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Hi all,
I'm fairly new to the rangernet
(about 2 weeks) and have thoroughly enjoyed the flow and topics of
discussion. A little background is in order, I guess. I was in Cub
scouts for one year as a child, never in Boy Scouts nor Royal Rangers. I
went to Bible College for Deaf and Youth Ministries and have been an interpreter
for the Deaf for close to 10 years. In all the time in Bible College, I
(also) never heard much about Royal Rangers.
I am currently
commander of the Pioneers in our small church. I got involved reluctantly,
but recently God has moved on my heart and given me a burden and a vision of
growth for our outpost. Now that I'm involved, I want to throw myself
headfirst into Rangers with everything I have. My wife is very supportive,
until recently her Dad had been a commander for as long as she can remember
and her younger brother was a GMA recipient. It also gives me something to
do with my 3 boys as they grow up, the oldest is in Pioneers this
year.
I have a suggestion on the
"bribes" line of conversation. I say award the boys points for
everything. Points are freely given as they cost nothing to the person
giving them. Give points for bibles to meetings, visitors, visitors
chartered, events attended, merits earned, uniforms worn, more for uniforms worn
properly, games won at the outpost meetings, etc. Every so often, perhaps
every quarter or six months, the boys can use the points to "buy" things from
you. They don't have to be expensive, but should be something they
want. Buy things from the Oriental Trading catalog, buy some pocket
knives, buy some camp gear and compasses. If you have boys with other
types of interest, buy some cheap computer or video games. Buy some
devotionals or magic books (or some magic tricks). None of this has to be
very expensive, but most of this will appeal to the majority of boys. This
can also be done little by little to ease the burden. Also, save every
receipt, since in nearly every state I can think of this type of purchase is tax
deductible. Then when the time comes, the boys earn a merit, some points and can
purchase something with points. Is it a "bribe"? I don't think so,
since the boys have earned the points and traded them for product. Worth a
shot? I think so, so much so in fact I will try to implement this in my
own outpost in a bit. I hadn't thought about it until I joined the
rangernet just in time for the discussion about merits and
incentives.
Kinda long, and I apologize for that. I also
have some questions as a new Ranger Commander, but those will soon follow in
another posting.
In His Grip,
DJ Holland
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