The forecast was Rain for 2 days heading into
Rendezvous after a month of record rain fall and still 2 more days of rain!
Phew! Yup. I knew it was going to be muddy...but it exceeded my
expectations! GRIN!
As always it's a chore to get it all loaded up
and down there to the Big camp. After we registered we headed down towards
the FCF Village. Hang on boys were going to do some 4 wheeling.. on 2
wheels.. As you get up enough speed to make it through the first string of
mud holes into the pasture and going sideways in a church van is always
fun. Boys hooping and hollering as you try and find the best traction you
can. Phew we made those two yet 200 feet from our campsite were not going
anywhere, stuck. Push boys push... pretty soon here comes Caretaker with is
tractor to give us firewood and a tow out of the mud. FCF is men being a
blessing.
Those boys that make you wonder if they will
ever get out of neutral and get to moving. Yup their pulling their weight
and the Marquee is up and the the trailer is unloaded lickity split. Tarp
is laid down on the wet floor. Cots are setup and we all settle in, 7 in
the marquee with just a narrow path through to the cots...that narrow path
was a tarp with 2" of mud under it. It was fun. We had folk coming in to
see the squallier we was living in....next time 2 bales of hay come with
us.. GRIN!
I have been looking forward to the Big Riverman
Territorial Rendezvous. 5 days off work and a time to rest, fellowship, sit
around the camp fire and relax and poke around and listen to tales and
discover new things about the early years of our country as frontiersman
went.
Each outpost seems a bit different. Our group
were mainly interested in just camping and hanging out and eating, horsing
around and just hanging out. Competitions didn't seem to inspire our
group. Yet I could see other groups going out and heading out for the
competitions. In other camps sometimes just the men came with no young
bucks and still they enjoyed the events and the simple yet harsh life of the
frontiersman.
With the rain and the mud and the really cool
nights most of the services were held in the new gym. Services were held
each morning and night and the competitions changed as the weather
permitted. Some went through their Wilderness vigil. A all night long all
by oneself time with them and God, Keeping the fire going to stay warm and
praying.
Some groups did their own cooking and I will say
they ate high on the hog while other groups paid for meals and at 7 am, 12pm
and 5 pm would hike up to the pavilion for hot grub and eats and treats.
Food was all good and the first night out was wild game night. It's fun and
interesting to try different foods. When your camping it all tastes great!
This year has been full of wet FCF events. From
Spring outing 5" of rain, Fall Trace 5" of rain and then this event..we were
all off the ground and stayed dry. We all learn lessons often the hard
way. At spring outing 5 of our boys didn't have cots and found sleeping on
the ground in FCF tents meant you had a soaking wet sleeping bag and
experienced the worst night of sleep in their life... yet they learned the
value of a cot and learned a life lesson.
For our group the best time we had was sharing
our hearts around the campfire one night about what we liked and didn't like
and how to deal with it as we grow up. Often our young bucks don't have the
wisdom that we glean through the years. They see things in a very narrow
perspective. This camp with God's help we were able to break through some
of that and build bridges towards Christ. When a little light shines
through it's Glory shouting time. I praise God for the FCF and the quite
times it provides to hear God's heart.
There is so much. I could write for many pages
on this one campout. Yet my challenge to you is to bring boys to these
events. It's not easy. It's a lot of work. Yet it's what we are called to
do in the FCF. To give and to serve. I thank each of you for sharing in
those gifts.
Mark Jones
p.s. I didn't take a single picture this time.
I did put out a plea to send me your pictures and we will get them posted
ASAP!
Pictures from Bob Wenneker (Thanks Bob)
