Trail Life is reflected in our motto, “Walk Worthy” from Colossians 1:10—“…that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;…”
We are an adventure group, a scouting troop if you will, but Trail Life is so much more than that. Our mission is to guide generations of courageous young men to honor God, lead with integrity, serve others, and experience outdoor adventure and produce godly and responsible husbands, fathers, and citizens.
What Boys Need
In our ever changing society the traditional role of a man as provider, protector, leader, creator, and warrior is discounted. Boys are growing up in a culture that has no clear definition of masculinity.
Laws and attitudes toward things like the value of an unborn child, conceptions of human sexuality, and the definition of marriage have changed without considering the impact on the next generation. The effects are manifesting in overwhelming shifts in vital statistics. Depression and drug-related deaths are at an all-time high. Depression now affects nearly 33% of Americans (a 285% increase from 2019 to 2021) and drug-related deaths increased by 30% from 2020 to 20212 . Like canaries in the coal mine that suffer first, men and boys are being hit particularly hard. Men account for four out of five suicides in America and double the drug-related deaths. The most rapidly growing suicide rate demographic is boys from the ages of 10-14.
Boys have big questions that routinely go unanswered: “What does it mean to be a man?” “Where do I belong?” “What are my boundaries, and why are they set?” “Why should I even try?”
The Impact of Trail Life
Trail Life USA uses its Proven Process to help boys answer life’s toughest questions and find purpose in what they do. We provide godly mentors and models of what true manhood looks like. These men are trained, background-checked, Christian men who have a heart for mentoring boys.
We take an unapologetically Christian stance, and use the Bible as the foundation for truth.
Trail Life USA provides a boy-focused program with a robust awards program and challenging mental, physical, and spiritual objectives that is specifically designed to accentuate boys’ strengths and let boys be boys!
How does Trail Life make an impact on boys when they are constantly bombarded by the culture that opposes what God has told us in His word is right and wrong?
We sit around a bonfire, after the boys have chopped and gathered the wood, and talk about the shepherds who were likely sitting around bonfires when the angels announced the coming Messiah.
We might take an overnight camping trip where we instill in the boys the right way to do things, according to God’s Word. And we let boys be boys. Boys want to explore, seek out adventure, take a leadership role while working with a team-all of this while not being told to sit down, be quiet and reign in the spirit of adventure.
Trail Life at Cape Community Church
We started in September with 20 boys and our numbers have grown ever since. Some of the parents who attend the meetings are not church related and we present the gospel at every meeting and invite parents and their family to come to church and see what a mighty God we serve.
Our troop has been learning how to properly march in a parade by a father who is an active duty Marine. We packed shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. The boys placed flags on the graves of United States veterans who have passed on during a Memorial Day ceremony and they marched in a parade on Veterans Day. We have a former Boy Scout leader coming in March to teach us how to tie knots and we have a hit the trail event coming up too.
All of these things tie into (no pun intended) showing boys what it means to be a godly boy and a mature godly man.
There is an American Heritage Girls troop that meets at Cape Community Church at the same time as Trail Life providing an opportunity for families to get all of their children involved.
We ask all for prayer that Trail Life would grow and expose more boys to see what living a life serving others can be and that this world offers them nothing compared to what the kingdom of God has set aside for each and every one of us.
Article by Carl Price, Administrator and Trail Life Director at Cape Community Church in Cape May Courthouse, New Jersey. You can find out more about Cape Community Church on their website.
