The Crossing is a program that works to get as many motivated-strong-Christian men as possible involved in the lives of our young men while encouraging them to aggressively seek out God’s purpose in their lives. How do we do this? By having as much fun as possible! In the course of a single weekend, we play AirSoft, go kayaking, target shoot, play chess and card games, and have team-based competitions among other things. We do all these great things while also having two or three very open and honest discussion sessions where we try to grapple with the many hard decisions men face today. We have two of these retreats each year. There is one in the fall and one in the spring. They are two night trips spent on the beautiful 35 acre riverfront family farm of David and Anne Dodson in Tellico Plains.

   The purpose of the weekend will be to encourage our men to live a life based around purpose. Living a life based around purpose is the only way to avoid flailing through life with movements like that of weather vane while never deciding on a direction or taking a stand on principle. While very few middle or high school boys are ready to decide a career or plot out every step of their life, to avoid the indecisiveness so prevalent today, a young man must decide who it is that he is going to be and what it is that he seeks to accomplish in at least the general terms of “What/who do I want people to see me as?”, and “What are the things that I do that have the ability to help or hurt others?”. These are just a couple of the questions we will seek to dive into with the guys over the weekend. 

     The trip will be packed with Airsoft competitions, team challenges, card and competitive games, maybe even a little rafting and hiking (weather providing), and some of the best food you’ve ever eaten. All food and snacks will be provided. It is sure to be a fun and meaningful weekend for both the kids and adults. The High School leadership team will, as always, be taking on a leadership role in setting up events and running the different challenges. The first 20 high school dads and sons that sign up will get a bunk room slot. After that, everybody else gets to tent-camp or can bring hammocks (Enos). All middle school guys will be in tents.