Our annual Shoot Straight Men’s Retreat was the best it’s been so far! Experience, they say, is the best teacher, and when it comes to improving this retreat every year, we couldn’t agree more!
Thirty-nine men and young men (8+) came for a weekend of bows and arrows, walking the woods and being encouraged by those fabulous Benham Brothers. Whether experienced or not, shooting the bows was an experience the men enjoyed, even if some of them admitted to having sore muscles by the end!
The event started with some dart throwing for the young men and hatchet throwing for the grown men! Hitting the target can be harder than you think, but they enjoyed their turn at trying!
Later in the evening, the guys were given a bunch of tickets to enter the giveaways, which were held all throughout the weekend! There’s nothing quite like the suspense of hearing those numbers called out, watching them match up across the ticket, and your heartbeat quickening when you realize your number has been called! YESSSSS!
The Benham Brothers shared encouragement throughout the weekend, offering the young and grown alike the challenge of walking in godly manhood through the sharing of their own experiences and walk with the Lord.
Saturday morning, after a hearty and delicious breakfast, the guys headed to the field to practice shooting their bows! We had guys who were at a hunting level, which means they hit the bulls eye a bunch! We had guys who haven’t shot since last year’s retreat, and still others who hadn’t shot a bow before ever! The competition was friendly and I don’t think anyone felt out of place because of their experience level!
After lunch, the guys were broken into teams and the tournament began. Most of the 3D targets get sprinkled throughout the woods of our paintball course, with a few out in the open just outside the woods. Hiking around the property to shoot at the 20 target locations is about as fun as trying to hit the animals striking a pose!
We heard the guys mention how they enjoyed the intimate atmosphere and being able to get to know the other guys at the retreat. Not feeling overwhelmed with a crowd helped them each relax just a bit more, which is the point of such a weekend!
If you like what you’ve seen here and want to be in on next year’s retreat, block off the weekend of October 4-6, 2019 and plan to join us! We’d love to have you be a part of escaping the noise and encountering God’s whisper in the woods of Whisper Mountain Camp.
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