Hunting, Daddy and the Letter

A few years ago I hosted a father / daughter hunt on a ranch in south Texas. The place was made for this type of events with good sleeping quarters, lots of wild animals and my all time favorite cook shack.

The one girl who was there without her father was Kayla. Her daddy was killed in an auto accident when she was very young. I have mentored her brother for years. He dearly loves hunting and fishing.

Kayla never liked the idea of all the hunting we did or anything about it. Then a couple months before the hunt she mentioned she would like to go. I told her if she really wanted to, I would take her.

The first afternoon, Friday, I took her and several other girls to shoot the small caliber scoped rifle. Not only was this her first hunting trip, but this was also her first time to ever shoot a gun. She hit dead on four of six shots with the other two slightly left, but deadly. Wow.

Kayla hunted with me each day; my daughter guided a father daughter team that had never hunted before. Saturday morning we were all fogged in and could not shoot safely at what we saw. That afternoon Kayla and I returned to the blind and watched a large group of javelina, some nice bucks, birds and all types of other wildlife. I love that about south Texas.

The loss of her father had never really come up much in conversations over the years, but that afternoon in the deer blind as we sat in the warm sun, she talked about her feelings, how she missed him and how she loved her mom. I could see how God had given her strength in some areas. I could see she accepted His arms around her to help her walk through where she is in her life today with the cards that have been dealt her.

Then it happened, the perfect opportunity. A lone doe came out and stood broadside. Kayla took her time, set up and dropped the deer in its tracks. It seemed at that moment I saw something in her eyes, a twinkle or glimmer, a light. I am holding back my emotions as I write this. It was so clear, so pure, so real.

On Saturday night at hunt camp I had the girls write a letter to their dad. Taylor, my daughter, and I talked about the letter with Kayla. She was OK with it. She took her pen and paper and went outside to write. Her plan was to put it on his grave. I was moved by her strength.

Psalm 59:16, But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

I collected the letters to be given to the dads at the end of the weekend.

Sunday came and Kayla shot a second deer that morning. It took a few minutes to track her deer, and she loved the adventure -- the girls all did really well and harvested deer. My daughter, Taylor, had all the girls joking that retail stores were going to have to start selling bullets one at a time because they didn’t need to buy more than one or two to get their tags filled. I loved that.

As we all began to go our way Sunday afternoon I gave the fathers the letters. My daughter had one in the stack for me. There was also one for me from Kayla. The instructions were to read them later that evening as well as the notes the fathers wrote to the girls.

In the letter I got from Kayla she tells me, “Thanks for teaching me how to shoot a gun. I feel like I can accomplish anything at this moment. Thanks for the great talks and for taking me to a father and daughter event. I have never been to one.” My heart skipped a beat. I am crying again.

The time I got to spend with the girls on this event reminded me what true beauty is. What I see in them is beauty from the inside out. They are strong and courageous, determined and mindful. They are soft and gentle and funny and caring. They are searching for a loving Father and have begun to see Him in their walk with the Lord. They inspire me and make me laugh; they frustrate me and own my heart all at the same time.

Lord, thank you for the opportunity to spend time with the girls hunting. Thank you for their joyous and wonderful hearts. Thanks for the clean shots and deer that were harvested. Thanks for the girls’ willingness to clean them and the cookies the girls made Saturday night.

Lord, I also pray for the young men you have picked out already for these girls. I pray they know early these girls can shoot, they can handle a gut knife, a four wheeler, a credit card, a Chi hair straightener and that they aren’t messing around.

KOZ Summer Hunt Camps and Encounters 2012

I am never quite sure how to describe my encounters with the Holy Spirit. Well, that's not exactly true - I can tell you about them one at a time, individual events, but when it is a prolonged period, say two weeks, it gets a bit harder. 

Just a week or two before the Kids Outdoor Zone summer hunting camps were to begin I was wallowing in fear and concern that there would not be enough kids at each camp, that we might not have enough money to host them, that the new ranch might not work well for us. I also found myself questioning my calling, was I really suppose to be doing camps, taking all that time away from whatever else I might should be doing. Oh how Satan hates God's warriors doing His business.

In the last day or two before we were to leave the tides turned and my spirit began to rise. The first camp was going to be a group of girls, some I knew, other I had never met. As I learned the family dynamics and backgrounds of the girls we began to pray into the time we were going to spend with them. 

Some girls so desperately need to know a loving father in their lives. They long for the love and embrace, the slow and deliberate conversations, the attention of a male role model. The one thing we have to be able to share with them in KOZ is that there is a heavenly Father who is always there for them, with them, and He will never leave them, never forsake them, never hurt them, never. Others may be searching for an identity, a truth as to who they are or can be. We prayed Lord come and Sheppard their hearts.

We also pray Lord, what is it, which book of the bible do you want us to teach from, what movies will speak to their hearts. What do you want us to do for Your glory? The book of Job was what we were given for the camps and we spent time there placing the story in their lives.

The girls came together as a group fast and it was clear right up front that they were all in for anything we could put in front of them. The ranch provided a long list of firsts for most of the girls. The first time to shoot a gun or a pistol. The first time to drive a four wheeler, use a chain saw, see all the exotic animals, hunt, take an animal while hunting, skin it, eat it and the list goes on and on.

Like all the camps we were up early with a 5:30 wake-up knock on their bunkroom door and 6am meeting in the dining hall. Each day included several girls going with myself (TJ) on the stealth electric four wheeler and the others on the larger gas powered mule vehicle. Cruising fields and pastures, ranch roads and feeding areas each day over the more than 600 acre ranch kept everyone occupied in the mornings. The mid days included outdoor skills training or hunters safety training (each girl was trained and passed the Texas Hunters Safety course and will receive their cards in the mail). They also spent hours with a chainsaw cutting trees that had died from the drought the year before.

Like usual the girls hit it out of the park in the archery and shooting skills. The KOZ girls have proven to be a thorn in the side of the KOZ boys in shooting sports because they just seem to win all the competitions they have, funny. Patience, easy to teach and joyful are the markers common among the girls.

When It was all said and done the girls did a fantastic job. A huge ram, a beautiful black buck doe and a monster hog were hanging in the freezer. The trapping systems and lessons provided a bobcat and an armadillo as well - it was perfect.

Two girls professed their love for Jesus and were baptized. There were so many moments of sheer beauty when the girls shared their deepest emotions. Breaking through the lies they had believed, finding  the pure joy of their Father's love, becoming empowered to be the beautiful and strong warrior they are was simply incredible.  They Pinks steal our hearts every time.

Then with a day in-between to wash the towels and sheets the boys rolled in. Don Discoe, KOZ leader at Fellowship Church SW in Austin, brought two youth leaders and helped prepare the ranch for the boys. During our time together we talked about a bible study he and I are doing in the book of James. The book of James took over my thoughts and prayers as the boys began to arrive. That was what we would study, five chapters and each one a man's guide to living in Him. Yes the plan was to study Job, but I have learned that when the Holy Spirit tells you something, best to just do it.

Each of the boys came with expectations and dreams of what the hunt camp would be. Some carried a lot of father wounds, some searching for who they are and what they stand for.

I have done camps with kids for years and I have to say I have never seen a group of boys come together like this one did. They worked together, studied together, helped each other in an amazingly orchestrated tempo every day. They got themselves up at 5:30 ready to go every day. They worked hard in the heat of the day cutting trees, shooting, working on fence lines. They  were simply incredible.

Each boy harvested a nice ram at the camp and one took a big bore hog, well deserved. Two baptisms were a highlight as the boys proclaimed new lives in Christ. At this camp the Holy Spirit moved in ways I have prayed to see for years. He moved through the boys. By the campfire one night I saw a young leader (father is not active in his life) mentoring and teaching a young fatherless boy. I wept in the shadows as I listed in amazement. They talked about growing up and the pressure of being a teenager.  The young fatherless boy told the young leader, "I have never been talked to like that, thank you." After the young fatherless boy had gone I told the young leader how proud I was of him, that he had done God's work right then. He turned to me and said, "you taught me that Mr. Greaney." No better gift for me, I could barely breath.  Thanks God. So often I wonder if they are really getting it, their role as a leader.

Each camp this year ended with the parents picking the kids up from the ranch and the kids taking them for a tour. They drove the four wheel mule and electric cart all over showing off their driving skills and knowledge of the animals. They were beaming. 

All I can say is that every time we put the Lord first, when we truly pray for Him to come and cover these outings, He does in mighty and wonderful ways. 

These are "big picture" stories but each week, each month there are kids lives being poured into by KOZ leaders at individual KOZ groups all around the country. It is the support of you who contribute in prayer, monetarily or just by kind words of encouragement that give KOZ the ability to change the lives of kids and the leaders who meet the Holy Spirit in ways they have never experienced. Know that every desire of our hearts are to bring KOZ under the fully and mighty authority of our loving Father and we are humbled to be His servants.

Accepting Christ Helps Catch Fish

You just never know when God is going to come. My friend Jeff is convinced He speaks to him through billboards and he has more than once told us stories to back it up. Sometimes you will meet someone and a conversation with this perfect stranger will turn into an answer to a prayer or confirm something you felt God was telling you. Before fish camp this year I was praying for His direction, what scripture to teach, how to teach it and what would it look like. OH He answered and He blew me away, again.

This year the eight boys who came to fish camp were mostly new to a KOZ summer camp. We did have Samuel who came last year and Chance who had been for a couple years. But Jake, Drew, Gunner, Garrison, Dylan and Derrick were pretty much first timers. I love that. 

God brings exactly he right boys to KOZ at just the right moment. Some of the boys come from intact families, some from hard places without male role models. Lots of time they will be mad that their father is a non-participant and they can be mad at men in general for breaking promises and abandoning them even to just their jobs. They don't always know that that is the demon that binds them to anger, frustration, confusion and distrust, but it is. 

When God gave me the scripture Luke 15:11-32 The Parable of the Lost Son,  I was a bit taken back. I know that lots of boys who have never experienced a loving father or even a stand-up man in their lives don't get the concept of a loving Father in stories, much less heaven. My first reaction to God was, "ugggg."

So "Fathered by God" was what He wanted me to teach them and we let the Holy Spirit lead us through scripture and the concept of God being our father. The boys we open to talking and each morning, afternoon and evening we led the conversations from stink bait and lost fish to God and His love for us no matter what.

The fishing was slow the first day or two. We studied the Freshwater Fishing Manual of North America and had a teacher come in for a class on cat fishing. Once the boys got in the groove they started to figure out how to catch the fish. They caught perch and drum, catfish and carp. They took some of the fish and learned how to fillet them and we ate them that night. Luckily we had planned our meals around the chance our fish catches were on the slower side.

I am a guy who believes in being intentional in my work for God. I can be fluffy and colorful and tell a good story but when it comes down to it, where is God in your life, do you know Christ in your heart and what would life look like if He was there for you, is where I like to go. Some folks will argue that people need to learn, understand and study for a period of time to be ready to accept Christ into their hearts. I am from the belief that if the thief on the cross next to Jesus could accept Christ, (Luke 23:43) into his heart without a three week study then it must be a heart issue. If it is a heart issue then when a kid at one of our summer camps is broken or feels led through his heart to ask Christ to father him, then I say yes.

One morning, about the third day, the boys were catching fish. Garrison had not had any luck the first day or two but on this morning he caught two in a row and they were nice catfish. That day I walked from boy to boy checking on them and talking fishing. Garrison was sitting on the back corner of the dock. He was the most patient of all the boys I think. He sat still and rarely took his hook out of the water, where most fish are caught by the way. I sat next to him, a cool breeze still blowing from across the lake as the morning sun began to crest the lake cliffs.

"You did good today," I told him. We sat quietly looking at the ripples and reflections. Garrison is a young man of few words. "This morning I prayed for Jesus to come into my heart and that is why I think I caught them," were his words back to me. I was stunned. I fumbled around in my mind. "You said you prayed for Jesus to come into your heart this morning," I repeated. "Yes," he said. My heart soared. God, You did that to show me. You did that to let me know You were with us. You showed Yourself to him. I could barely hold back the tears of joy. 

Later that night we sat in a group. A long day of fishing and swimming behind us. We talked more about how God will father us if we ask Him to and told the others about Garrison's decision. We stopped and I asked the other boys if they wanted to pray Romans 10:9 and ask Christ into their hearts and if so we would just begin to pray and they could read it if they felt their hearts led to.  Four of the boys joyfully read the words: Romans 10:9, ⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  My heart raced. After we prayed I asked them if they wanted to be baptized tomorrow at sunrise in the lake, they all agreed it would be cool. God, you are cool.

The sunrise didn't seem so early the next day. The boys acknowledged their new life in Christ and desire to be fathered by God as the pink sky turned bright and warm on the horizon. 

Not every camp or outing is as powerful as this one. I pray they are and have seen Him come for the boys in many ways, healing, lives saved, bonding, release from agreements that were untrue and more. I love how He is joyful and playful. I love how He takes these times and uses them to do mighty things. 

  

Lord, thank you. Thanks for loving on these boys, on me, on the men and women who faithfully pour into these times for You. See ya soon? Maybe hunt camp? I pray we do.