I am thankful for young men with a heart like yours. Thank you for
posting about your outpost. I too have a heart felt burden for Royal
Rangers. I was saved 11 years ago in a rock solid altar call that was
truely setup and visited by the Holy Ghost. With in a few months of that
God called me to Royal Rangers and I have had a burning desire to work at
this Ministry.
In that time span I served as a Lt. Commander of Straight Arrows for 6
months many meetings It was just me and a handful of boys. Then God
moved us to another Chruch through some very strange circumstances that
didn't have anything to do with me but very close to me and I joined
their outpost as a Lt. Commander in Pioneers. The first Chruch had 2
National Royal Ranger related Staff offices and a very developed RR
program but it was a small church with both comming and going to various
up the line RR/FCF activties but where it counted they had it covered.
The new church had a SA/BR Commander and a Pioneer Commander and a Sr.
Commander and me. No one but the Sr. Commander had any RR training and
Uniforms were unknown. We had a lot of bible quizes and did some of the
pledges but that was pretty much the extent of it. I showed up in Class
B and kept after it until one or two of the boys with my incouragement
started comming in Class B uniform. The Sr. Commander jumped the boy in
front of me and the rest of the outpost for wearing the uniform and I
went to the Prayer Meeting for the next 6 months and prayed for Royal
Rangers until God got sick of my prayers for RR and moved the Church
Leadership to make some changes.
Our outpost now has 76 men and boys enrolled and we average now about 45
every wed night With over 90% in Class B uniform. We have a active
outpost council with a total of 20 active leaders. We hope to have 4
GMA's this year the first for the Church that I know of. We have over 30
outing events scheduled Outpost wide, opps just remember our Challengers
Commander just added 4 more outings one being a HIGH ADVENTURE outing to
the Smokey Mountains 4 nighter. We make most Area, Sectional and
Divisional and District Events as well. At this time we have a RR Sunday
School Class we call it a MINI LTC refresher runs 6 weeks. Also the last
6 months we have had several saved. Our outpost works because our RR
Ministry is prayed over, supported by our Chruch Family and everything we
do points to Christ for his Glory for his honor. We also do all things
as unto the Lord. Our vision is the "The Perfect Outpost". Our Church
runs about 600 give or take a few hundred just depends on if Pastor
speaks from the bible or preaches feel good messages..."GRIN" in that we
have ADD and the rest of the "HYPER" related stuff. I have had to settle
most of the normal stuff that is talked about in the RR Leaders Manual
from pot smoking, fights to stealing and most points in between. All
things are handled with Christs Love and preparation. Keep your Vision
for you Outpost alive and keep after it. God loves Royal Rangers.
Please understand brother, I say these things to incourage you. You can
do it. Prepare and Plan and it won't belong and your vision will come
alive.
Guys and Gals of rangernet forgive my "wordyness"
Mark Jones
On Tue, 22 Feb 2000 13:44:34 CST "RR_Cmdr Illinois_OP#90"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Gentlemen, (and Ladies)
>
> I've been hanging around RangerNet for several months now, but I
> never took
> the time to introduce myself. And given the nature of recent posts,
> I'm not
> quite sure if now is a good time. But something inside me said to go
> ahead
> and break some ice.
> First a bit about me...
> I'm a 14 year veteran of the Royal Rangers Ministry. I've served in
> a
> leadership role since I was 12 years old. The outpost I was in at
> that time
> only had one commander. I was the Senior Guide and we had an average
> of 25
> boys every week. Sadly, due to lack of support from the church body,
> we had
> no choice but to quit. The burden was just too great. Currently, I
> am the
> Trailblazer/Challenger Commander with a small outpost that I helped
> restart
> in a different church. Since we lost our Senior Cmdr, I have taken
> on many
> his duties such as chartering, powwow planning, and coordinating our
>
> different outpost groups. Other than that, I'm just your average
> 19(20
> tomorrow) year old college student trying to do what "HE" has called
> me to
> do, be a RR Commander.
>
> Now about our Outpost...
> We are a small outpost (only 7 regulars) that is very unique. You
> see, the
> area we operate in covers one of the most poverty stricken, drug
> saturated
> areas of Southern Illinois. Most of our boys are ADD/ADHD and come
> from
> broken, alcohol filled homes. In fact, the mother of my one
> trailblazer was
> arrested about a month ago for manufacturing Methanphetamenes.
> Others among
> the parents of our boys include repeat DUI(DWI) offenders, Sexual
> Offenders,
> burglars, and junkies on every drug you can think of (and some you
> can't).
> It paints quite a picture doesn't it? Since my Dad is the
> Lieutenant with
> the Sheriffs Department here I sometimes get questions and requests
> for help
> from our boys who have lost a parent due to arrest.
>
> I've been looking for one of those so-called "Perfect Outposts" for
> 14
> years. If any of you know where I can find one please let me know.
> I'd like
> to see what it is like in an outpost where all the boys are
> well-behaved,
> earning advancements, and working in patrols. As for me, I praise
> the Lord
> just because everyone is quiet during prayer and listening to my
> Bible Study
> lesson. To those among you who do serve in the perfect outpost, I
> ask for
> your prayers for those of us who do not.
>
> Sorry guys, I just realized that I'm on my soapbox again.
>
> I work with only two other commanders. But they are the greatest
> thing since
> printed money. Those of you from Illinois may know Harley Lemmon and
> Jim
> Dunnivan, two of the finest men I have every served with. Praise God
> for
> them!
> Well, I think I've said enough for now.
>
> In Christ Alone <><
>
> Shane
>
> Shane A. Reidelberger
> Lieutenant Commander
> Home Ph.# 618-336-5555
> Illinois District
> Outpost # 90
> Percy Assembly of God
> Stephen Duncan, Pastor
> 103 N. 4th Street
> Percy, IL 62272
> Church Ph.# 618-497-8169
>
> ______________________________________________________
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>
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> To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to
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> "Eat the hay & spit out the sticks! - A#1's mule" RTKB&G4JC!
> http://rangernet.org Autoresponder: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mark Jones, Ozark MO, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Download a Free Royal Ranger
Database visit my website at: http://home1.gte.net/mjones02/index.html
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