TruthQuest: California Episode Rating Graph

Tonight on TruthQuest California, the gang meets together for the first time. Before heading off to California, the Questers are sent to a ""Spiritual Boot Camp"" at Horns Creek Retreat Center in Cleveland, Tenn. Show host Joe gives the team a rundown of what to expect. The following day, the Questers are blasted out of bed at 7 a.m. and given 2 minutes to prepare for their first Truth Challenge -- PAINTBALL. Divided into three teams, the Questers battle it out with Freeman doing his best Mel Gibson Braveheart impression. The quiet and reserved guy from New York City nailed 7 TruthQuesters during the game. Chip longed for longer pants when Andy targeted him during the game. Shanna, meanwhile, reminded Sparky who the boss was. Following the competition, the TQers shared why they were participating in the quest and what they hoped to gain spiritually from the journey.

The ""TruthQuest: California"" team returns to Nashville for the final two days of their boot camp training. Steve Keels, editor of the TruthQuest Inductive Study Bible, and Bill Fay, author of Share Jesus Without Fear, teach the students how to effectively communicate the gospel message to non-believers. Questers Josh and Janie Jo get into a heated argument about the homeless. Meanwhile, Shanna Hawkins finds out that someone close to her family suddenly died. After dealing with the conflicts, the Questers head to Nashville International Airport where they board a plane destined for San Diego. Once they arrive in San Diego, the Questers discover a huge surprise waiting for them. And what's up with Sparky and the Pampers?

Having safely arrived in the land of fun and sun, the Questers head to the beach -- Pacific Beach. The team meets up with Evan Lauer, pastor of Coastlands Church, a Southern Baptist congregation that currently meets in a school. The church runs a surfing ministry and today, the Questers are going to learn how to hang ten. Before they hit the waves, the Questers join church members in a Beach Reach. They hand out free cans of soda and sun screen to curious passers-by. That gives several team members a chance to share their faith. Katie and Cara team up to meet a young surfer riding a bike on the boardwalk. That encounter leads to a life-changing moment. Meanwhile, Tim, Shanna and Andy discover more than they bargain for when one beach dweller proclaims that he is God. Later in the day, Chip discovers that his spiritual gift isn't surfing.

After leading five people to Christ during their two ministry days in San Diego, the ""TruthQuest: California"" team packs up their bags and heads north to Yosemite National Park. The 8-hour bus ride takes an interesting turn when the Questers get lost inside the massive park. Along the way, the team decides to do something about the condition of the bus, Sarah beats the stuffing out of Chip, and Sparky hangs his head out of the window. Meanwhile, the normally quiet and reserved David undergoes a hilarious transformation. Eventually the team arrives at their destination and discover they will be sleeping under stars at elevation 7,000-plus feet. The following day the Questers meet North American Mission Board missionary Steve Hughes. Steve runs a recreation ministry inside the park and teaches the team how to hurtle down a 170-foot cliff. It's a challenge that leaves one of the Questers in tears.

After breezing past the big rock in Yosemite, NAMB Missionary Steve Hughes gives the TruthQuesters a huge surprise....the chance to climb up and rappell down a 130 foot tall boulder. It's a challenge that not all the TruthQuesters are up for. However, a few hearty souls decide to climb the massive rock -- Andy being the first. While the Questers wait for Andy to reach the summit, Josh makes a daring bet with Chip -- climb to the top of the rock. If Chip doesn't make it, he has to shave his head and his ""beard"". If he makes it, Josh agrees to dress in a hot pink surfer-chick shirt and have the TQ girls apply makeup to his face. Chip shakes on the deal and we'll have to wait until next week to see if Josh is pretty in pink!

The Truthquesters meet with Eric Bergquist of the Page Street Baptist Center in San Francisco. Eric gave our Truthquesters an assignment, to go out in the streets of San Francisco and interview people. Our Truthquesters asked strangers questions like ""What do you like about San Francisco?"", ""Who is well off?"", ""Who is a good person?"", and ""How do you become a good person?."" Eric Bergquist of Page Street Baptist Center and Joe. Janie Jo and Josh met Melvin, a homeless man. they both learned about his life, and how he got to be a homeless man. After talking to Melvin, Janie Jo and Josh had a better understanding about the problems of homeless people.

The Truthquesters gather some neighborhood kids for some music, fun, play and bible lessons. Later that night, the Questers met and talked to older teenagers who are very much into ""vampires"", gothic, and drugs... It was a learning experience for our Questers, as well as a time of prayer and witnessing opportunity. At the end of the day, the Questers feel exhausted, drained and heartbroken for all these lost teens. Meanwhile, Sparky was at the end of his ropes, tired of being picked on, mad and ""ready to snap""! Everyone was mad at each other for one reason or another, and things are not looking good. Is this the end of the TruthQuest:California team?

Chip, David, Janie Jo and Shanna visited 100.7 ""The Bridge"" FM radio station to talk about TruthQuest. They played games on the air during the morning radio show... games like Bible Trivia, Physical Challenge and Name That Tune. The girls beat the boys 4-0 on the trivia questions, but the boys got to win the physical challenge and the Name that Tune contest. After the radio show, they all went back to the Page Street Baptist Center to participate in ""Common Grace"", sharing a mean with the homeless people. Shanna was nervous at first, but eventually got to talk and know other homeless people, especially Steven. Meanwhile, Chip is in culture-shock meeting ""vampires"", and eating with homeless people. He didn't talk much, say much to anybody and just stayed pretty quiet during the whole time. Later he was mad at himself and felt really bad for not ""speaking up"" and communicating with these people. He felt sad for them, and he realized that Jesus encounted different types of people during H

The TruthQuesters left San Francisco for Los Angeles, CA. Joe acted as the tour guide, showing them all the interesting places in Hollywood. Later that day, they attended Mosaic, a church on the cutting-edge. Alex McManus provides the message of Jesus Christ to the LA people, in the surroundings where they're most comfortable. Mosaic church uses a nightclub, complete with mirror balls, disco lights, couches and dance floor. The trip exposed the TQ gang to different ways of doing ministry, to effectively reach out to the unsaved people.

On this episode of TruthQuest, Sarah had to leave the TQ gang early for a previously scheduled mission trip to Uganda. Everybody told Sarah what she meant for them and in the middle of all this serious moment, Chip had an ""accident."" On their last day, they all headed out to Highland, CA for a World Changer's home remodeling project. They did painting, scraping, cleaning and other home improvement tasks for a poor family. The gang worked with World Changers to make the house a safe place to live, and meet State Code Regulations. Their physical labor is a testimony of their Christian love to this family. On their last night, everybody said their goodbyes. Everybody felt joy and excitement about going home, and yet sadness for leaving their TQ friends and the end of the TruthQuest Adventure.

The TQ team met once again for a reunion show. Joe hosted the show, asking the gang about their experience. They talked about how this trip changed their lives, how the trip opened their eyes, exposed them to different types of people, cultures and the real world. The TQ journey lasted 3 weeks. During this time, the kids were brought out of their comfort zone, living in the ""smelly"" bus, spending all that time on the road travelling and having the adventure of their lives. They learned how to trust one another, learn the meaning of true friendship, resolve conflicts, and grow in faith. They also recollected their experiences, and the different things they learned like compassion, patience, courage and faith