God's Great Outdoors

On this week’s Trail To Adventure! Gerry joins up with Joni Eareckson Tada in Xenia, Ohio as the two relive the memory of Joni’s close encounter with a large black bear on a camping trip. Marshmallows as it turns out was all the bear was after at this hair raising encounter. Also discussed is how Ken, Joni’s husband, is using fishing as a way of reaching out to men who need Jesus, or need their relationship with the Creator God brought to a deeper level. Additionally, Joni tells about the special summer camps they have across the nation for physically and mentally disabled young people and adults. Her call is for men who might be willing to come along side these people and be volunteers at these summer events. Since the day years ago when a diving accident while swimming put Joni Eareckson Tada in a wheelchair, God has used her to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She is an inspiration to all of us to do the same!

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!

On This week’s Trail To Adventure! we look back to July 6 of 1996, God’s Great Outdoors first aired on WCDR radio out of Cedarville, Ohio. One of those individuals who were instrumental in getting the program off the ground was today’s guest, Jon Skillman. In the year of 2015 God’s Great Outdoors celebrated 20 years on the air as Jon celebrated his 50th year of broadcasting with the vast majority being on Christian radio. Jon shares a number of things during the interview, but the most important thing was how a little boy standing next to him as a teenager beside a roaring bonfire said, “I’m sure glad I’m saved because Hell is going to be much hotter than that fire in front of us!” That night at that Christian camp Jon could not get that out of his mind and prayed to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. This program is designed to honor and thank my friend Jon Skillman as he retires from Christian radio after 55 years of service to our Lord Jesus Christ. Know also, that his efforts live on with each broadcast of God’s Great Outdoors since he helped get us going in 1996!

On this week’s Trail To Adventure! we’re exploring how two guys, David Hale who was a farmer, and Harold Knight a barber, who got together to design, develop, and market turkey calls. Gerry visits with these two legends in the outdoor world to discover that the only reason they started to sell their calls was because there weren’t many turkeys in Kentucky and they hoped to be able to make enough to buy a non-resident hunting license in Missouri. Giving one of these calls to an outdoor writer way back when there weren’t many turkeys to start with, created quite a stir. His article in an outdoor magazine drove in hundreds of phone calls to get one of their “turkey tubes” and it just went on from there. Both of these men give all the glory to God for what has happened in their lives and they continue to praise Him as the years roll by. The two are able to present their story at game dinners, telling of God’s blessing on them!

On this Trail To Adventure! interview, a visit to Dr. John Whitmore’s office at Cedarville University in Ohio, Gerry got to meet Dr. Steve Austin. As an undergrad geology student at Washington State, Dr. Austin was able to explore probably the most significant geological event in the 20th century, the eruption of Mt. Saint Helen’s. This was a turning point for him as he was able to watch and discover firsthand how this catastrophe affected the landscape, including a creation of a one-fortieth scale of the Grand Canyon, in only one day. During this time Dr. Austin switched from a Christian “old earth” geologist, to a “young earth” geologist, believing the biblical account of 6000 years of earth’s age. All from seeing layer upon layer of earth that was laid down by volcanic eruptions in minutes, not hundreds of thousands of years as he had been taught.

Now on this week’s Trail To Adventure! Gerry is at Cedarville University located in Cedarville Ohio. His guest on this program is Dr. John Whitmore, who teaches geology and paleontology at Cedarville University. Dr. John shares with the listeners how he got involved as a young man running around the woods of Ohio, collecting rocks, arrowheads and fossils. John is considered to be the world’s leading authority on fossilized fish, and he discusses how he did his research in this area of expertise. Gerry & John talk about the annual fossil hunt done every year near the Creation Museum that sees families attend from many different states. The fossils are everywhere, and the attendees get to keep what they find. This is a wonderful outdoor outreach event the listener can do with God’s Great Outdoors and invite their friends and relatives to join them to hear about the Bible’s Flood and see proof!

On this week’s Trail To Adventure! Gerry is at Game Dinner in Pennsylvania with an old friend, Dick Hribar. Through the years as a fishing and hunting guide, Dick Hribar has put a lot of miles on his body. At the time of this interview he was about to undergo his fourth knee transplant on both legs; he is quite an outdoorsmen, always on the go. Dick shares how as a Special Education teacher in Pennsylvania for 30 years he was able to connect with his students by way of the bow and arrow, connecting with them using archery and hunting, turning many of their lives around as they lacked fathers at home. Dick also talks of his guiding elk hunters who draw the limited and coveted tags in Pennsylvania each fall to pursue the monsters that roam the mountains near his home.

Gerry visits with one of the legends in the outdoor world, Harold Knight of Knight & Hale Game calls on this Trail To Adventure! Listeners will discover that David Hale who was a farmer, and Harold Knight a barber, got together to design, develop and market turkey calls. Giving one of these calls to an outdoor writer way back when there weren’t many turkeys to start with, created quite a stir. His article in an outdoor magazine drove in hundreds of phone calls to get one of their “turkey tubes” and it just went on from there. Both these men give all the glory to God for what has happened in their lives and they continue to praise Him as the years roll by. Harold also relates as a youngster he had a desire to shoot a goose. When that did happened, he found it had a Jack Miner band with a scripture verse on it!

On this week’s Trail To Adventure! Program, Gerry is with professional outdoors writer, photographer and “Big Whitetail” legend, R.G. Bernier. Gerry met R.G. at his home in Standish, Maine. Known for his ability in tracking down big bucks in the snow, Dick Bernier has authored a tract called “A Deer Tracker’s Journey!” In this radio interview, the story of R.G.’s twice coming close to death is laid out for the listeners. In 1968 at the age of 9, he had open heart surgery to repair a defect there from birth. Also, in his college years, Dick worked with a touring evangelistic ministry team from Liberty University in Virginia. One March night the van hit ice and was t-boned by an 18 wheeler, causing Dick some very serious and life threatening injuries. But, God’s plan was to use these two close calls and R.G. Bernier’s deer hunt success over the years as a speaker at Game Dinner and outdoorsmen’s outreaches. So, in his printed tract and in front of groups of sportsmen Dick is sharing about the love of Jesus, the cross of Christ and blood that was shed to cover and forgive our sins, for an eternity with our Creator God!

On this week’s Trail To Adventure! treestand safety is the topic as Jay Everett from Hunter Safety Systems is this week’s guest. Gerry and Jay spend part of this interview talking treestand safety to help the listeners understand the importance of the topic and seriously consider their need to wear safety harnesses while hunting from an elevated platform. Statistics show that one out of three people that hunt out of a treestand will have an accident at some time in their life, with a number of these incidents being fatal. Jay relates facts on the safety harness and how their research reveals that most falls take place going up, getting into, coming out of and then descending to the earth. The goal of this program is to be sure that none of the listeners will become a part of the tragic statistic, on the negative side.