Have a WILD time on father and son camp

What’s the most important skill for a father to teach his son?

a)    How to build a camp fire
b)    How to kick a soccer ball
c)    How to survive extreme situations like Bear Grylls
d)    How to read the Bible

Ok, I know… it’s a trick question. But it highlights a very important (and much neglected) topic - how does a father disciple his son in the ways of the Lord?

How can dads get more involved?

In a recent survey of church families in the US, 96% of responders either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement 'Parents, and particularly fathers, have a responsibility to engage personally in a discipleship process with each of their children.' However, in the same survey a significant number of responders had never prayed aloud with their children in the past week (21%), never read or discussed the bible with their children (20%) or engaged in any form of family devotional or worship (35%) .

Modern dads have busy work and family lives, and it is unsurprising that many of these dads find it a struggle to spend time in the intentional discipling of their children. While we may agree with the sentiment, it’s putting those sentiments into practice that lets us down.

How can we as dads help encourage each other to spend more time discipling our children? How can churches help encourage the men of their church to engage intentionally with their sons?

Why fathers and sons should get away together

One of the activities that many churches have found helpful over many generations has been the father and son camp. Within the Anglican Church, CEBS groups were particularly proactive in getting the boys in their ministry to spend an intentional week or weekend away with their dads, uncles or grandads. However, with the declining number of uniformed boys ministries in the Sydney Diocese, a new camping opportunity has developed to help fill this role or encouraging dads in the discipleship of their sons.

Jarrod Booker, now Assistant Minister at Caringbah Anglican, helped develop WILD Father and Son Camp while on staff at Anglican Youthworks. Jarrod says: 

“Boys need their dads to show them what it means to be a Christian man, a man of character and conviction, a man who respects women, provides for his family and leads them spiritually, a man who loves God and his church and who serves. 

Camps like WILD encourage father and son bonding, and provide support and encouragement to Christian fathers. The beauty of WILD is that it gets boys and their dads away from the TV, the gaming console, the iPad, and into God's creation, canoeing, bushwalking, building a fire, getting their hands dirty.”

Supporting the fatherless

Children’s Minister and fellow boys' ministry advocate, Amy Brown, has seen the impact of fathers on their sons through her role at Bulli Anglican Church: 

“Fathers have so much influence on their children, particularly their sons. Good, healthy father-son relationships are so important for their son's spiritual, emotional, physical, and intellectual development.” says Amy.

Yet as soon as we seek to raise the profile of dads in our churches, we must also address the increasingly prevalent issue of the fatherless. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 20% of kids in Australia are growing up in fatherless homes. How can boys in these homes learn about Christian manhood? How can the church support these fatherless children who are in our communities and in our churches? Jarrod Booker says:

“Where a boy has an absent father, Christian fathers from his local church can have a big impact in his life.” 

Amy agrees, adding:

“The men of our churches need to get involved! It is so essential for children from fatherless homes to have solid, godly role models to look up to and strengthen them in their faith, encouraging them to become spiritually mature disciples.”

WILD Camp doesn’t just cater for fathers and sons, but also for these uncles, grandfathers or other male role models to take some time out with the boys in their life. The benefit of taking a weekend off camping is the time commitment of fostering and discipling these relationships. In amongst the bushland adventures, ball games and campfires, WILD gives a significant amount of time to the low key, but intentional, relationships between the boys and their carers. Throughout the weekend, God’s Word is opened up and discussed in terms of growing up as a godly man and how as young boys or fathers we can live this out day to day.

Join us at WILD this year!

Dan Bidwell, Assistant Minister at Miranda Anglican Church, attended the 2013 Wild Camp with his son Jamie. Dan says the weekend was a real chance to build their relationship:

“It's the same for all of us - with our busy family and work lives, it can be really hard to carve out regular time alone with your son. But our boys need us, and these years are precious. WILD Camp provided the time and space for us to share special 'boy' adventures together - memories which have lasted much longer than the weekend.  Jamie kept asking when we could go back! I reckon this is a no-brainer. Just clear the weekend and lock it in. You won't regret it!”

I'd love for Growing Faith dads and carers to join us at WILD this year as we seek to disciple our sons and build our relationships. If you'd like to find our more, visit http://www.youthworks.net/wild or contact Anglican Youthworks Ministry Support via training@youthworks.net or by calling 02 8268 3355.

About the author: Tim Beilharz is a Children’s Ministry, Primary SRE and Boys Ministry Advisor for Anglican Youthworks and is the current coordinator of WILD Camp.

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