Prattville church uses hunting event to ‘show God’s love’ to teenage boys

The great outdoors provided an ideal setting for Glynwood Baptist Church, Prattville, to minister to two young men the first weekend of January.
The Autauga Baptist Association church used Jan. 4–6 for a hunting event at the Autauga Creek Hunting Club near Prattville.

But Mike Denning, associate pastor of Glynwood Baptist, said the weekend was about more than hunting. “The best part of the weekend to me was spending time with the boys and showing them God’s love on a personal level,” he said.

Denning and several church members accomplished that by spending time with and witnessing to James Segers, 13, and a 15-year-old boy from the Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries (ABCH).
The second boy was invited based on the recommendation of Bobby Smith, ABCH’s south Alabama area director, who chose someone he felt would enjoy the event.  “This young man had never been hunting or even camping,” Denning noted.

For Segers, who spent almost three months in Children’s Hospital in Birmingham in 2007 for treatment of a heart infection, the weekend was a chance for him to return to activities he enjoys like hunting.
Segers, who attends Glynwood, said he started hunting last year but this was his first opportunity to sit in a camouflaged shooting tent and wear camouflage. “I had a really good time because I met new people,” Segers said. Along with him and his father and the boy from ABCH and his house parent, three boys, who are members of Glynwood, and their fathers camped, learned about hunting safety, hunted deer and enjoyed nature.

Plans to expand
Following a cookout the night of Jan. 4, Denning shared his testimony and the importance of an individual’s walk with the Lord.
Jeff Green — a deacon at Glynwood and an employee of Resource Land Management Co., which owns the land where the boys hunted — shared his testimony the next night.
Segers believes the sharing had an impact — he knows it did on him. “I think it reached out to everybody there,” he said.

Local businesses donated approximately $150 in hunting clothing and equipment for the two boys, and church members provided food and a camper for the weekend.
Denning plans to follow up with the boys and would like to expand the ministry to other youth in the future. “Jesus went to the people right where they were with the intention of sharing His love,” he said.

EDITOR’S NOTE — For privacy reasons, names of guests at the ABCH cannot be published.