73 in attendance 70 camped over night in the cave of those were 2 ladies.
Wow what a turn out. Camping over night in a dirty ole cave? Yes and loved
it.
Early crew of 10 meet at Springfield at 11:00 am. Arrived to the
trail to the cave at 12:30 p.m.. Absolutely beautiful weather for January.
It was like a normal January day and we quickly set to work cutting logs to
clear the trail. The river was up and the trail was brushy.
With 2 saws running and 8 to haul and wood back to the cave entrance in a
hour we had enough wood cut to get us through the event. We arranged a 12'
long fire this year and cut our logs to about 3 feet in length. Special
thanks to Ernie Moad and Mark Jones for the chainsaw expenses.
Special thanks to Rob Batchman, Jimmy Winch, Ernie Moad, Andrew, Oliver,
Curtis, Rieder, Damon, Jackson and Mark Jones for the hard work in prepping
the trail cutting thorns and clearing logs as well as firewood. We put up
some reflective tape along the trail this year.
I setup my ground cloth out in front of the cave this year down by the water
and setup my cot, tent and goods. Another trip back to the truck to drop
off the chain saw and wedges and bring in the treasure chests, candles 160
of them and prizes. Rappelling gear and lead climbing rope. The setup
group made several trips back and forth I praise God for good help. Makes
ministry happy.
Rob, Curtis and Ernie lashed up 4 pod and skewered steak. Thanks Rob for
the steak! Tri Tips!
Richard Michael delivered a great message by candlelight in the back of that
cave and also the devotion on Saturday morning. Arron Napier lead worship.
Wow best music I have heard in a long time in that cave. Arron Napier also
is starting a music ministry outreach to area churches. Call him. You will
be blessed.
Boys hunted cave treasure. Explored the nooks and crannies and the tunnels
and had a great time.
We enjoyed some rappelling with Rob Millers lead and a new method...a
Boatswains' (Bosun's) Chair. It was fun to watch the folks lower
themselves down.
Thanks Commanders and leaders for taking your time to invest in these
folks. One event like this is the value of about 15 meetings. Thanks for
such a blessing. If we could get more of our folks involved in going and
doing for Jesus our Ranger programs would sky rocket our numbers.
Mark Jones a sinner saved by God's Grace.
