(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)
What I implore you to consider is how can you take direct action to help our younger generation to find an old and better way to spend their time. If you are not physically able to interact with your community, I ask for your prayers. Prayers for our leaders, for our adults, and especially for our young people. Sitting idly by and complaining will not change anything. Becoming demoralized will not change anything. I too am disgusted by the degeneracy that I’ve participated in during my younger years, as well as what is paraded around and held up as “virtue.” Our wealth is not in material baubles, stock portfolios, and trinkets. I do not believe a politician being elected or not elected will change what is in our hearts, which is what truly matters.
Our true wealth is in the relationships we develop and in how we set the next generation up for success. Christianity, enterprise, physical strength, self-improvement, intelligence, reading, righteousness and hard work are the central hallmarks of our program. When we read about Jesus sharing his gospel and the miracle of the fishes and loaves we are reading about the importance of fellowship and God’s blessing of those who are doing his work. And in all our world, it is the hard-earned meal that is shared with our friends and loved ones that tastes best. I attribute this to the presence of the holy spirit.
If we ever do have a real end of the world as we know it. I suggest that your beans, bullets, and band aids will be of little use if you are not tightly knit into the community that you live in. Drinking at the bar is not being tightly knit into the community. Nor is complaining about the latest social media nonsense. Helping clean the church, beautifying the community, being a volunteer fire fighter or EMT, sharing your knowledge and gifts, cooking, giving rides to church, and teaching others. That is how you integrate into a community.
Last summer, I saw great success working with this young man. He started to take ownership of aspects of running his household. He has family members who are caught up in some of the challenges of our world. This young man, with help from our community, was able to fix a leaky roof, prepare inexpensive, healthy, and nutritious meals; care for vehicles, discuss making good choices, and regularly attend church and make a decision to follow Christ in his life.
I do want to add a note, if you have any question in your heart about your righteousness as a man. Do not engage your community in this type of outreach. Attend church and be a useful member of the community but do not work one-on-one with youth. If you are using pornography, drugs, or alcohol, or you are sexually immoral, or are caught up in other sins, then this is not the place for you. I promise that there are other areas where your skills and learning can be of use. You are precious to God and your community, but somewhere else. Prayerfully investigate your heart to find your area to get involved. God will find you a place. Your church elders and pastor can help. To quote Luke:
“It would be better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.” – Luke 17:2
This summer, I asked the young man if he would like to join me in leading and creating a larger group to continue the work that we were already doing. He was enthusiastic and we have brought more young men in the community into our project. We have been spending our Saturdays completing woodworking projects, welding (SMAW, MIG, and TIG), working on our Bible study, sharing high-quality reading materials, and talking about what is going on in our lives. I have young men between the ages of 14 and 25 attending.
I originally intended to hold this event at my home. When I proposed it to the church, I learned that an elder owned a building across the street that was vacant and he offered its use to us. A 10,000+ square foot shop was much easier to work in than in a home with a two-car garage. We shared the project with the community and gained more attendees from over 30 miles away. Donations and projects continue to pour in and we are amazed at the success. I recommend reading about George Mueller to learn more about how God provides for us!
As this project continues, I am building a framework to create a nationwide structure. As a youth, I was a part of the Boy Scouts of America and attained the rank of Eagle Scout. This was one of the positive times in my youth and was the forge that created the positive aspects of my character. I am planning an organization to mobilize our communities and our youth to create strong young men who can lead and live meaningful lives. It is unfortunate the loss of members that the Boy Scouts of America is experiencing that is largely due to the choices they have made as an organization, to turn away from God and Country and to move towards a more worldly route.
What started out as just a project to help one young man to move up in life has become a much larger and bigger project.
I am a member of a labor union and have many union brothers. When I speak about this project I get offers to help join us, even though it is a very long drive from the metropolitan area we are based in. I am selective about who joins us, but I have had good success generating interest among members of the trades community lead our meetings. This is a project that is intended to blossom and create a network through this action of creating strongly bonded communities. I hope for all those who participate in this ministry to find their lives growing as a result of this action.
My goal in this project is to bring your community together. I get an inordinate amount of satisfaction from this project. When I was a child, I grew up in a troubled home. More than anything I wanted validation from adult men within the community and wanted to become competent in something. This was not something that I could get in my house. I remember riding my bike past the neighbor who had racecars and never knowing how to gain access to that community. I know that now I can work with youth to give to them what I craved as a young man. I wanted to be a useful man, something that I have accomplished and am helping others to find their path!
The other weekend we were making ninja stars using a Beverly Shear and working on the refurbishment of a hay trailer that had a broken hitch. I take breaks from holding classes as my work moves me geographically all over the United States. I have friends in the church who step in to run the program where they can. Some of the farmers are relaxed about safety, we always aim to work safely and use all of the gear all of the time. Engaging on safety in a positive and solution-focused way has led to good outcomes.
Some of the kids are self-starters and mostly need to be pointed in the direction and left to find their way. Others need to have someone with them to get them started. This can look like having me help them use an angle grinder or circular saw. They need training wheels to get started. It is satisfying to share the capabilities that I have worked so hard to attain with young people. I hope that in this small way these steps can lead to strong and virtuous men who will lead and build my community in twenty years’ time.
I have led Bible study on Genesis, on Christian courtship, on the loaves and fishes, and on war. Memorial Day we met and discussed the US Civil War, WWI, WWII, and the Battle of Fallujah. We hiked to the local veteran’s cemetery and prayed. These young men crave knowledge and discussion. Time is a precious commodity, use it well and wisely.
Reading SurvivalBlog is important. But your knowledge without action and without sharing it is a waste. Be humble and use the Socratic method to ask questions to help these young men to find the right path. There are ways to discuss preparedness without disclosing the full depth of your survival capabilities. Often just showing ways to make a meal last longer and healthier, or how to start a fire, or how to weld, or how to pray are what these young men are looking for.
Please, pray fervently for peace, pray and explore your heart, if you are not living righteously take steps to mend your sin. If you are worthy go forth and find young men who seek knowledge. Even the young men from good homes with excellent parents are getting great value from this program. My prayer is that the ones without present fathers will get a chance to learn about God’s plan for them and pursue that instead of all the nonsense being paraded as virtuous.
A note: I have had kids who are deeply caught up in sin join us. I often just ignore their negative attention-seeking actions. Pray for wisdom and discernment. Safety hazards are not tolerable but a kid with an inappropriate t-shirt has a soul that matters more to me than whatever nonsense they have on the shirt. Plus, once they started working with me and saw they were valued and taught the same as the other kids the shirt went away without me saying anything. Often these kids are in traumatic environments and need positive direction. Even if it is one day they work with us it is my prayer that it will help them move to a more positive direction.
As this project develops, I will send updates to seek prayers and to share the good work that is coming from this project! I am currently working to put together a team to build this mission project. If you are interested in joining, please contact Jim Rawles and he can put us together.
God Bless America!