July Calendar Is Up

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Ministry Minutes - CO is Not Your Father's Ministry

We were featured in the Colonial Ministry Minutes, a short clip that is shown prior to the beginning of each service. Normally it is a missionary or some traditional work the church does. Not us renegades.....

Click on the link below to see Fishing, Knife making, Archery (Center Shot Ministries)

Colonial Outdoors

The article by Amy Justice posted on the Colonial Website (click to go there)reads like this:

Some of the most renowned fishermen in history were among Jesus’ first disciples. When He gave them His command in Matthew, He gave them a purpose beyond making a living or feeding themselves and their families. He wanted them to share the Good News of His saving grace.

That purpose fits Colonial’s year-old Outdoors Ministry. When Ed Strickland, a life-long angler, decided to combine his love of the outdoors—especially fishing—with reaching fellow outdoorsmen with the Gospel, he approached Pastor Mike Malpass and soon a new ministry was created.

Those involved in Colonial Outdoors enjoy hunting and fishing—and they are committed to reaching a seldom considered, un-reached people group . . . the American hunter or fisherman. Manny Montoya, Chris Crum, Mike Hayes and other committed outdoorsmen have been busy creating new opportunities to engage outdoorsmen at Colonial. But, they know their mission field is really out in the fields and streams all around us where sportsmen who would never consider coming to church gather.

To better reach them, Colonial outdoorsmen traveled hundreds of miles to the National Wildlife Turkey Federation convention in Tennessee where they joined with other like-minded men to hand out more than 20,000 DVDs with turkey hunting tips and the Gospel. They have also traveled to West Virginia to receive training needed to organize an archery education program at Colonial; and, they’ve worked tireless hours to organize a local fishing tournament, hosted by Colonial that drew anglers from around the state. Our outdoorsmen are busy!

Colonial Outdoors also holds a weekly Bible study attended by 12-15 men. Manny Montoya recently held a knife-making workshop. There have also been classes on hunter safety, fly tying and taxidermy.

Monday, June 14, Chris Crum kicked-off the third Colonial archery class based on the Centershot Ministry program that includes training on International Target Style Archery for kids 10-15 years old accompanied by a parent. There are 20 people registered for the current class, many who do not regularly attend Colonial. Wayne McGrath and his eleven-year-old son, Will, are part of the class and are eager to learn archery for the first time. Twelve-year-old Alyssa Quackenbush and her Dad, Paul, have tried archery through the YMCA Guides and Princesses Program and are looking forward to honing their skills.

Last turkey season Ed and Chris went turkey hunting. Chris is a veteran turkey hunter; it was Ed’s first time turkey hunting. Chris coached and encouraged Ed on their early-morning trip and Ed was able to take his first tom. “What makes this first turkey special is that Chris is not just a hunting buddy; he’s a brother in Christ. He’s a co-laborer in ministry and servant of our Lord,” said Ed.

If you’re an outdoorsman or know someone who is, check out Colonial Outdoors at colonialoutdoors.blogspot.com for information on up-coming events. Be sure to check out the video attached to this story to see Colonial outdoorsmen in action!

June 2010 Calendar

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July Calendar

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New Archery Class, Sign Up NOW Before It's To Late

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The next class will be starting on June 14^th and ends August 9^th. It runs from 6pm to 8pm. The class is open to youth (age 10 to 15) with their parent or guardian. If you are interested in participating please click on this link to sign up.

Centershot Ministries has been a blessing to both parents and kids of many ages. This course has developed many fine archers and they learn many things spiritually along with the class.

No where else in this area will you get such an opportunity as this. Plus, it's real fun to shoot an arrow and hit a bulls eye......try it and sign up now as these classes traditionally fill up quickly.

A Colonital Tribute to the Vets

I know that this doesn't have anything to do with Colonial Outdoors directly, but many of the best in the military were hunters or outdoorsman who knew how to take care of themselves and how to complete the job.

Special Hats off to those who made the ultimate Sacrifice.

The last verse of My Country Tis of Thee gets overlooked. Here it is:
Our Father's God! To Thee,
Author Of Liberty,
To Thee We Sing;
Long May Our Land Be Bright
With Freedom's Holy Light;
Protect Us By Thy Might,
Great God, Our King!

Here's the video of the Military being honored by Branch.

Pond Fishing, But with a twist and a Happy Ending

I wanted to let you know the young man with the nice big bass is John Knight. John and his parents came out to Kid's Day at Harris Saturday with the Colonial Cub Scout pack and fished a little then. He and his dad went and bought some fishing gear to come out Tuesday night with Colonial Outdoors Pond Fishing night. John caught a few small crappie. He kept chunking and winding and working on his casting technique when I heard a splash. When I looked down toward where he was fishing I saw his rod tip bent over and I knew he had hooked a nice fish. I went down to help him and saw the fish "WOW John, hang on buddy that's a huge fish". He landed it like a pro, and well the rest is history. (Editor: chunking and Winding is a David Fritts Technique).

When I saw the pride on his face as well as Johns Dad William, I was reminded again how special fishing can be for all of us young and old. And I was also encouraged at Johns attitude and spirit as he never gave up. He just kept fishing and His reward was that beautiful fish. (Editor: I asked Ed how big it was and he said around 5 lbs. note: that means when you tell the story, it could go 8 or so ;-))

I have a feeling that will not be Johns last big fish. I am just thankful we have a ministry at Colonial that can help foster the passion in a young man like we all have for the outdoors. I must confess, sometimes I get a little discouraged that we don't have better participation for some of our events like this one. But on this night, John was there and so was the fish and we all got to enjoy that special meeting between them two.

John! You keep chunking and winding,

Ed

John 21; 2-8

Here are some other pictures, they speak for themselves I think.