John G. Raymond was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and grew up on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain enjoying the life of the Sportsman's Paradise by hunting, fishing, and playing high school sports. Upon graduating from Bible College in Illinois, he completed his pastoral internship in Peoria. After marrying his teenage sweetheart, Liz, John pursued a successful career in financial planning taking him from Illinois to Louisiana and finally to California where he lived for ten years. Trading his briefcase for his Bible, John entered the full time pastoral ministry in 1997 moving home to pastor his childhood church in Springfield, Louisiana.Mark Burnett selected John to cast on season five of the CBS Reality TV show Survivor:Thailand as the first pastor ever to be on the island. John returned home to launch New Horizon Church in Slidell, and went on to build the most powerful Christian radio station in southeast Louisiana - The Bridge 88.7 FM and also established a Christian school out of New Horizon Church called Lakeside Christian Academy.John is very active as a community leader involved in many service organizations such as: The Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, Coroner's Chaplain Corps, Habitat for Humanity, Community Action Agency, and the Vice-Chairman of the Republican Parish Executive Committee.