By Adam Palmer
The first Man Up event was hopefully the beginning of a wonderful collaborative men’s ministry at Stateline YFC. We had young men present from our Campus Life, JJM, and City Life ministries as we joined forces to enjoy a day of fun-filled activities all about Godly manhood.
Assistant Deputy Chief Joel Givens provided fishing equipment and expert fishing lessons for all of the youth, several of whom had never been fishing before. Herb Page attended on behalf of the Kiwanis Club of Rockford and coached one young man who would catch the biggest fish of the day among the youth. My father-in-law, Mark Lee, gave lessons in fish cleaning, fish cooking (Yum!) and archery. I was so touched and honored to see my father-in-law, who I admire greatly, the same man who taught me to shoot a bow, sharing his knowledge with these youth. We also had stations of paintball target shooting and building a cross from 4x4s. All of these activities had scriptural lessons attached to them about living as successful Christian men.
The best part, by far, was the wonderful evening cookout by the bonfire. We had amazing fellowship as we ate our catch, as well as burgers and hotdogs off the grill. The night concluded with a panel discussion where I asked questions to Ministry Directors from the YFC staff: JR, Cory, Tyrone, Olle, and expert, Mark Lee. The younger guys were hanging on to every word. You could tell that they benefited greatly from the wisdom being shared. One youth was touched to the point of weeping. We heard statements like “I can’t wait to do this again, we need this so much.” After spending time with ADC Givens, one youth said “I look at police completely different now. He was a good guy.”
It was beautiful. The weather was predicted to be awful, and God blessed us with a perfect day. It was probably one of the best days of ministry I have ever been a part of. I am beyond grateful for our God, our team, our volunteers, the donors, the youth, and everyone who made this happen.
In faith,
Adam
“This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9 NLT)
