Article published November 01, 2003
‘Survivor’ gives credit to Saviour
Man used show’s spotlight to start ministry
‘Survivor’ contestant Mike Skupin poses with his family. Mr. Skupin was badly burned during the show.
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By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
Mike Skupin got burned on national television - literally - and the accident on Survivor: Outback cost him a chance to win $1 million. But even though his prime-time exposure was cut short, it was enough to help him start a full-time Christian ministry.
A 42-year-old resident of suburban Detroit and father of four, Mr. Skupin now travels around the country speaking on issues of faith to church groups, school assemblies, and leadership conferences.
"I’ve spoken as many as 35 times a month," he said in an interview this week. "I’ve spoken in five different countries, at various outreaches and schools, but probably 70 percent of my ministry is in the Midwest."
Mr. Skupin was a successful software developer before heading for the Australian Outback and joining the cast of Survivor II for the hit reality TV show that was broadcast in spring, 2001.
A skilled hunter and a natural leader, Mr. Skupin was considered by many to be a prime contender for the $1 million prize that goes to the final survivor. But in the show’s sixth episode, while fanning the flames of a campfire, he inhaled smoke, passed out, and fell into the fire.
Mr. Skupin’s hands were severely burned and he was flown out of camp on a helicopter.
He was completely laid up about four months, he said, and total recovery took about a year. Doctors told him that three skin-graft operations would be necessary, but, he said, his hands were miraculously healed.
"I didn’t have to have any surgery," Mr. Skupin said. "New skin began to grow back by itself, which the surgeons told me was impossible. The surgeons couldn’t understand it. But it was a neat realization that God does answer prayers."
The accident inspired the working title of a book he is writing, Healing Hands, Healed Hearts.
"As my faith evolves, the book keeps evolving," Mr. Skupin said. "In the last 10 months, I have had incredible, miraculous breakthroughs with my faith and my ability to communicate it on a real basic, foundational level. So I keep ripping half my book up and rewriting it. It’s driving me nuts."
The book will be advertised as a secular, insider’s account of Survivor, he said, but he also is weaving in religious messages.
"It’s being marketed as a fun, exciting book to have a great time with, and it is," he said. "We give them what was promised - and we give them a taste of the love of Jesus Christ."
Mr. Skupin, who still keeps in close touch with fellow Survivor II competitors, said he did not bring a Bible to the Outback and didn’t hammer people with the gospel because he saw what happened to Dirk Been in the original Survivor series.
"If you notice, his preaching and taking a stance on faith wasn’t real popular amongst the tribe mates," Mr. Skupin said. "There were several Christians on Survivor II but everybody was afraid to take a stance on faith because of that. We wanted to win a million dollars more so than preach to people who didn’t want to be preached to.
"But ironically, Survivor II in Australia ended up being the most spiritual show of them all. I don’t think there was a single episode without a positive spiritual message. People were holding hands and praying, and people who didn’t pray in their whole life were leading prayers out there."
He also pointed out that the show’s cameras are rolling 24/7 and only a small percentage of the day’s events ends up on the CBS broadcast.
"You see what they want you to see," Mr. Skupin said. "A lot happens and if it doesn’t fit their version of the story, no one’s going to see it."
Being in the wilderness, away from modern conveniences and the hectic pace of daily life, people find time to ponder spiritual matters, Mr. Skupin said.
"I believe our lives are packed from the minute we wake up until the minute we go to bed," he said. "There’s nothing in this world, typically, that’s spiritual. We get so busy living our lives the way that the world has designed it that it’s difficult to really make God first."
In his talks, he said, he asks audience members to raise their hands if they commit an hour a day to such activities as sleeping, eating, working, going to school, or watching television.
Lots of hands are raised at each point, he said.
Then he asks who commits an hour a day to Jesus.
"Very few hands go up," he said. "And it’s not that you’re a bad person. It’s just the way everybody lives. We say ‘Jesus first,’ but the way we live our lives, he’s about eighth. And we wonder why we don’t have all the blessings that the Bible promises us."
Things changed when the Survivor II competitors landed in in the Australian wilderness.
"In the absence of cell phones and e-mail and bills and kids and work and friends and all these things that consume our every day, in the absence of that, you all of a sudden start to recognize the presence of God. And it’s incredible," Mr. Skupin said.
Survivor has remained one of the most popular shows on television, he said, because it is "a perfect mix of soap opera, adventure story, and game show."
Since recovering from his Survivor injury, Mr. Skupin quit the business world and is devoting his time to ministry. His Web site, www.mikeskupin.com, offers a mix of Survivor information and religious messages and details his speaking engagements, including many in southeastern Michigan.
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