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Speaker 1: (00:00)
Thank you everyone for joining us on this episode of the Ranger podcast. If you’re new to the show, brace yourself to be upgraded, updated, charged up and fired up to mentor and disciple the next generation. I’m commander Randy and although commander Wayne will not be with us tonight, I won’t be falling flying solo. I have to admit that, maybe even boast a little bit, but I’ve done it. We have brought to the show tonight in my book the Best District Commander in the nation and certainly one who oversees one of the most adventure rich district. Welcome to the show commander Doug Moon. I’m doing awesome. I know you’ve had a busy, well you probably had a busy month or so. I mean, give me an idea. So you’re getting ready for powwow and that’s a year or two year process, but once really crunched time is at about a 30 day window or what?

Speaker 2: (00:53)
Um, probably starts about the beginning of January, although we can have ordering patches, but most of the other stuff we typically start January is when we have too much everything done. I think I have one phone call left, dude, I’ll be through.

Speaker 1: (01:12)
That’s awesome. Although you guys have a, had a labor intensive weekend because unfortunately, uh, mother nature keeps growing and so you can’t prep yard mowing and weeding a months and advantage. You’ve got to do it right up to the date. Right.

Speaker 2: (01:32)
The different areas, different campsites and a few trees that we have to get out of the way. We were for the rank of kids yesterday, we finished off the new water slides a couple of weeks ago because we had pulled the notes about the issue. So things like that have happened in the last few months and it’s worse let his last weekend.

Speaker 1: (01:55)
Yeah. In a matter of fact, if people that have listened to the show in the past and they will have heard us talk about camp wilderness and they have, we’ll have seen videos of some of the slides that we have down there and some of the zip lines. And matter of fact, I remembered for summer Americ camp, the slides were all torn up. So what was some of the renovation there

Speaker 2: (02:18)
underneath the slides themselves was actually wash it out. So we had a work day where we pulled him out early, I would say probably may last year there we had made some steel bracing to hold the Invega sides that we could vote the individual side parts to. She slides themselves and they’re all actually bolted to these new steel. They’re welded together as two interaction down to the of the top rated him so they should last for many years to come home.

Speaker 1: (02:50)
That’s smart. You know, one of the things that we benefit from in Florida, because it’s such a beautiful state and we have outdoor activities you’re around, but there is that one little thing called hurricanes and that can make an impact, can’t it?

Speaker 2: (03:03)
Yeah. Well, this comes up so high, especially if it comes through some California, everything gets flooded in that part of the reason why the dirt and undermined under the wouldn’t stretch themselves and washed out because the water table was actually so high after the hurricane that year and a half ago that the bridge was actually underwater. And that’s all that was underwater.

Speaker 1: (03:23)
And there are some pictures and some of the videos and on the Facebook page of that bridge, which I mean this is a bridge if for listeners that aren’t aware of it, this is a bridge where buses drive across them and is a major thoroughfare for the property. And for it to be underwater means that most of the properties and accessible, right,

Speaker 2: (03:43)
10 plus feet down from the bridge, from the bottom of the structure. So you know, you’re probably talking 10 or 12 feet higher in the creeks and the norm would be. So it’s a lot of water.

Speaker 1: (03:54)
So listen, before we jump into the kind of meat and potatoes of the show, you know, not everybody knows exactly who you are. Although I’m sure from the leadership standpoint, many, many people around the country know who you are because a Florida, again, you know, we, we just benefit from being in such a rich adventure state. Our events and Rangers thrives in Florida. So, but give me an idea. How long have you been in Rangers?

Speaker 2: (04:17)
Oh, my started in royal rangers when I was nine and I’m 51 now, so quite a while. Oh Wow. My first Paolo was 1978 so then I took about a sort of for your break [inaudible] I graduated from high school and it wasn’t a dog, but then got back at about four years after that. Pretty active ever since.

Speaker 1: (04:37)
Tell me, how long have you been the district commander?

Speaker 2: (04:39)
I don’t remember the exact year. I think it was 2004 so roughly 15 years almost.

Speaker 1: (04:44)
Wow. That’s amazing. So tell me a little bit about the bank story there. What, what, how did God kind of approach you and putting that kind of burden on your heart?

Speaker 2: (04:53)
Yeah. I was involved with as a kid and helping you with my commander was actually the uh, power coordinator that point. And so I would always help when I was a kid. And then when I got back involved and I became sectional commander and just kind of worked my way up being was an officer and FCF in different things. And one day I, ed white, the previous district director or district commander at that time and I were having a discussion and he made some comment about it and I said if the time ever came, he was ready to retire, whatever that I thought God had laid on my heart that I saw maybe I should take over. So we had much discussion after that air. We already gay.

Speaker 1: (05:29)
Wow, that’s awesome. I like to encourage commanders all the time to really journal their intellectual and emotional reason why they do rangers. And I’m Kinda hearing from you that it’s really been in your blood. This is something you’ve lived out for most of your life.

Speaker 2: (05:48)
Yeah, that’s correct. We actually started as a new, so it just became part my life. I participated the rest of my childhood up until adult, they come in and adult. And like I say, I moved in some different things. So I wasn’t currently active in an assembly of God church. So I kind of got out of it for a few years. And then I went back, I think in 1991 I think it was to pow wows, to help my whole commander actually, uh, in the kitchen because he needed some help. And I’ve been pretty much I’ll ever since you know, and God, when God calls you to do something, you probably need to listen

Speaker 1: (06:28)
well. And that’s where you’re going to find the most joy in your life when you just can kind of buy into something that, that he’s laid in your heart and really dig into a vision that he’s given you. And certainly, you know, I can speak to this because I’ve, I’ve been around you and known you for now 17 years. You really have fulfilled that role in such a an impressive way in a major way, and really driven Florida rangers to some great places and and made it a place for outpost to thrive and commanders to kind of branch out and do some fun things and grow rangers in their own way. So we certainly appreciate all you do.

Speaker 2: (07:05)
Thank you very much. Obviously commitment to God and his help to give you the ability and wisdom and make the right decisions, but it also takes a very supportive phone with my wife supports me 100% as do much older, so that has certainly made it much easier to be as involved as I am.

Speaker 1: (07:22)
That’s true. I was thinking, I just read a quote today and I loved it so much. I’m putting it in the notes today, but it says it’s my cs Lewis. It says, children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work. That really speaks to a little bit of the way you have approached Rangers in the years that you’ve served as a,

Speaker 2: (07:43)
we have taken the approach that we will change things even when other adults complain about it, if we feel it’s the best, uh, interest in the chairman or the best suited for what the kids need in their lives. So we’ve inch things over the years based on that. So I think it’s a kid’s ministry. It is a men’s ministry as well because it means have you seen minister to friendships and things of that default, but he to the ministry is reaching boulders. That’s what we’re trying to do.

Speaker 1: (08:13)
Amen. Yeah, absolutely. For outpost out there, you know, it’s really right around the corner that they need to be getting their paperwork in. So it’s really the last couple of Wednesdays that they’ll be getting boys signed up and then it’s about getting ready for the event, right?

Speaker 2: (08:30)
Yes sir. I believe they did. Is this coming Monday?

Speaker 1: (08:32)
And you know, one of the things that I wanted to speak to you about was just the idea of getting ready because, and what I mean by that is there’s all the things, the details that have to go into with the the food and your camp entrance and all the camping gear and the clothing and packing lists and all that stuff. But you know, when you look at maybe even the, the past mission statement of Rangers reach, keep and teach boys for Jesus Christ. Well, one of the things that I’ve been amazed about is that powwow will be no shortage of opportunities for that. You have to really be preparing yourself mentally and spiritually to handle the opportunities that God gives you. And that starts weeks in advance, doesn’t it?

Speaker 2: (09:18)
Any situation that you can come across with the boys or with other men, because let’s face it, it’s pretty there. There are conflicts that we run into. There are troubles with everything from a broken down car to people just having disagreements and everything else. So on the staff level, being prepared so that we can get past all those interference things. I look at him as just interference to why we’re there and why we’re there just to reach those kids. So yeah, you have to have all the distractions out of the way so that you can do what they’re really called to do.

Speaker 1: (09:48)
Exactly. You know, I was thinking about it a little, an analogy today. I used to run a lies, actually run a few marathons and I’ve had some people along the, uh, over the years that have asked me, uh, you know, give him some advice and things like that. Well, one of the things that I would tell them is when you’re running with your, your buddies or you have a small group that meets, and usually a typical week would look like this commander Doug, you would maybe run say four miles on Monday. You’d run six miles on Tuesday, you know, for me, Wednesday was off. You would run, uh, maybe another six miles on Thursday, a couple miles on Friday, and then Saturday morning would be the big run. And when you get to these points where it’s a 15 mile run, you really had to be thinking about it early on Monday.

Speaker 1: (10:34)
You’re kind of mentally preparing that on that day because what I knew would happen, and this happened may times as you would show up on Saturday if we all just said, you know what? Let’s get to Saturday and just feel decided what we’re going to do based on how we felt that day. Well, I can tell you this, that most of us would feel like running five or six miles and a of course we would do that and accomplish it, but when we had planned ahead mentally that the race to run that Saturday was 15 we always hit that goal and so there’s something really valuable there about preparing yourself mentally and spiritually. Like you said, getting in the word, being in your devotions and I can promise you having done this a few years, and I know you would chime in and say the same thing, that through, you’ll be amazed at how your devotions in your Bible study will begin to to correlate to the things that are getting ready to happen to pow and it happened at powwow. You’ll have the word necessary to speak to that young man or that Fella commander that will inspire them, pour into their life and and help meet that need that he’s, he’s working through in his part of his life.

Speaker 2: (11:40)
Yes, and in the running theme is a great analogy. She would have to win a race. We are in a race. It’s a race of life, but if you would prepare your in that way, God will certainly give you wisdom to be able to handle any situation that you’d come up while you were at Palo Alto on while you were in any other with even on a Wednesday night. If we’re prepared, we obviously have the answer no matter what type of situation when you run into, whether it be to be able to minister to a child, whatever the situation is, if we’re prepared, God will give us the wisdom to be able to handle that situation.

Speaker 1: (12:13)
Yeah. Amen to that. I was talking with a young mom who’s fairly new in our outposts and uh, she’s a single mom and has a, a discovery ranger and I think he’s a fifth grader, but never been any to any camping event and was really struggling with the decision to send him. It was really nervous about it. And so we, I just talked to her a little bit and shared with her what was going to happen and how our outpost, you know, handle newcomers and told her that she, you know, she, he was going to have a great time there. And as I was thinking about him and the other boys his age, because we’re really just talking about even at that age, you’re looking at say getting very close to the 10 year old and did you know commander Dung that that 10 years of age as the average smart phone user,

Speaker 2: (12:59)
it blows your mind. Seems like it continues to get younger.

Speaker 1: (13:03)
It does. And you know, it’s, by the way, that was a, uh, that was a 2016 pole. So it could be much, much higher, could be lower than that. But here was the other thing that jumped off the page. To me, 53 hours is the average teenage screen time on a smartphone

Speaker 2: (13:22)
a week certainly speaks to a lot of things in our society, doesn’t it? Our children and our teenagers bio and include or on their phone a lot. We didn’t have those things when we were kids. So it’s a totally different generation that we’re bringing up. I mean, every generation is different, but they certainly do have many more options to keep them, to keep their mind distracted.

Speaker 1: (13:47)
And you’re right, you know, as you guys, your team begins to develop new things for power, new ideas, new ways to handle because the culture is changing. And so the technology’s there and even though the challenges that these young men will face may be the same, how they’re challenging and how the enemy exposes them to them and how often they’re exposed. That’s what’s different. And that’s why Rangers has to be ready to address those as they come. But one of the things that I’m always amazed about commander Doug is that creation, what are the playground God made for us is still as relevant and useful and valid and kids love it. And you may, you can take a kid that, let’s say he does have that 53 hours of screen time per week on it, on a smartphone and put them out in that environment where there’s the peace river and all of the events and activities and the services. And it is amazing to watch them disconnect and unplug from that technology and really begin to build relationships with new friends and their fellow patrols and commanders.

Speaker 2: (14:54)
Well, we definitely do have a hundred unique opportunity with many children. Never experiences outdoors to show him the things that they can do in the outdoors that we have the ability to show that at our cake and other ranger activities that we go on. I know many churches do many various activities that are centered around canoeing, backpacking, hiking, whatever it might be. And a lot of these kids have never been outside. We have kits in our office that has never ever thought about sleep upside, did have never left them out. Their mom or their dad that have never had to even boil water, much less try to watch cooking in the outdoors or whatever else is that we’re going to be doing. And in our particular outpost, the, it’s just a totally new experience, but there are very few over all the years I’ve been involved that if come home and told me they just don’t like it and they don’t want to go back because when you show them a good time, even if it’s something that they’ve never experienced before, they still enjoy it. It might be totally new to them and they might have never been that dirty in their life. But if they have fun, that’s all that matters.

Speaker 1: (16:01)
That’s right. And you know, you’re right, commander Doug, even in just a small outpost, you will see kids that you’ll see the uh, the band kid. You’ll see a young, young man that maybe his thing is sports and athletics. You’ll see some that are into video games and computers and you’ll see some that really enjoy cooking around the fire. And so all these different personality types and the one central theme of being out in the outdoors and enjoying God’s creation, it seems to bring all of those personalities together in a way that I don’t think anything else can do.

Speaker 2: (16:36)
The relationships with children that spending the outpost at church don’t get along, but when they’re audited on a fishing trip are out. Testimonial, whether it be on a backpacking event on church or whether it be a camping in our church, just how much those same two children can get along when they’re not a row. Some of the peers that may influence someone, they’re not around this sitting in the classroom learning, teaching when they’re just out there in the outdoors, experiencing what God intended, hoarder

Speaker 1: (17:04)
and even those cultural pressures. In other words, it’s just like you said that the football team quarterback will be sitting around the campfire having a great time with the marching band sousaphone player and in school, you know, I would be like cultural suicide or it, but whereas when we get out into the raw ranger events and at Camp Wilderness, all of those things kind of disappear and everybody’s on this really level playing field and you see those cultural norms kind of breakdown and relationships form that normally wouldn’t. So really fun. Fun to see. Well, commander Doug, what’s new at how this year as far as uh, events? I know some of the slides back. You have anything else planned?

Speaker 2: (17:48)
Oh, there a couple of years

Speaker 1: (17:50)
we’re hoping to have full together. Uh, we have to try and facilitate budgets that we put in. Another one of the biggest things that we have the kids who really have liked us to dodge ball game that we have. So we built another one of those this year during it around separating the agents so that we don’t have all the younger discovery on the older events rangers. So we’re setting it up that way. I think we’re even going to have a ton of walking there from each of you. Just are interested in doing that. Just a different other activities that we’re doing as far as I think some of the typical things that they’ve bought, they run a different things that we have in the past. I don’t know. As far as you can play with growing new slides you mentioned that was the most change we made the year. Yeah. We’ve always loved the uh, human foosball. That’s always a big winner.

Speaker 2: (18:33)
Yeah, that’s been good too. We actually did get a few years ago. It’s been well received. So I think those really the dodgeball and not, or two of the biggest draws that we have currently. Um, so that’s why we bought the other dodge ball.

Speaker 1: (18:45)
I know I’ll have a team of discovery ranger dodge ball players this year, so we’ll see how I can I do with my uh, drs and but something else. You’ve been doing new, we’ve been doing separate services for years now, so we’ve got the main service, but then we also have for the high school boys, but you’re doing something even different than that and you’re separating out another service for just the range of kids, right?

Speaker 2: (19:10)
Yes sir. This will be the first time we’ve tried that. We felt that we’d been having more and more. Ranger Texas comes for the entire time and even some that just didn’t for Saturday night, which didn’t use to happen. We didn’t use to have them there. So we felt the need. After discussing with the staff last year and decided that we’re going to have a separate ranger Kidd service, it will be inside the lodge. We have children’s pastor going to be facilitating it and we have a team put together that is going to in there helping him. I do not, most nights it will be actually bought. So pipe and drape personage of the lodge. The main part of the lodge. So there’ll be in an enclosed area keeping them away from the first date area. So people that have to go to first dates can still get there without distracting your service, have a little stage set up, kind of backed up to that. And we have complete wall on the other side where they’ll kind of closed it in so we can keep a good eye on them, have their own service geared around their age so it will be presented Jesus to them. Their level.

Speaker 1: (20:03)
Yeah. And it’s so super smart. I really think this is going to be a great asset to power in general, but, and also I think in the line you just have some add in resources there for that age group to keep them entertained and active and up and moving. And because really with the, the breaking of the teen services, that’s been so successful and it’s been amazing. I’ve had a lot of fun participating with that and watching young men really dealing with some tough things. And that’s the w what’s great is that it gives that age appropriate message that reaches those boys exactly where they are in the age group that they’re with and with peers that can be there to help shoulder those burdens, pray with them and support them.

Speaker 2: (20:48)
Sure. We’ve been, we’ve really been happy with the success of that. It took us a couple of years to really get it really kicked off the first couple of years where, you know, kind of hard because people didn’t know about it for one reason or the other reason that we denounced it and people weren’t as receptive to maybe separate their outposts and let them go to multiple services. And I think with the ranger kids, it’ll be the same way. You know, I’m not, don’t get as good a participation this year, but we do it a couple of years. I think it, it should really kick off and do the same thing is enabled the younger children to be able to really be ministered to on their level, which is, which is the goal. I mean, you know, present Jesus to them on their level where they understand,

Speaker 1: (21:24)
yeah, no, you’re right. And just the different challenges that they face even at their young age. So those are big things and, and I appreciate what your team’s done with that. Well, I want to tell you just a big thank you from the ranger podcasts, just being able to again, be one of the power sponsors again this year. We’ve got some exciting news, some business partners. I’m also come alongside with us and have given us some products that we can give away. One of those is Kershaw knives. I’ll tell you what’s interesting about that. Commander died when they were the first business partner to step up and say, hey, we’re willing to, to, uh, give some knives to the boys and to the commanders. Their motto is be ready for everything.

Speaker 1: (22:07)
So when I saw that, okay. Yeah, you guys have, you guys have tapped into the right group. I think you would agree with this. Commander Doug. What I think is is fun is you’ve got these companies, these awesome American companies that appreciate what we do and are willing to put some skin, in this case, some products in the game and I think the boys and commanders were really appreciate that because sometimes you do, you, you feel a little like you’re the outsider and you, you kind of wonder what companies and things think about what you’re accomplishing and it just feels good. It feels good when you have big outfits like that come alongside of you and really support what we do. So I’m excited about that.

Speaker 2: (22:46)
No, I think that’s a great thing and we certainly appreciate any of the sponsors you have on the podcast from both sides alongside us and lending their support. And it is a very big thing that they do see validity in what we’re doing because let’s face it, today’s generation of young men and boys have a really hard road ahead of them with the changes we see coming in the world on a meeting the last 15 or 20 years, it’s amazing how much the world has changed and how much more difficult to place it is for those young men to live up in lives. And without Jesus there, it’s going to be impossible. So with these, these groups that are sponsoring you give product away through our organization, it, it does make you feel really good to know that they are standing behind you and there are companies in the u s that are willing to stand behind what we’re doing. So you’re 100% correct. It certainly doesn’t make you feel good.

Speaker 1: (23:35)
And we’ve got some. So along with the knives, we’ve also got a company called chill though, and their mission statement is a little more fun. It’s, it’s, they’re on a mission to perfect the art of chilling. So these are actually backpackers and it just adventure seekers that were kind of, you know, really buy into the, hey, we needed to put our smart phones down and we need to get back to the outdoors. And so they’ve made some of these big inflatable loungers. I don’t know if you saw the one I had last year in our camp site, but I bought one and gave it to the ers and I thought, you know what, if the ers don’t destroy this, then we’ve got a product. And certainly enough I was able to bring it home. But it’s, you kind of have to run down the street a little bit and it fills the bags so you know with air and then you can, you can, uh, it’s almost like a hammock and you can float down the river in it.

Speaker 1: (24:23)
And so it’ll be fun. Great place for to have this kind of item is his camp wilderness. And then lastly is a company called wise owl outfitters. And this is a really neat family operation based out of Tennessee. They basically were. Yeah, and you can probably relate to this commander Doug that you know, you get all this camping gear together and then you look at the look at your receipt and you go, how much was that that it just, it can be really expensive to gather the gear to do some of these fun outdoor activities and so why is our outfit or said, hey, you know what, we’re going to build high quality products made right here in the United States that are affordable and so they’ve given us some hammocks and, and you know as well as I do commanded Doug that the hammock camping type things, they’re all over power there.

Speaker 2: (25:14)
Sure. We have all kinds of people do and I think it’s a interesting concept. I see people, even outside of this that we have at our camp, you go to different parts and things. When you see people with hammocks set up ever Marcel, that’s an interesting concept that they have to try to market that in an affordable way because like you said, the cost of, let’s face it, if you, if you go out with a brand new kit and you outpaced who wants to go to the first time, it can, it can be really expensive because I’m telling you faith for food registration fees, if they don’t have a sleeping bag and they don’t have any camping equipment at all, it adds up quickly. So the fact that this company is trying to reach out and make it affordable for people. So pizza.

Speaker 1: (25:55)
Yeah, that’s awesome. Well come in and Doug, uh, I, I want to make good use of your time here and I know you’ve got to go, but I can’t let you leave without at least giving a shout out to the districts premiere summer camp. And that is summer merit camp, which is also on the horizon and is going to be a ton of fun.

Speaker 2: (26:15)
Yes, It’s four days of action and adventure that are like no other event we offer. My son has been and participated in the camp several years and he’s been on the staff with you the last couple of years and he comes home bragging about the things that he did and how much he can’t wait to do it again this summer. So we appreciate it.

Speaker 1: (26:40)
And Commander Doug’s son is a unbelievable athlete too. So one of the events that we always do every year is this. We call this the savage maniac challenge and it’s an obstacle course race. And the older boys have really compete heavily with this. And, and uh, commander Doug’s son, uh, he’s definitely one that Po puts up a time that is very hard to compete with. So we love having him. But uh, you know, our tagline commander Doug is word adventure fuels advancement. And so I appreciated the way that you send that is it real is a camp that’s full of adventure and fun, but at the end of it you will have walked away advancing your, your success and royal rangers along that advancement trail like you can’t do anywhere else. I always say that it’s about 26 weeks of merits and you earn them in four days

Speaker 2: (27:34)
I don’t know of any Royal Ranger venue where they can go in six merits in four days and have and be sitting down or consumed thinking about, oh my gosh, it’s so much work to have to, because the way you and Wayne’s team ties it up, it’s just all geared around fun and adventure and doing things outdoors with other boys. In most cases they’ve just met some of these boys. But humor again with foreign relationships with our kids that they don’t even know when they’re forming relationships with the leaders. And these relationships are ones that can last a lifetime, so it’s a great, it’s a great way for these boys.

Speaker 1: (28:12)
One of the Maoris this year, commander dog is repelling and we have been offered and the sheriff’s department repelling training center and they’re actually going to provide one of their trainers, longtime trainers there. So you know, think about that. I mean to be able to do the repelling merit at a professional facility with professional trainers, it just is amazing way to get it done and you’ll know that you’ll walk away from that merit having they an experience that’s be very difficult for any of us to do at any of our own outposts at home. And so the districts able to pull that together and make it happen on a scale that’s very hard to do in it at a single outpost.

Speaker 2: (28:55)
I think up north where there’s mountains and things, obviously they have the ability even to put it onto themselves, but in Florida it’s a big deal to be able to do those kind of things that we typically just don’t have the right.

Speaker 1: (29:05)
Exactly. Well Commander Dung, I appreciate you so much. Taking the time out to to be on the show tonight. We love supporting you in love supporting the district. All of the stories that many of the audience members have heard about. Commander Wayne and myself and some of the trouble that we get ourselves into all happen right here in Penn, Florida. So we’re grateful to be under your leadership and thank you for all that you do.

Speaker 2: (29:29)
Well, we appreciate all the leadership, all the leaders in all the local outposts and you guys do an extremely good job with the things that you do. Some American no. So we just try to work together to it together, this great team to reach kids and we appreciate every single one them.

Speaker 1: (29:45)
Thank you commander Doug. Audience members. You know we’re going to be not only continue to talk about power as we get up to that date, but we’re going to be recording and podcasting live from pow this year. And a commander Doug has told me that he is going to make an effort to be back on the show during powwow. So we’re going to do our best to hold them to that. So stay tuned and listen in and come back and check us out and make sure you check out our Facebook page and subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. And that will, you’ll be notified when all of these shows posts. You’ll be able to follow along there. Well, thanks so much. Or Doug, I will see you soon down at Camp Wilderness.

Speaker 2: (30:23)
Well, thank you very much for having me, Randy. It was a pleasure. We’ll see you soon. Many lives will be changed.