by Jenn Clark

Not long ago, David Genat was a website developer and, with his wife, Kathleen, attended Claremont Baptist Church in Western Australia. On a dare, he entered last year’s Search for a Supermodel – a nationwide contest /reality TV show for Channel Ten. Out of 1700 young hopefuls, David was chosen as joint winner.

Despite his relaxed attitude to the competition, the result was no surprise. David’s striking good looks and laid back manner made him a favourite with viewers and won over the judges.

But what may have come as a major surprise to viewers was David’s response to victory. He accepted the honour with the words, “First and foremost I would like to thank Jesus Christ, who saved my life.” His boldness for Jesus has set a great example in a field almost devoid of any Christian influence.

David is the first to admit that God was in control during the competition. “It was just a turn of events that led to being in that position – it wasn’t my doing,” he says. “I had to give the credit to God for putting me in that situation.” He also accepts that his boldness did not come from himself, but that God was working through him. “Funnily enough I struggle to talk to people about God, but when I won, I couldn’t not say something after everything God’s done for me.

“Sometimes we think we have a plan for our life and then God’s plan turns out to be totally different,” he says. “It’s scary to think that he can pluck you out of your life whenever he wants to for his purposes.”

During the competition, David was given many opportunities to talk about his faith. “Lots of people were open to it and because I was with those guys for two weeks [at ‘model camp’] stuff like that’s going to come up.”

He found that the best way to share the gospel was to be open about his Christian beliefs, let his life speak a witness and commit everything else to God. “At the end of the day, it’s not up to us; if God decides he wants to put it on their hearts, that’s how it’ll happen. If I can show them it’s a part of my life, maybe they’ll become more interested in it.”

Throughout the process, David found that most people were friendly, even though they had nothing in common or barely knew him. He describes the experience of relating to his fellow contestants as ‘eye opening’, compared to some experiences he’d had in Christian circles. “You can rock up to a church you’ve never been to before and have no one talk to you after the service,” he says. “But you should be able to talk to each other because you have Jesus Christ in common.”

David and Kathleen are still members of Claremont Baptist Church. Both during and since the competition, they have received many letters of support and prayers from their brothers and sisters there. “This is a great opportunity for David to be salt in an unsalty environment and we wish him well,” said the church’s senior pastor, John Harris.

Indeed, keeping a godly attitude under constant scrutiny, was a struggle for David. The nature of reality TV – where one person gossiping about another is a main feature – added to his difficulties. “The toughest part was not complaining on camera about someone who’s being difficult,” he admits.

Another thing that David found difficult, and says he would appreciate prayer for, was the pressure to accept modelling shoots. “It’s hard to stand up for yourself if you’re asked to do anything dodgy for work, because you’re wasting their time and their money if you refuse,” he says. I don’t want to be put into any situation where I’m thinking ‘I don’t want to do this’.”

David hopes to use the opportunity opened up by God to raise the profile of Christians in the entertainment industry. “We seem to do well in sport and other areas, but not these areas.”

He recalls seeing Tom Cruise use an interview to spread the message of Scientology. David hopes to use his win to tell people about the message of Christ. “I’m not Tom Cruise, but some people might take an interest if I say that I’m a Christian, and check it out for themselves.”

“It’s time Christians got more involved in more influential ministries,” he says.