Ohio District Outpost

Well the Ohio District has put another great weekend in the books! Their Fall District Outpost Camp began Friday night with our host unit, Fremont, treating everyone with hot dogs, chili and chicken noodle soup as they arrived in camp. Thank you very much for the warm welcome guys! It was delicious!

After our leader's huddle it was nice to sit around the various camp fires and catch up with old friends while I made new ones. There's something about sitting around a camp fire with men and boys that just puts me in a good mood and makes me think spiritual thoughts.
Though it got really cold Friday night (I didn't have a thermometer but there was frost on the tent in the morning) I pulled on my stocking cap, snuggled down in my heavy sleeping bag and slept pretty good. The only hiccup in my otherwise peaceful sleep was at five o'clock in the morning when I had to go to the bathroom! It was one of those times where I looked at my watch and determined there was no way I was going to comfortably sleep until it was time to get up. So I moved as quietly as possible to the tent door and then woke my tent up with an arctic blast of cold air. When that cold air hit me my desire to go to the bathroom turned into an emergency! Don't worry, I made it... When I got back to my warm sleeping bag and drifted back to sleep I was reminded of why I love camping in October - cold nights = warm sleeping bags.

On Saturday Fremont had set up a nice, leisurely schedule with activities to keep the boys entertained. Among those activities were archery, fishing, fly-tying, Geo-caching and skills games. I sat in on a few of the classes and watched in wonder about how attentive the boys were to these men. I never get tired of seeing how hungry the boys are to hear from the men! They are begging for information and influence. I was reminded about the part in our philosophy of ministry called "demonstration." It means that we must not only teach our boys directly but we must understand that they learn as much by watching us as listening to our words.

That observation and thought came into play later that night at Council Fire as I listened to Chad Black's message to the boys about being fishers of men. As I listened to him speak and read the Bible I felt the Holy Spirit calling me to challenge the older boys. When the Council Fire was over I gathered the junior high and high school aged boys around the large camp fire, away from the younger boys, and we talked about their salvation, the Truth and the influences on them. Then I talked about how much of an influence they already have; about how much the younger boys are watching their every move and emulating the things they're doing. I challenged them to only display the godly character that they want to see in the younger boys around them. I love praying with our young men! The rest of the evening was spent talking with boys and men about GBB, their lives and sharing what has happened in my life.

I decided to play my evening differently Saturday night than Friday night. I remembered that 5 AM ice trip to the bathroom and made an effort to not drink much after dinner. It worked out and I slept from the time I hit the pillow until three minutes before my alarm was set to wake us up. Nice!
Sunday morning Chad Black challenged the boys to fulfill Christ's commandments to go into the world as he told them about his family's call to the Native Americans of Minnesota. He certainly displayed a heart for the Lord and we all prayed for Chad and his family as they prepare to head to a new mission field for them.

In all, we had 85 boys and 47 men attend the Ohio District GBB Fall Outpost Camp. I love that there are so many men committed to the lives of boys. I pray that even more men will come to realize the responsibility they have to "entrust to reliable men so they will be qualified to teach others also." If we don't continue to teach God's Word and model Christ and His godly character our families, GBB units, churches and our communities will continue to slowly become less and less Christlike. It breaks my heart to see how "entertain first" we've become as Christians.
Thank you GBB men for answering the call and opening your lives so that the GBB boys will someday be qualified to lead others as GODLY MEN!