Who would ever think it possible to turn Yellowstone Tours into a real ministry? Dan and I didn’t. But God saw it as quite possible. He just had to convince us of that, and convince us He did!

With the closest church 50-minutes away, we found participating in church ministry and evangelism difficult, especially in winter. Surrounded by a high level of evolutionary naturalists, any religious inroads in our little town of Gardiner, Montana, seemed very difficult. Initially we just mingled, explored receptive attitudes, and analyzed potential options. Come to find out, God had something much bigger in mind than Gardiner.

We thought about handing out literature. It is easy to do in Yellowstone:  pick up a First Amendment sign from the Visitor’s Center, be sure not to obstruct any visitors, and hand out the items. Great idea, and so very valuable (hint, hint), but we felt drawn to a deeper level of interaction.

We considered opening “Tours From A Creation Perspective,” but starting a new business? That’s a lot of responsibility, it’s scary, and there were barriers—lots of them.  Our biggest was that our only transportation was a 350,000-mile, paint peeling, really ugly minivan, and we weren’t about to go $50,000 in debt to compete with local guide transportation. We also didn’t have the funds for the required permits and expensive commercial insurance.  After pondering it way too long, we put it before the Lord, “We’ll commit to the labor if You overcome the logistics and provide the funds—in a timely manner.” We just couldn’t see how this could come to fruition, so if it did, it would clearly be His will.

In the interim, we started a Voice of Prophecy Discover Bible School at our Livingston church, which has been a wonderful experience with many open doors and seeds planted (perhaps more on that in another edition). Maybe this school was to be our sole focus (?).

Then God sent us the Victoria BC Pathfinder club. While staying at our church over Sabbath on the way to the 2024 Camporee, we marked up their map, shared what to look for, and wished them a Happy Sabbath. On the way home our consciences were pricked. They would be so overwhelmed and miss a lot. So back we went, offering to take them through the park. The leader was elated (and relieved) enough to give me a huge hug.

We passed out walkie-talkies and our multi-vehicle caravan proceeded through the park while Dan shared wildlife stories, showed them our favorite views, and displayed God’s wonderful animal world. What a Sabbath we had!

While watching wolf puppies, the pathfinders and staff applauded the experience, saying that they were glued to the walkie-talkies and so grateful for our help. “Anything we can do to help you start a ministry tour company, we’ll do.” Our service, our ministry, was valuable even in a paint-peeling minivan with walkie-talkies? Wow! By caravanning rather than carrying passengers, we wouldn’t need a new rig and that would decrease our commercial insurance in half. Hmmmm, had the Lord just solved our two biggest barriers in one day?!

There were other barriers to surmount, but so many miracles occurred in the next few months that there was no question as to Who’s venture it was, including the inspiration of a catchy business name excusing the condition of our van and lack of meal catering. So on January 1, 2025, “Cheap & Cheesy Yellowstone Tours, Bring Your Own Cheese,” was officially open for business—God’s business.

What have been the results? We left it with God to send just the right (or ripe) people. Our first clients were devout Jews. Their small children knew their Torah well. After a full day, we were all “family,” and we ended the tour by gifting a “Steps to Christ” with a personal hand written message inside the front cover, which all our guests receive.  The devil’s attempts to interfere by slamming the little girl’s fingers in the car door just as I was handing Mom the book were futile. God is bigger. The girl’s fingers hurt but were uninjured, and Mom dove into the book as soon as she had it in her hands.

Our second clients were non-practicing Muslims. They too became “family” and not only accepted our “Steps to Christ” but expressed sincere appreciation of God’s picture left in their hearts.  We still keep in touch.

After one young lady returned home to Florida from a tour with her parents, she attended a Christian summer camp and was baptized. Her dad made it a point to show Grandpa (who shared the story with us) the “Steps to Christ” we gifted, and Grandpa and Grandma are scheduled to tour with us next June.

To our surprise, though we are “Cheap and Cheesy,” most of our clients are wealthy professionals, a class of people with whom we have no social access outside of the park. Our reach on a personal, and literally global, level has gone beyond anything we could imagine—well beyond standing next to a Free Speech sign. 

That being said, if anyone has an inkling to donate just one day to stand by a sign for God here in Yellowstone, contact us. We are happy to help you set up for that. The Creator’s seeds will sprout and eternal friendships will be made!