God's Great Outdoors

On this Trail To Adventure! Dr. Tom Rakow, the founder of The Christian Deer Hunters Association and Gerry visit together discussing the numerous outdoor ministries that have come about over the years. The idea is to provide Christians looking to reach others who enjoy time in God's creation with the tools to aid in the ability to help win them to receive Jesus Christ as their Creator God. Tom shares about how The Christian Deer Hunters Association got started and how he never expected it to be what it is today. Tom also tells how he began writing books, and today despite the fact that he flunked English several times in school, with his family’s aid he has written a number of books that are helping Christians reach out to their unsaved friends and relatives with true stories on fishing and hunting.

On this Trail To Adventure! Gerry visits with Steve Chapman in Nashville, TN as the two reflect on Steve’s first book “A Look at Life From a Deer Stand”, released back in 1996, yet is still going off of bookstore shelves as it has been reprinted many times. Meeting a need of women who wanted something for their male loved ones actively involved in the outdoors, (specifically hunting) but which also had a spiritual impact and would change lives. Steve also discusses how important outdoor ministry can be in reaching the man and the impact that it can have on the family. Steve hopes his new book “A Look at Life From a River Bank” will also help more men become trophies of grace for the Creator God Jesus Christ.

On this week’s Trail To Adventure! Gerry is in Montgomery, Alabama as he dropped in for a visit with Ed Gannon. The two met through Russell Thornberry two decades ago, with Gerry getting to do a little deer hunting on Ed’s farm. At that time, Ed was just starting to see wild hogs occasionally on his property. Now twenty years later, it’s being overrun with these animals that are destroying everything and make farming close to impossible! Ed tells how he uses his farm to bless and minister to groups, fathers and sons or anyone God directs his way. He shares the increasable story of how a baby in Russia was saved because of a father’s visit to his place. Then Ed share on his work with “LIFE ON WHEELS” and the powerful impact this outreach ministry is having on mothers and babies around their area of Alabama for the Kingdom of God!

Now this week’s Trail To Adventure! radio program has us at one of the Trail To Adventure! conferences that GGO conducts across the USA. The location is Stanley, Wisconsin at Maple Grove Bible Church. The guest Chris Smith was one of the speakers from the conference’s lineup of pro’s and ministry leaders who joined Gerry. Chris is from Victory Deer Recovery (www.facebook.com/VictoryDeerRecovery) and he shares how he and his wife Meghan founded the ministry. It started with their love of training dogs as the two went to a seminar on using dogs to hunt and find the shed antlers of deer. The methods of teaching canines to use their noses even in snow covered country sounded simple enough. From there they moved to using their pets to helping others find deer lost while hunting. This lets them build relationships and share Jesus Christ too!

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 Lake 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!

On this week’s Trail To Adventure! Gerry is in the Wisconsin Dells in Wisconsin, at the Mathews Bows event. His guest is Joel Maxfield who was the very first employee of the company at the start, as the owner Matt McPherson launched the business. Joel describes the humble beginning that was so small and yet, how on one given Thursday, suddenly the orders started rolling in, one phone call after another. He realized then that God’s hand was on the business as this clearly was a blessing from the Lord! Joel shares on how important the Lord and evangelism is to the owners, always trying to be a reflection of the Creator, Jesus. Also, he tells some fun outdoor adventures stories from years past.

On this week’s Trail To Adventure! we are taking a visit with outdoor writer Tracy Breen at this home near Muskegon, Michigan as he is doing his job as a stay home Dad. 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.

On this week’s Trail To Adventure! we’ll be hearing from Vicki Cianciarulo who is the co-host of the outdoor television program titled, “Archers Choice.” Vicki and her husband, Ralph, travel around the world chasing the many different big game species they harvest and film hunts for the show. Vicki describes her early years of growing up with her mom in a single parent home and how it impacted the times at church, limiting that experience. Being a “Tom Boy” she loved the outdoors and getting dirty during those adventures was all part of the fun. As a young woman she had a chance to go on a grouse hunt in the northern part of Wisconsin and from that moment on she was hooked on hunting. Next in Vicki’s life came archery and that is where she became acquainted with Ralph who owned the shop she visited to begin the sport. Together this couple was hunting in God’s Creation as the Creator Jesus was pursuing them all to have a personal relationship with this family!

On this week's Trail to Adventure! Gerry visits with Mike Peters who is vice president of Christian Bowhunters of America and the Chapter Chairman of The Lord of the Harvest Archery Club, one of CBA’s chapters. The two talk about how men and women are using this archery & bowhunting ministry to build relationships in the lives of people they know who need Jesus Christ. Mike discusses numerous events that take place across the USA that opens doors for those who love archery and have an impact on lives. One of these events is the Trophies of Grace Whitetail Deer Hunt that happens every year in the fall in southeast Ohio. Mike also, shares how Christ Jesus got a hold of his life!

On this week’s Trail To Adventure! The founder of the ministry "Kicking Bear," Ray Howell and his wife Karen join Gerry at The Wisconsin Dells, in Wisconsin. In this interview the couple discusses this youth ministry and how it's reaching so many young people across the country. Karen also shares her side of Ray's testimony, seeing a man who felt he didn't need anything and strived to be perfect, deal with the knowledge he needed a Savior. She tells how she prayed for him to see his need for a relationship with the Creator God. Karen goes into the details of that reality beginning to start to sink in to who Ray was and was not. A true story that certainly can be an encouragement to anyone who has someone they love and are praying to see them one day receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.