director
Canadian Mennonite University
Current Global Disciples Facilitator for North America and Europe
“The bulk of today’s research and written material on adventure programming clearly shows that it can have a very dramatic impact upon the lives of participants. How refreshing it is to be presented with validation of the idea that adventure programming is historically an evangelistic tool. I have ‘beat this drum’ for over 30 years. My thanks are to Bruce Dunning for making the effort to go a step further. I believe that it is a reality that positive impact upon a person’s life only begins when that person says ‘yes’ to Jesus Christ.”
— Professor Robert Smalley
Highlander Adventure Program Director
Houghton College
“Bruce Dunning’s book should provide those preparing for leadership in a Christian-oriented adventure education program essential food for thought. The personal stories, the thorough list of biblical examples and many suggested applications of his key principles will prove very helpful as leaders develop their own personal models and methods for using adventure education in ministry. This much needed resource will add to the curriculum of our W.I.L.D. Semester that trains college students for outdoor adventure ministry.”
— Rich Obenschain
Director of Gordon College’s La Vida Center for Outdoor Education and Leadership
“Bruce Dunning brings a lifetime of experience and disciplined biblical study into his passion for Christian adventure. He examines the definition, questions, process and theories of adventure in order to equip the Christian educator with an effective strategy for holistic change in people. As any good facilitator would, Bruce helps us think about how to ask the right questions to evaluate the foundations and assumptions that might try to hijack our outcomes while avoiding the humanistic, repetitive, and trendy approaches that can put the trinitarian work of God and the Bible in second place. This foundational and practical work will help anyone who wants to be used by God to be more effective in perspective, balance and approach.”
— Rick Masters
Adventure Ministries Program Manager
HoneyRock Camp of Wheaton College
“Bruce Dunning has worked hard to give us another valuable tool in the Christian adventure leader’s toolbox. With this helpful, practical guide both new and veteran leaders will be challenged to move out of their comfort zones into deeper places with God and those they lead as they follow the Holy Spirit in the adventure of Christian life. The exhaustive examination of Scripture, combined with real-life examples from Bruce’s own life and ministry, makes this a solid, relevant work which will bless many in the exciting field of Christian adventure.”
— Sean H. Gartland
Author of “Adventure Ministry Leadership”
Supervisor of Recreation Therapy, Capt. James A. Lovell Federal Healthcare Center
“This is a most useful book for all of us who teach in the outdoors. The 19 principles serve as the roadmap and the compass for developing a “best guide praxis” for shepherding the growth of character and situational awareness in others. This is a working ‘toolbox’ for the outdoor education professional who seeks to guide others into one of the most powerful forms of learning: self discovery. We will be using this as the primary testament for our students who seek to do ministry as facilitators of a personal and deeper spiritual awareness in nature’s challenging classrooms. I would buy this for the Appendix alone.”
— Stephen J Cyphers
Outdoor Leadership Program, Colorado Christian University
