The May 8 Baptist Messenger featured a story on stunt rider Mike King auditioning for NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” in April with Real Encounter ministries, as they were asked to come by the show’s producers. King was a popular attraction during the 2013 Men’s Rewired retreat at Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center, and he and his ministry teammates, including Brad Bennett, president of Real Encounter, drew rave reviews from the judges on the popular reality television series.
King reported in a recent newsletter that more than nine million viewers tuned into the show on June 3 to watch the Real Encounter team do their stunts. To watch their audition visit baptist
messenger.com/stunts.
Before the team’s performance, Howard Stern, controversial radio personality who was on the judges’ panel, had an interesting exchange with Bennett as Stern asked about the team’s name “Real Encounter.” Known for making vulgar comments, Stern asked if they were affiliated with pornography. Bennett responded saying they were “definitely the opposite” of pornography and revealed to Stern they were a Christian ministry.
All four celebrity judges, including Stern, Heidi Klum, Mel B and Howie Mandell, voted to allow Real Encounter to advance in the show’s next episode. However, because of other commitments, the team was not able to return.
Bennett said “America’s Got Talent” has re-aired their performance twice since the first showing.
“Within five minutes, (of the repeated show) my phone blew up,” said Bennett. “We have gotten a ton of dates out of this experience, which means we have more opportunities to share the Gospel.”
King’s ministry is called Kingdom Stunters. For more information on his ministry, visit kingdomstunters.com.
For more information on Real Encounter, visit realencounter.org.
