God's Great Outdoors

On this Trail To Adventure! interview, a visit to Dr. John Whitmore’s office at Cedarville University in Ohio, Gerry got to meet Dr. Steve Austin. c As an undergrad geology student at Washington State, Dr. Austin was able to explore probably the most significant geological event in the 20th century, the eruption of Mt. Saint Helen’s. This was a turning point for him as he was able to watch and discover firsthand how this catastrophe affected the landscape, including a creation of a one-fortieth scale of the Grand Canyon, in only one day. During this time Dr. Austin switched from a Christian “old earth” geologist, to a “young earth” geologist, believing the biblical account of 6000 years of earth’s age. All from seeing layer upon layer of earth that was laid down by volcanic eruptions in minutes, not hundreds of thousands of years as he had been taught.

The program this week is a visit with outdoor writer Tracy Breen at the Archery Trade Association Show in Indianapolis, Indiana. Tracy, a freelance outdoor writer, shares with Gerry and the listeners how he got started writing outdoor articles, plus how he juggled this career with his family’s needs,  playing “Mr. Mom”, watching the kids at home while he writes  articles. Tracy also talks about how he got started in the outdoors, his love of turkey hunting and how he now has trained dogs to hunt turkeys, which is legal in some states. He relates the story of how he accidentally shot himself on one of his turkey hunting adventures, which almost cost him his life. In all this, he gives the Lord the credit for who he is and how Jesus has given him the writing skills that are helping him fulfill his dream of being an outdoor writer.

This week’s Trail to Adventure! is in Webb, Iowa which is just a little northeast of Sioux Rapids as Gerry visits with Karley Kroontje, one of the youth who came to hunt turkey this spring with her dad William. Gerry was there as speaker for the weekend’s event sponsored by the Special Youth Challenge of Northwest Iowa. This is a ministry for disabled or terminally ill girls and boys to get them afield for turkey in the spring and deer in the fall. Though Karley wasn’t able to bag a turkey on this hunt she was successful in the fall of 2016 shooting a buck, on her first ever hunt. The ministry supplies all needed for hunters and their families with the goal of sharing the Creator God, Jesus Christ with all at the event. Contact Phil Driver of Special Youth Challenge of Northwest Iowa at (712) 390-4480 to bring a youth!

The interview on this Trail To Adventure! is with Tim and Isaac Jones at the Rushing Wind Retreat Center, in Ontario, Canada. This fly-in adventure fishing camp is a place where men can invite friends and relatives to join them for the five days. Also, there are couples retreats that have helped restore marriages and seen changed lives for eternity. This up to date location is a once in a life time adventure you can take someone on where they’ll have the Creator God speak to them by way of the outdoors, speakers and the fellowship of others! Tim Jones is on the Board of Directors of the ministry of God’s Great Outdoors. Tim, Gerry and Isaac reflect on the many ways God can speak through personal relationships and His Creation, so why not use this for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This Trail To Adventure! interview was interrupted several times by “Rufus” a calf bison (buffalo) that was hanging around this week’s guest, Larry Chamberlain. The baby bull was rejected by its mother, so being bottle fed it bonded to Larry the owner of Medicine Bow Buffalo Ranch and the critter felt he had to join us. Larry told of this areas part in our nation’s history, as it is located in Douglas, Wyoming along the Oregon Trail. He spoke of a time the ranch had to expand its operation to include buffalo. Health benefits to humans consuming this animal’s meat and the considerations of dealing with these massive creatures are explored as well. Reflecting on Larry’s contact with Gerry was out of a desire to have tracts, bookmarks and Gospels of John to present to hunters needing a relationship with the Creator!

Gerry visits with one of the legends in the outdoor world, Harold Knight of Knight & Hale Game calls on this Trail To Adventure! Listeners will discover that David Hale who was a farmer, and Harold Knight a barber, got together to design, develop and market turkey calls. Giving one of these calls to an outdoor writer way back when there weren’t many turkeys to start with, created quite a stir. His article in an outdoor magazine drove in hundreds of phone calls to get one of their “turkey tubes” and it just went on from there. Both these men give all the glory to God for what has happened in their lives and they continue to praise Him as the years roll by. Harold also relates as a youngster he had a desire to shoot a goose. When that did happened, he found it had a Jack Miner band with a scripture verse on it!

This week’s Trail To Adventure! is at a Game Dinner at Skidway Lake Baptist Church in Prescott, Michigan. Gerry is joined by this outdoor outreach ministry team’s leader, Gary Moore who heads up the evangelistic event. After sharing about how he became involved in outdoor activities with his dad, Gary reflects on discovering the effectiveness of doing some form of sportsmen’s meal to bring in unsaved people to get them under the hearing of the Word. Skidway Baptist Church’s event has some very special dishes they present to the local community, all with the hopes of having a platform from which to share the Gospel. Gerry saw and tasted some things at this Michigan Game Dinner he’d not experienced before, but best of all, there were a number of life changing decisions made!

The Trail To Adventure! is in North Augusta, Georgia and Gerry is joined by Dr. Bill Brown who teaches at the online program at Liberty University. Bill was formerly at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary where he taught Evangelism and Church Planting. During Bill’s years of being a pastor in Alaska, and the things that he learned on how to reach men, he relates these strategies to Gerry and the listeners. Growing up in an outdoor family, and experiencing the numerous outdoor interests that men from his congregation desired to do, allowed him to formulate a plan and program to reach the unchurched in the community where one lives. Dr. Bill Brown shares how on some Sundays, he had more men in his church as a pastor in Alaska then women, which is unheard of in most churches because he geared up for men!

The interview on this Trail To Adventure! is with the owners and operators of Rushing Wind Retreat Center. Arnie & Dee Wolf share with Gerry on how God worked it out in their lives to own this facility. It’s a once in a life time adventure you can take someone on where they’ll have the Creator God speak to them by way of the outdoors, speakers and the fellowship of others! This couple also talks about all the aspects of the facility, as they work to set the stage for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. This fly-in adventure fishing camp is a place where men can invite friends and relatives to join them for the five days. Also, there are couples retreats that have helped restore marriages and seen changed lives for eternity.

On this Trail To Adventure we’ll meet someone who makes his living related to God’s great outdoors. Dave Battle lives in Anchorage, Alaska and was raised to believe in Jesus, the Bible, and creation, as he was immersed in experiencing it with his father. However, in his college years everything he was being taught as he studied to become a wildlife biologist was telling him, not only was evolution a fact but there wasn’t even a God necessary for life to exist. Yet, one day in class, an eye-opening look at how each skull he was required to examine and study from the different animal species revealed that they had to have been both intricately and intelligently designed for that animal to exist at all as the precise location of these many openings was proof positive.