Our Navigator History

Origins of the Navigators

Dawson Trotman, the founder, was a Christian layman in the United States.

During the Second World War, the movement that grew from his life and witness was found on numerous American Navy ships.

The name, chosen out of necessity, reflected the parallel thoughts of ocean-going and spiritual navigation. Dawson  Trotman died in a boating accident in 1956.

New Zealand Navigator history

Joe Simmons, the New Zealand pioneer, came to New Zealand from England in 1953 and taught the fundamentals and disciplines of Christian living to many individuals and groups.

It was not until the early sixties, however, that internationally the organization decided it needed to demonstrate what it had been talking about.

At that point, people who were won to Christ or discipled began to gather around Joe. Those people were the first New Zealand Navigators.