I met Micah’s family around the time that the Ferrill boys first started attending CHALLENGE. I thought it was really weird that they wanted to go to a camp that intentionally made things difficult. Life is hard enough as it is, right? But as I got to know the Ferrills and learned more about CHALLENGE, I realized how beneficial it was for them as men and, even more importantly, as Christians.
If a young man has already faced many hardships in his life, maybe he doesn’t need CHALLENGE. But most people in our society have so many things so easily that they don’t realize their own strength, and so too easily give up when something comes across their path that takes a lot of effort. CHALLENGE pushes a young man beyond what he thinks he’s capable of and shows him the tools he needs to overcome… tools like a strong relationship with Jesus Christ, the truths of Scripture, and teamwork/community.
One of my brothers-in-law went to CHALLENGE thinking he could do it on his own. He was a young teenager. He had grown up in a Christian home. But he had not submitted himself to God. He realized that “just like I wasn't able to go through these different challenges without my squad, I was also fully incapable of saving myself from my sin. As the worship leader explained the words of the songs we were singing, I just felt this overwhelming emptiness over my inability… That night I prayed to God… I confessed my sins and my need for a Savior… I knew then that I actually had something I could be confident in and Someone I could depend on.” (Read Josiah’s full testimonial here.)
My now husband, Micah, was technically already an adult when he went to CHALLENGE that year. He was a committed Christian, a self-taught software developer, and had spent time as a ministry intern. Looking at him, you would think he had things pretty put together. Yet thinking back, he still calls CHALLENGE the single most pivotal and influential event in his life, aside from actually giving his life to Jesus as a young boy. The purpose, peace, humility, and confidence he gained from the experiences and instructions that week at camp have marked his life since then. (Read about Micah's experience here.)
Here at The Timothy Group, we’re not doing this because we think it’s fun or we like ‘torturing’ people or we make money from it. It’s hard work, it’s emotionally draining, and we volunteer all of our time. We do it because we think it’s important. We see the way our culture shames and suppresses men, and we want to encourage them in the truth, we want to teach them to stand firm, and we want to see them succeed in their pursuit of strong Christian manhood.
CHALLENGE is not an easy event to run, and it won’t be easy for young men to complete, but it’s worth the trouble.