In January of 1982, Denny and Sandy Nissley founded Christ In Action (CIA) as an evangelistic ministry, sharing the Gospel on the streets of America. Crisscrossing America, Denny preached in churches, conferences and Bible colleges teaching and motivating the Body of Christ to get off their seat and into the streets. Denny ministered to prostitutes, pimps, professional hit-men, inner-city gang mem
bers, alcoholics, drug addicts, and anyone else he could find outside the four walls of the church. To that end, Christ In Action led hundreds of soul winners to the Mardi Gras in New Orleans every year for 21 years. CIA evangelized major events like the Boston Marathon, the Balloon Fiesta in NM, Spring Break in FL and the Indy 500 race, as well as countless state and county fairs across the country. In 1987, as the ministry grew, CIA developed and built a mobile cooking trailer with commercial equipment to cook meals for the hundreds of believers on these outreaches in various parts of the country. More equipment was built for outreaches, including a dishwashing trailer, and (in 1996) a 48-foot tractor trailer converted into a portable stage with a 16,000 watt sound system, a built-in generator, and everything needed for an outdoor Jesus crusade. Not long after, CIA developed the "Family Fest" where they would partner with local churches, attract up to 10,000 local residents to a city park where the kids had fun with games, balloons and clowns, and everyone was fed for free. Through music and the preaching of the Gospel, hundreds came to know Jesus. In 1993 CIA relocated to Manassas, VA. Allen Byerly, a CIA board member, suggested that CIA use the equipment to serve on disaster sites. In 1998, CIA deployed to their first disaster. In Cuero, TX, a massive flood wiped out hundreds of homes. CIA's staff team and volunteers were able to cook and serve food for hundreds of residents made homeless by this sudden flooding. After seeing the huge impact--not just on the people that were saved, but on the entire town of Cuero--Denny and the Board of Directors decided to dedicate more time, energy and resources into this area of ministry. Since then, many people in the Body of Christ have stepped up to be used of God to reach people in times of disaster--it was a natural extension of CIA's previous work on the street, and a new way to evangelize! In 1999, Christ In Action deployed to both the floods of Hurricane Floyd in Tarboro, NC, and the biggest tornado in world history in Moore, OK. Through these two deployments, CIA saw the pressing needs people had for feeding and ministry in these situations. When the terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, Christ In Action responded to the Pentagon and were given permission to set up on the parking lot to feed the recovery workers. CIA fed over 55,000 meals on the parking lot, and Denny was able to share the Gospel with American military leaders and foreign dignitaries from around the world. From the Pentagon, CIA went to New York City and served another 45,000 meals at Ground Zero as the recovery work continued into the cold winter months. By the time Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, CIA was well established in their disaster relief ministry, and they executed their biggest deployment ever, beginning in Gulfport, MS and then moving into New Orleans. While deployed for Hurricane Katrina, CIA served hundreds of thousands of meals, worked on hundreds of homes, and distributed one hundred million dollars worth of goods to those who lost so much. In each and every one of these disaster responses, CIA saw so many people come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Christ In Action has grown in its capacity responding to natural and man-made disasters all across America and in foreign countries. CIA has nearly two million dollars worth of equipment to go and assist individual families and municipalities in times of disaster. Mobilizing thousands of people and hundreds of churches in all kinds of disasters with one goal: making Christ known - Bringing Hope to America's Families. In 2001, as a result of a consistent partnership in the late 90’s, Christ In Action launched a European branch, Kergyma180 (K180), based in London, England. K180's core ministry is to work alongside churches proclaiming the Gospel and equipping the next generation to do likewise.
