God's Great Outdoors

The inventor of Scentlock, scent eliminating products and clothing, Greg Sesselmann is the guest on this week’s program visiting with Gerry at the Archery Trade Association Show in Indianapolis, Indiana. Greg shares about growing up in a family that loved spending time in the out of doors. They would camp at most of the places they went to in their home state of Michigan and camping actually made up 80% of what the family did together on their outings. Whether it was a fishing or hunting adventure, the cooking of what was harvested was a major part of the time and interaction around the campfire. Grey had all of his guns stolen out of a car when he was a young man and so only having his recurve bow, the family started to focus on deer hunting with archery equipment way back in the early startup of this style of recreation. It was the need to get closer to the deer that Greg, being an engineer working with filtration systems, thought how carbon could eliminate human odor too. This is what started his experimentation in the business of Scentlock. He gives God the credit in his life and reflects on hard times and the valleys he has gone through, that allowed him increased joy when on the mountain tops. 

This week’s interview is with Monte Browning, who happened to be one of the speakers at a Trail To Adventure! conference in north Augusta, South Carolina. Monte shares of growing up without a father and experiencing at the church he attended men and families that did not include him in any of the things that they did as family. This even included the desire to be able to hunt and fish, which he had to try to learn to do on his own. Eventually the lack of interest in who he was caused him to leave the church. Growing to be a man he began to have opportunity to bow hunt all across the world. He has placed his adventures and photographs into a coffee table-style book titled “Bow Hunting” subtitled “A Passion for Life”.  In deciding to finally do the book, he prayed about it, asking God if he should even write it. Having started to attend church again as an adult he decided that he would make this a project that would give God the glory.

While turkey hunting in the Chamberlain, South Dakota area, Gerry hooks up with a past guest, Travis Vaad. Travis is a music song writer and praise and worship leader at this church. Besides the country music overtone to his songs, he also uses his music to praise the Creator God. He reflects on growing up on the banks of the Missouri River and all the adventures he had in the outdoors with his father and his entire family. He also shares about relationships he has had with the Native American people in his area and how several tragedies took place in these interactions eventually brought him to receive Jesus Christ. Travis shares about his second CD, titled “Fly," and a number of songs he wrote because of his father and how God uses the circumstances of our life to knock off the rough edges and make us the kind of men and women he wants us to be as we travel through life heading for eternity with Him.

On this week’s Trail to Adventure, Gerry is in Northwest Ohio for a multi-species fishing tournament that can even be won by a kid competing against adults, just by catching a green sunfish. He visits with bass fishing pro and outdoor tv show host, Jimmy Houston. Jimmy shares with Gerry about the old days of pro bass fishing as he was one of the first when this outdoor recreation turned to competitive fishing. The two talk about the many changes that have happened in the pro fishing world and how a number of large businesses have gotten behind the sport to make it an event where fishermen can win millions of dollars. Jimmy also tells of the changes that we have in our world as a whole and reflects on the fact that Jesus’ return could be imminent. Yet, regardless, the people listening to the program or who come to hear him speak, have no guarantee they even have a tomorrow. “Today is the day of salvation.”

The author of the tract "Up in Smoke," Bob Hodgdon, tells the story of how his dad's business, Hodgdon Powder, had its beginnings after World War II. Bob shares a funny story "now," of how as a 10 year old boy he almost blew up their house; his parents didn't find out about this until a family reunion 35 years later. Bob relates what a reader would see in the tract of how an explosion at one of their factories and four funerals for Christians who were killed at that tragedy, brought him to receive Jesus Christ. It was during these funeral services and seeing how the men being buried, their family and friends, though sorrowful, rejoiced and celebrated their homecomings in Heaven.Bob didn't know what they had or what was different about them, but he just knew he had to have it too.

This program is an interview with Dan Ryks, who is a fishing guide on the St. Croix River and lives in South St. Paul, Minnesota. He tells the story of how growing up an hour west of Minneapolis, Minnesota in Wilmer, he and other boys would duck hunt their way to school, leave their shotguns in the principal's office, go hunting during recess and then shoot ducks on the way home from school. Then he shares the story of how growing up he became an angry young man and got tied in with the wrong crowd. Losing his best friend to a drunk driving accident and then getting into a fight with his girlfriend, where she was accidentally killed, he winds up in jail. But persistent prayers by his mom and grandmother, and watching Billy Graham transformed this violent and angry inmate into a model citizen because of Jesus Christ.

This program begins with a description of what the retreats are like at Rushing Wind in Ontario, Canada an hour drive above International Falls, MN. At the flight service, you park your car and take a short float plane ride to Rushing Wind and through this ministry many lives have been changed for eternity. The guest this week is Vince Garcia who is a Navajo Indian and got the Hispanic last name when his grandfather was adopted by a family from Mexico. Vince shares the difficulties of growing up in an alcoholic environment and a physically abusive father who eventually threw him out of the home. His story goes on to share how he came to Christ and also a physical difficulty that developed after he had a stroke. Vince tells of the miracle over recovery in his life and how he uses what has happened to him to share the love of Christ Jesus with others, as he speaks across the country and ministers to his native people as well. 

This week’s program is a visit with Brian Blair who is the station manager at KIAM in Nenana, Alaska. Brian tells how he was born blind and describes events that took place as he was growing up. One of those things was listening to Christian radio because the dramatizations were easier to understand with the detailed descriptions that went into the production versus just listening to the TV. However, when his friends came over he was turning off the radio because he didn’t want them to know he was listening to Christian broadcasts. After coming to Christ, the radio playing a major part, he wound up deciding to go to Cedarville University so that he could know more of God’s Word. Eventually, getting a job at WCDR the station at the university which led to discovering the need for radio broadcasters around the world, which led to he and the family moving to Nenana where they live today and do ministry.

This week’s interview is with two of the best known game calling outdoorsmen in the industry. Harold Knight and David Hale share how they had their beginnings back when turkey hunting was just starting to take-off, in fact, they had to travel some distance in their home state of Kentucky just to be in an area where there were birds. Harold’s invention of a tube turkey call used by an outdoor writer got the whole thing started and the business of Knight & Hale Game Calls took off from there. Harold relates the story of how he shot a goose that had a Jack Miner band on it and printed on it was the verse from the book of Mark 11:22, “Have faith in God.” As a twelve year old boy Harold and his grandfather went to the Bible, found the verse and this was the start of his relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Co-founder of the ministry titled Polestar Outdoors, Ron Vining is this week’s guest. Ron and Gerry get together on a visit to the ministry’s headquarters in Wyoming where Ron has set-up a number of speaking engagements in churches for Gerry to share. This is a ministry that takes young people out fishing, hunting, camping, and boating, whose parents don’t know how to do these activities. Additionally, they use the time afield or stream to mentor the youngsters in God’s Word. Ron shares a number of testimonies of how there has been life-changing decisions, and how these young people are benefiting with the relationships from the adult men and women who mentor them.