Summer Leadership Camp: OutdoorsMen Camp 2017

OutdoorsMen!! Assemble!!!

The OutdoorsMen Camp is one of our brand new Summer Leadership Camps! We held the camp at the Nueces Delta Preserve. Our OutdoorsMen Camp is designed to empower young men as they are entering a prime time in their life when decisions matter. The young men shared their stories during the week, and along the way we saw tremendous growth. They turned into leaders, and left as empowered young men.

OutdoorsMen Camp Last Day
“I learned about what it means to have self-respect at The OutdoorsMen Camp, and I thought it really helped me.” 14 Year Old Camper
Devon giving speech to our OutdoorsMEN
“Now is a prime time in your life. Seek out all the resources at your disposal, and make great choices.”Devon Grant

Devon

OutdoorsMen Camp started off with a pair of guest speakers! Our first speaker was Devon Grant! He was actually apart of the Youth Odyssey Adventure Challenge Program when he was a kid! Devon spoke to us about making good choices, and surrounding ourselves with people who will influence us positively. He had a rough childhood, but learned from his mistakes. Devon wanted to become a diesel mechanic after high school. His mistakes might have slowed him down, but they didn’t stop him. Devon became determined and focused, and is now in school to become a diesel mechanic. He is also a proud father, and loves his family more than anything.

Brett

Our second speaker at the OutdoorsMen Camp was Brett Wardwell! Brett talked to us also about making good choices. He had a rough childhood, grew up in a broken home, and struggled with many challenges and obstacles in his life. Even through those tough times Brett bent, but he never broke. Brett took ownership of his life, and became more determined than ever. He became a very successful restaurant store manager, and to this day is still in the food industry. Brett’s testimony was very powerful and motivating to all of us.

Brett giving speech to our OutdoorsMEN
“Youth Odyssey is a cool program, and I would have loved it as a kid. It would have helped put me in a positive environment.”Brett Wardwell
OutdoorsMEN working on River of Life
“I liked being able to express ourselves and talk about our past.”13 Year Old Camper

River of Life

After Devon and Brett gave their testimonies, we went into our River of Life activity. The River of Life activity illustrated things of our past. This activity was very emotional for all of us because it brought up some of the difficult things we have dealt with in our past. The kids poured their hearts into the activity, and we all learned more about each other. It was awesome to see the vulnerability from the kids as we presented our River of Life to each other. We all had to open up and come out of our shells, but this activity helped build the foundation for the week.

True Colors and Ropes

The following day of the OutdoorsMen Camp was ropes course day! Before we headed to the ropes course we did the True Colors Personality Test. With this test we better understood each others personality types. This helped us communicate and work as a team better. At the ropes course we challenged ourselves, gained self-confidence, and molded as a team. Our goal was to get out of our comfort zone, and explore things we don’t normally experience everyday. We had to use communication, trust, and teamwork to make it through several challenges, but it helped us learn to never give up and persevere. It was lots of fun making our way through the ropes course, and we felt more empowered afterwards!

OutdoorsMEN Ziplining
“I learned about having self-confidence.”12 Year Old Camper
Terry giving speech to our OutdoorsMEN
“Life is like a game of chess. It’s about making good decisions and choices to help you have success in the future.”Terry Ray

Chess and Cheese Balls

The next day of the OutdoorsMen Camp we had our third speaker, Terry Ray! Terry Ray is the CEO of Majesty Outdoors. He led us in a fun game composed of dizziness, silliness, candy, shaving cream, and cheese balls! We loved the game, and Terry told us why we played it. During the game we came face to face with challenges, literally! However, we all persevered. Terry wanted us to look at life the same way. He explained how the choices we make will determine our future. Terry told us a story of a wise man who asked him if he wanted to learn how to play chess. The wise man explained to Terry later, he wasn’t just teaching him how to play chess, but how to make good choices. We were all inspired by Terry’s story, and learned how important choices can be, especially at a young age.

Legacy

After the fun cheese ball game and listening to Terry’s wisdom, we went into our Legacy Activity. Previously we talked about our past during the River of Life activity, and what has shaped us into who we are today, but now we wanted to look into the future. Everyone was given a puzzle piece to draw their legacy. Our legacies consisted of our passions, goals, and aspirations as we take a look into the our future. It was awesome to hear and see each others passions, goals, and aspirations. The kids had some really big goals, and we are super excited and pumped to see them achieve their goals.

“I learned to support others, and have fun at the same time”14 Year Old Camper
OutdoorsMEN after Cheese Ball game
OutdoorsMEN with all of our Puzzles
“I learned a lot about different life struggles people have gone through. I think it will help me in life.”15 Year Old Camper

Lake Corpus Christi

Pieced Together

At the conclusion of our Legacy activity, we pieced all of our puzzle pieces together to symbolize how even though we are all different it is important to realize more can be achieved if we work together as a team. To continue this topic of respect and teamwork, we watched the movie Coach Carter in the evening. It was a blast eating cookie cake, thanks to Terry, and eating popcorn while watching the movie. We were all inspired by the adversity Coach Carter and his team overcame. Many of us have gone through adversity in life, but we aren’t going to let it stop us from reaching our goals and defining our Legacy!

On our last full day of OutdoorsMen Camp we went to Lake Corpus Christi! It was a free day at the Lake. The day was spent playing in the water, throwing a football and frisbee, fishing, splashing each other, and having a cookout. We didn’t catch any fish, but we did catch some sun rays. The weather was perfect at the lake, and it was great to be able to relax by the water.

OutdoorsMEN fishing
“I learned how tie a Uni Knot for fishing!”15 Year Old Camper
OutdoorsMEN Graduation Silliness

Graduation!

Our last day is Graduation day at OutdoorsMen Camp! It has been a great week, and we were super excited to see the growth from everyone. We were also very sad because the fun week was coming to a close. There were many hard goodbyes, but we made the most of our final moments together. Awards were given out to all the young men for completing the OutdoorsMen Camp! We reflected with the parents about our experiences and achievements throughout the week together. Becky, our awesome Executive Director, made us delicious burgers for lunch! We had our final “camp meal” together, and then had to say goodbye..for now.

Until We Meet Again OutdoorsMen..

This camp was full of tears of joy. Many walls and barriers were torn down, and this camp was a total success. We are going to have the OutdoorsMen Camp again next year! Also more exciting news, we are discussing plans to have a retreat this winter for the young men on this camp. The hope is to come together again to renew or re-energize everyone as they pursue their goals, dreams, and aspirations. We also want to give the young men a chance to reunite with their friends.

All OutdoorsMEN puzzles together
“I will miss you all”12 Year Old Camper