Adventure Rangers

"Young-un" goes home to be with the Lord.

For over 20 years, Phil Wayman was the key figure in the Northwest leading,
training, and promoting Royal Rangers. To him, everyone was "young-un". With
his big, infectious smile, he would wrap his Oklahoma farm boy arm around you and
whisper, "You know Jesus loves you?" Phil had a way of getting right to the point. And
the thousands of boys and men who knew him, loved him.

Phil passed away at age 88, July 10, 2010. He leaves a legacy that will live on for years to come. He was District Commander from the beginning in 1962 until passing the baton to Rev. Bob Unruh. Phil lived in Lacy, WA attending Faith Assembly and leading devotions with boys in the local outpost right into his eighties. He loved Jesus and he loved boys, but he especially loved bringing boys to meet Jesus. Besides serving as District Commander, Phil also led many training events such as National Training Camps, Training Trails, and countless Leadership Training sessions.

Phil traveled abroad on at least 4 missions trips serving the local missionary and helping plant or train Royal Rangers in those countries.

Faith Assembly in Lacey hosted a memorial service on Friday, July 16 with about 250 people in attendance; many in Royal Ranger uniforms. The boys from local outpost 286 brought in the flags and led the congregation in the standard 3 flag salutes. Pastor Dan Secrist led the service sharing many stories and accomplishments from Phil's life. Songs were sung by Phil's grandsons, James and John Roberts. Special recognition was given to Alma Wayman, Phil's wife for all the years of support and prayer she gave throughout Phil's years of ministry. Certainly his ministry would not have been so impactful, had it not been for her strength, love and prayers. Thank you Alma! After a brief slide show of Phil's life, the congregation stood and sang Amazing Grace.

Phil was my mentor. As a young children's pastor coming out of Northwest College, Phil took me under his wing to lead, train, and encourage in ministry. I was only one of many for whom Phil did the same thing. We all say "Thank You, Phil" and we pledge to do our best to live up to the standard of excellence you set for us.

Certainly the Lord has welcomed you Home with the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

by Dean Kimber

Parley had a new venue this year as 100 boys and 60 leaders from all four west side divisions came together for two days of fun, adventure, and fellowship. Everyone had a great time seeing how the Northwest mountain men of the 1800's lived and worked and got to join in with hands on activities.

Friday afternoon was spent among tall fir trees setting up tents, putting the camp site together, and having dinner. As darkness settled, everyone joined by the council fire for worship, songs, and a great message by Chad Laffey "Swift River" about how we all have gifts and talents. Afterwards there were S'mores back at the camp sites and then lights out.

In the morning a bugle reveille was blown and it was time to get up, get breakfast and then gather for morning worship and another message by Swift River about making the right choices. The rest of the day was filled with fun in the mountain man village where there was candle making, working iron in the forge area, shaping a long bow, trading beads, furs and other goods, and some story telling by the men in buckskins. Outside the tent village there was a trail walk with knife and tomahawk targets, an archery range, and a chance to shoot a black powder rifle.

The day wrapped up with everyone gathered one last time to receive prizes for the shooting and throwing events and then it was time to "load up the wagons" and go home. A big thank you goes to our hosts, The Tacoma Sportsman Club, for letting us use their picnic area and archery and shooting ranges.See you next year.

It's coming this July - Ranger Camp 2009! The special date is July 8-11, 2009, and the theme is "the AmazinG race". The theme will explore the race we are up against to get the good news of Jesus Christ to all the world, and how Royal Rangers is accomplishing that it other countries.

Speaking of Royal Rangers in other countries, our camp speaker this year is the National Director, Doug Marsh! He was the first Royal Rangers missionary ever. He's excited to share with you the Word of Life, beginning with our camp scripture - 1 Corinthians 9:24. We all run to get a prize, but what is the prize? It's eternal life in Christ Jesus and bringing others along to share the prize with us.

Expect to see some pictures soon on the hat and shirt combo for this year's camp - they're awesome! There should also be a video popping up after National Council with Doug Marsh, so stay tuned! There are some exciting and fresh changes this year in Ranger Camp that will make this the most memorable camp ever. It all comes with a free prize!

On behalf of our Network Commander Ken Gray a special "Hats Off" to all the people who came this past Saturday, October 11th to the Network (District) Ranger Of The Year event which was held at the Central Assembly in Yakima, WA. The leaders who helped out are to be commended and were fantastic in their evaluations. But even more so, each Ranger boy who came is especially honored to be our new "Network Rangers of the Year" for 2007 - 2008. In all we had 21 nominations.

We as members of the Network ROTY staff are proud to be part of this great recognition event. These young men demonstrated to us that they have learned much this past year and accordingly impressed us with their many accomplishments. Below are the results of the 2008 ROTY event. Unless noted, each boy below scored in the Excellent category (just below 85%). Boys noted as Outstanding scored 85% or higher.

Discovery Rangers:

• Matthew Cumpston, Zillah, #398
• Larry Norris III, Longview, #168
• Austin Owen, Yakima, #162
• Cutter Wurl, Wenatchee, #150

Adventure Rangers:

• Wyatt Sunkel, Bremerton, #72
• Thomas West, Bothell, #64
• Mathew West, Bothell, #64
• Christian Lundeen, Wenatchee, #150

Expedition Rangers:

• Alex Walter, Port Angeles, #147 "Outstanding"
• John Chau, Vancover, #61
• Neil Gregg, Yakima, #357

In addition, each boy has received an appropriate district medallion and name tag he can proudly wear on his Royal Ranger uniform. The medallions and name tags are indicators that each boy did a terrific job this past year and is justly deserving to wear them.

Finally, the following boys have been invited to go to the Regional Ranger of the Year. This event will be held at Stone Church in Yakima on the 7nd and 8th of November. They are:

• Wyatt Sunkel (Adventure)
• Thomas West (Adventure)
• Alex Walter (Expedition)
• John Chau (Expedition)

To each of them, good luck, keep studying, and God Bless.

Fall is just around the corner; back to school, brightly colored trees, football, and RANGER OF THE YEAR!.

Ranger of the Year is a time where boys come together to show their knowledge and skill in Royal Rangers. It is not a test against other boys, but a measure of progress each boy is making toward the Level of Excellence. All boys can earn the highest award of Outstanding Ranger of the Year based on the points he scores.

Below is an informative document that provides detailed instructions for boys and commanders, application form, point break downs, medals and certificates available.

Levels of evaluation are:

• Outpost - boys complete the application form accumulating points for activities and advancements.
• Divisional - boys gather within a geographical area bringing their application points and through tests and demonstrations, earn more points.
• Network - All boys who score a certain point total may attend the ROTY day in Yakima to again participate in further evaluation areas to earn points

For those who may not have participated in ROTY before, contact your Divisional Coordinator who can answer questions and give advice of how to be prepared.

Divisional Evaluations occur September 27th.

Network evaluation is October 11, Central Assembly, Yakima, WA.

On July 19th, 2008 at Hillcrest Assembly of God in Bremerton, Wa, 5 Rangers from the South Sound Division received their Gold Medal of Achievement (GMA). The GMA is the highest and most sought after achievement a Royal Ranger can earn.

The recipients are:
John Burton - Outpost 330
Robert Holm - Outpost 330
Cody Shaputis - Outpost 72
Justin Shaputis - Outpost 72
Ryan Silva - Outpost 72

Ranger Camp 2008 was again, another great 4 day camp filled with beautiful natural surroundings, challenging events, powerful evening services and overcoming the challenges of nature. Attendance was 520 boys and leaders camped at Stonewater Ranch near Plain, WA.

Outposts traveled from the 4 corners of the Northwest Network bringing a collage of color to the valley floor with tents, dining canopies, teepees, and what have you. The air was full of excited voices as boys "palled" around the camp using sticks for walking, poking things, and for imaginary weapons fending off monsters and would be enemies. (Things all boys have done since the dawn of time). Some brought out baseball mits or soccer balls, and the games began. Others beat the heat by wading the shallow creek finding all sorts of little "critters".

Mealtime brought tantalizing aromas of sizzling bacon, perking coffee, or BBQ burgers to name a few. It pays to walk around with a cup and spoon; you never know what might be offered at the next camp!

Each day had an activity schedule for boys to enjoy. Marksman events included sling shot, BBgun paintball, .22 rifle, and others. In the Field Event area included the popular bottle rocket launch, plus inflatables. The FCF village had frontiersmen showing boys skills of our American pioneer heritage.

When evening came, it was off to the Arena for the evening service. Besides the usual elements like songs, worship, and introductions of new FCF members and JLTA boys, there was the pageant presentation, Start Your Engines". The stage was a car racetrack format with 2 rival teams pitted against each other to win the championship trophy. Each team had a garage to work on their car, then the race announcer would take over while the drivers took the track. In the end, who do you think took the trophy? The honest team, or the one that cheated? Of course! Plus, all boys saw how trusting in the Lord was the most important decision in life. Pastor Shawn Backus of Soundlife Church in Tacoma brought the message each night which powerfully challenged boys to deeper relationship with Christ. This, of course, is one of the main reasons Ranger Camp exists, to see boys make those decisions and experience God in a personal, powerful way! And the Lord did meet us with a fresh outpouring of His Spirit.

Did I mention weather challenges? Not only did the campers need to deal with the usual 90 degree heat, but on Thursday of camp, the wind kicked up a howl knocking over trees and demolishing tents and dining canopies. One 60 foot tall Cottonwood crashed the Concession Tent and tore one door off Commander Ken Gray's equipment trailer. PRAISE THE LORD, injuries were minimal. Just moments before the tree came down, many boys were right where it was going to land. But because of a small mishap, that area was cleared of all people temporarily. Then, C R A S H !!! The Lord protected us from having more serious injuries.

Out in the field, the 40 mph winds wreaked havoc with tents and dining canopies. Most outposts had something that was ripped or damaged. The look of frustration was on the faces of many men as they sorted through the wreckage. It makes us wonder "why Lord"? We don't know the answer, but sometimes there are challenges which test our faith and commitment. This was definitely one of those tests. And our boys and men passed with flying colors!

Thanks goes to the great team of leaders who coordinated the camp, events, and services. The Lord willing we'll be back again for Ranger Camp 2009.