God's Great Outdoors

Guest (Male): We all hope that our lives make a difference to the world around us. Some of us strive to make that difference in the lives of others, and others just talk about doing it. For those that know Jesus Christ, our goal shouldn't be to live a good life, but to share Jesus with the world and then one day to hear the words of God, our Master, when He says, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

On today's program, we'll hear about the life of a friend that gave most of his life to point others to Christ through the outdoors and especially through archery. This friend was a guest of God's Great Outdoors several times in his life, and today we would like to honor his life and challenge you, our listeners, to live out a life service to God the way that he did.

He gave his all and they say in sports, he left it all on the field. I'm sure when he entered into the glory today, he heard those words from Matthew 25:21, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Let's join Dean now and his guest as we play tribute to the founder and long-time president servant of Christian Bowhunters of America, David Roose, certainly faithfully lived out his life on the trail to adventure in God's great outdoors.

Dean Hulce: Hello and welcome back to God's Great Outdoors on the trail to adventure. We are in Roscommon, Michigan, and we are in a friend's home. We've got a very, very special guest today, someone that's got years and years of history with God's Great Outdoors and even before that with Christian Bowhunters of America. We've got David Roose. David, you've played a big part in a lot of things in a lot of different ministries in the outdoors over the years and thanks for being with us.

David Roose: It's great to be here, Dean. It seems like a short time ago that a lot of things changed in my life, and here we are 40 years later. God is still at work.

Dean Hulce: Time goes by fast, doesn't it? We actually met, we were talking, we met and I remember it because it was a big part of my life at the time. You were very busy at the time at Michigan Bowhunters Rendezvous.

David Roose: That's correct. That would have been the first time and we were trying to think, that was 35 years or so ago. It was back in '89 to '93, my first stint with Michigan Bowhunters. That in itself was a God thing, a ministry to a secular world that continues today. I'm still chaplain of Michigan Bowhunters.

Dean Hulce: Amazing memories. We've had a chance to catch up here a little bit and share some stuff, but what I'd love to do today is first I'd like for you to share a little bit about how Christian Bowhunters came about and then we're going to transition into how that helped God's Great Outdoors. You have a lot of history that I don't have, that even some of the things that I've probably not heard. Mike Peters and I have talked a little bit and he's a great guy to have a conversation with, but why don't you tell us a little bit about how you got started in the outdoor ministries?

David Roose: Well, it really started in my life through the darkest period of my life when I actually had received a negative vote in a small church, very conservative people that put me and my young family on the street. Those were dark days. I was confused, frustrated, angry, and life changed overnight.

My heart's desire to do ministry because of the calling God placed on my life as a high school senior had not left. One day back in 1983, while working on a friend's garage, Fred Sprague, while I was working on his garage, the whole concept of a Christian ministry called Christian Bowhunters of America came to me in just a flash, and I made some notes.

The rest is history, really. So I guess my testimony is that 40 years ago during a very dark period of my life, this was like a light in the darkness to continue what God had laid on my heart. This past June, actually, I celebrated 40 years on the trail of CBA. It's been a good journey.

Dean Hulce: It's affected a lot of lives.

David Roose: Well, I'd like to think that there will be people in heaven because of my faithfulness simply just dropping a pebble in the waters of time, I like to say, and thank the Lord it's still rippling.

Dean Hulce: And I have no doubt that you've made a big difference. I think one of the things I hope that not for our own pride, not for our own benefit, but someday when we're in paradise that Christ says, "Here's the difference."

David Roose: I really look forward, Dean, to eternity with Christ and to hear Him say, "Well done." I think faithfulness is something that I've always wanted to do and to have our Lord simply confirm, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

It was a very humble beginning, but we kept moving forward as God opened the doors and moving through the ins and outs and ups and downs of trying to start a national ministry. I've always wanted to make an impact on the secular world outside the four walls of the church.

We've had some downtimes in leadership. I guess churches go through that from time to time, unfortunately, but God has been faithful to keep us in the center of the road spiritually and biblically. We've had the good fortune of being able to bring on Merle Fredericks, who is our current leader in CBA. He's doing a great job and things continue to move forward to the glory of God.

We're actually going to be celebrating this next July 12th through the 14th at Temple Hill Baptist Church, where all of this thing started 40 years ago. We're going to celebrate that next summer.

Dean Hulce: Lord willing, I'm going to be there.

David Roose: We would love to have you there to have a booth space just to expose the area people to the ministry of God's Great Outdoors.

Dean Hulce: Sure, we can record a couple programs over there, and I think that would be a lot of fun.

David Roose: It would be. You know and that leads me to think of the late Jerry Caillouet, your founder of God's Great Outdoors. Dean, I guess I really have to say in a way I'm a little jealous because he's in heaven and we're stuck down here in this crazy, mixed-up, sinful world.

But you know, it was Jerry who after a few years of CBA started a chapter in Ohio, and they have their Tar Hollow hunt. That was 31 years ago and I remember that well. Jerry was on our board of directors. He was a great leader. He had, I thought, a great future for us in CBA.

I've often wondered what would CBA have been like had Jerry stayed with us, but the interesting thing was good, bad, or otherwise, in those early days, we selected our board of directors through a vote of the chapters. We were in Southern Illinois. It would probably be the summer before God's Great Outdoors was formed.

We had just had an election, and Jerry lost the election I think by three votes. There was nothing negative about it; it was just that. I remember that event. It was a hot, humid day. Ticks were all over the place in the field where we were shooting. The air conditioning in Steve Capp's church, Steve was the chapter chairman and editor in CBA at the time, was refreshing to be in his church just to get out of the heat and the ticks.

It was a bittersweet time because I felt bad for Jerry. He had lost, but then I remember thinking shortly after that how God parted Paul and Barnabas in Acts chapter 15. They were doing the work of God, but they had this problem with John Mark, and God used that challenge in their case to separate them so that the gospel went different directions.

Paul and Silas went to Syria and Barnabas and Mark went to Cyprus and God's work continued. I've thought about that with Jerry. Had God not used this stupid election to literally, that was God's fleece, as I understand it to him as to which direction he would go in ministry and obviously God has blessed God's Great Outdoors. We've been interviewed by Jerry in the past. We've maintained a relationship and that's been a wonderful thing. I've found over the trail of these 40 years that God's got His people everywhere across the country and God's Great Outdoors have been part of that partnership that we've had.

Dean Hulce: It has. Way before my time that I'm learning about now, there's been so many lives that have come to Christ because of this ministry and God has blessed it and He's blessing it again. We hope that it'll continue to grow. We hope that it'll continue to open doors in hearts because if we're just doing this for entertainment, then we're wasting our time.

David Roose: We are indeed.

Dean Hulce: We're going to take a quick break. Adam is going to share with our listeners who our major donors are and supporters to help us make this happen. Then we'll come back and we'll visit a little bit more.

Adam: For the last 26 years, God's Great Outdoors Trail to Adventure has been broadcast out to win men and women, boys and girls to Jesus Christ. This is only possible by the generosity of our listeners. Thank you to all who have supported us in the past. God has blessed us because of you, and we pray that you feel His blessings as well.

Additional underwriting support has been provided by Mathews Archery, the leader in the archery industry. Mission Archery, with revolutionary crossbow technology. Three Rivers Archery, supplying everything you need to make your own traditional archery equipment. Hunter Safety Systems, saving lives is what we do, and Conviction Game Calls.

At Conviction, we don't separate work from our faith. We believe that our faith should be evident in every aspect of our lives and the outdoors is one of the best places to share that. God's Great Outdoors has produced many ministry tools, including tracts, DVDs, and books to help you reach others for Jesus Christ. You can access these items, other God's Great Outdoors items, and so much more at our website, godsgreatoutdoors.org. That's godsgreatoutdoors.org.

Dean Hulce: Welcome back to God's Great Outdoors on the trail to adventure, and we are with the founder of Christian Bowhunters, David Roose. As we said, you and I met years ago and you've got a lot of history you've already shared.

If you would, I'd like you to share because that Tar Hollow chapter does a bowhunt every year for 31 years, I think you said. I was supposed to speak there a couple years ago and God had other plans. I was supposed to leave early in the morning and the night before I was hanging up a deer for somebody in my garage in the Upper Peninsula and I went in the dark, went to hit the switch, and I tripped, fell on my side on top of a motor, broke two ribs. So I've never been there.

I was really looking forward to going. Lynn and I were going to go together. But it's been an interesting chapter of Christian Bowhunters but also in God's Great Outdoors. So maybe you could share a little bit about that chapter and then tell us, you might have a story or two about that hunt that goes on.

David Roose: Well, yes. The chapter that Jerry started down in Ohio 31 years ago has really been a great source of inspiration and blessing over the years. I remember when Jerry dropped that in leadership and turned it over to Mike and his wife, Ruth, who have just taken it on and been faithful for these 31 years now.

Anyway, I had the opportunity of hunting there I think three different times and some great fellowship with Mike and his chapter. I remember one of the experiences that I had, probably the biggest buck I've encountered. We'd gone out, I found a nice scrape and got some help putting up a tree stand and was enjoying the afternoon early, listening to the squirrels, they were monotonous, chattering and digging around and all that kind of stuff.

So I was tired. I started dozing and I remember coming to. There was something just a little different about the sound of the leaves. I looked up to see this huge whitetail coming straight at me and then I panicked and tried to get in position instead of letting him get past me a little bit. He picked up something. That's why they're big, because they get smart and keep going. But anyway, he swapped ends and went the other direction, and those are just memories. But we had some good hunts down there with the guys.

I think one of the neat things that I've always appreciated about Tar Hollow, and it started with Jerry, is that not only is it a great place to hunt for respectable whitetails, but the spiritual atmosphere is phenomenal. The last I knew, anyway, they have a spiritual encounter every night after the evening meal and God has brought people into the kingdom because of that. Lives have been changed. Over the years, there have been several well-known national speakers there. So that's a good thing that God has done through that ministry at Tar Hollow.

Dean Hulce: It is, and they do still do nightly talks, nightly presentations.

David Roose: You know, I'm thinking of Tar Hollow and the hunt there that Jerry started. Jerry was a leader. He was a good leader. He was one of these kind of guys that never had a bad day, it seemed, and was always upbeat and going, and he had good organizational skills. I guess that's why it was hard for me when he didn't get the vote that I talked about earlier.

But you know, that's how God uses. Not only did he start a chapter for CBA, he started an international ministry, and that's just a beautiful thing that how God uses that leadership.

Dean Hulce: And it's growing yet. We had some COVID that started the downswing and then Jerry's health, but God is bringing it back. We've got a great board, we've got great leaders that just want to see people led to the Lord. As I said earlier, if we just become entertainment, we'll quit because there's a lot of other things we can do. I believe that God is going to take this ministry and He's going to use it to bring a lot of souls, a lot more souls to Himself.

David Roose: Absolutely. Ministries like Christian Bowhunters and God's Great Outdoors have a place in the evangelical world that the church will never be able to fill. First and foremost, we are outside the four walls of the church which, unfortunately, is a great inhibitor to a lot of people who need Jesus.

And yet people will go on a hunt if they're invited. They will come to a shoot if they're invited. They will interact in a friendship if a person reaches out to them and be willing eventually to hear and understand the gospel message. So Christian Bowhunters and God's Great Outdoors are really like Paul and Silas, partners in ministry. However God uses us, wherever He takes us, the kingdom of God is enhanced and blessed. I just know there are hundreds of people that will be able to say in glory, "Thank you for sharing your faith. Thank you for letting your light shine in this way, because I came to know Christ because of it."

Dean Hulce: I love the song, "Thank You for Giving to the Lord." I think that's a great example of what these ministries are about. I always say you can take something that somebody has a passion for and if you can tell them the story of Jesus Christ and the gospel through their passion, you can win souls way better. I don't want to limit the Holy Spirit in any way, but when God gives us those opportunities for people that we share a passion with, it's a much closer to a no-brainer than it is when we're just shooting in the dark.

God has blessed my life in amazing ways. This past week, a show a week ago I shared with a guy that hunted with me for over 20 years and he finally came to Christ. I baptized him last summer. And our camp in the Upper Peninsula, which has been around for 35 years, that when I first started guiding that long ago, and we just shared the gospel through our life, but you know, we never went a meal without thanking the Lord for it. We got all kinds of opportunities over those years, but it was because we had the passion in something together. And that's what bowhunting is.

David Roose: Absolutely. And that reminds me of really the CBA concept and ministry came while I was involved in secular Michigan Bowhunters. Say what you want, people are watching our lives. So little by little, line upon line, precept upon precept as the Word talks about, we have an opportunity to share Christ. If you don't have any words, you can live Christ, and sometimes that's more powerful. So our ministries are powerful ministries in that they impact the lives of people where they live.

Dean Hulce: You build a lot of relationships, fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, mothers and daughters and sons and grandchildren through the outdoors that you can't do in a lot of other ways. When you bring a father, and these started out as men's ministries for the most part, and the outdoor, the hunting world when these things started was mostly a man, not all, but mostly. And when you bring a father to Christ, the family is going to follow.

And we're sitting in Doc Richie's house, Doc and Laurie's house and because it's a, this is interesting, we should have started the program out this way, but Doc told me, he said, "You're not going to believe who's going to be here in town today," and he told me and I said, "I've got to change my schedule because if you were able to meet..."

I knew enough history and like I said, I hadn't seen you in 35, 40 years. But God has worked that out amazingly and I'm so happy that He did. Your loyalty to what He's called you to and still living it out. You're still on the board of CBA and probably will be until the Lord takes you home.

David Roose: Well, that'd be nice. I'll probably wear out before I give out.

Dean Hulce: Well, that's good. I always say it's better to wear out than rust out.

David Roose: I'm only 81 come September, so I've got a lot of good years if the Lord keeps me going.

Dean Hulce: That's right. And the best thing that could happen is you pass on and meet Jerry in heaven, and we'll be there together. That time's coming quickly for all of us, and that time might be with Christ returning for us before long the way things are looking.

David Roose: I'm looking forward to it. I believe that we could be on the doorstep today.

Dean Hulce: Absolutely. Well, I really appreciate your time, Dave. It's been great to catch up with you. I don't know if you've noticed, but a few times I've had a few tears as we sit here. God is doing some amazing things yet and we're in a new chapter in God's Great Outdoors. You went through that when Merle came on. When that happens, there's some excitement and I'm excited for what God's got here. I really appreciate your time. I appreciate the dedication you've had to serving the Lord in the outdoors, and I hope that we follow through with that same.

David Roose: Well, I just want to continue to be faithful and I encourage everybody that might be listening that they too should be faithful until our Lord comes.

Dean Hulce: That's right. We don't know who's watching. And if we have listeners, I'm sure there's some listeners that don't know Christ. If you have questions and you don't know Christ, please get ahold of us. Send me a personal email, go to the website. I will get with you and I will answer any questions and I'll help any way I can. That's more important than anything else we're doing. Hunting is secondary; it just gives us an opportunity. So thank you to the listeners for being here today again with us. We hope that next week you'll join us again on God's Great Outdoors as we head down the trail to adventure.

Guest (Male): It's with broken hearts that we announce the passing of David Roose, and at the same time, we celebrate his life, a life well lived. We mourn with Dave's family and we rejoice in his promotion to his eternal life with Jesus Christ. He has been a bright light for Jesus for over 40 years, and we hope that when he got to the pearly gates, that he was welcomed in by his Master saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Today, we take Dave's example, and we challenge our listeners to live out a life of service like Dave did for the Lord. We don't live that way for the rewards, but we are promised rewards when we one day pass from this life to our eternal homes.

The extended podcast version of this program can be found by looking for Dean Hulce or Trail to Adventure wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. This program is provided by and can be contacted at God's Great Outdoors, P.O. Box 414, Powers, Michigan 49874 or on the website, godsgreatoutdoors.org. Please join us each week as we head down the trail to adventure in God's great outdoors.