Dear Friends,
“Hey Pops!” he said from the second floor of our home as I walked in the front door at nearly 10:00 p.m.
I looked up and noticed it wasn’t my son but one of his buddies, Cory. At 6’5” tall Cory lived with us for a few weeks earlier in the year, is consistently at our home and has a free invitation to our refrigerator. Cory will probably play college football as a tight end and will start both ways for his high school team. Cory does not know his dad and his step dad lives in another state, separated from his mom.
Within minutes, all seven boys had migrated from our Bonus Room to the Kitchen laughing, joking, and talking football. Besides James, Darby, Colton and Cory were Joe, Conner, and Taylor. Joe was a league champ in track, top finisher in wrestling and will also start both ways on the football team. Conner, at 6’2” and 230 lbs. will be another two-way starter who will most likely go on to play college football. Taylor does not play football but as a junior set the school recordfor the highest scoring basketball game in school history at 31 points.
As I stared at these young men, two things hit me. First, they are the star athletes in their respective high schools. Second, none of them live with their biological dads. Joe’s travels 1000 miles twice a year to see his dad. Conner’s dad lives on the east coast and he hasn’t seen him in years, and Taylor was adopted by a good man and has never met his biological dad. Taylor will be a better man because of his “dad” in his life today. What about Joe? Will his step dad of less than a year step of for his sakes? What about Conner and Cory? Who will be an example of manhood in their life?
The good news is that these boys have been basically living at our house. It is noisy, a little sloppy, the food bill is frightening and Shanna has to regulate teenage boy smells, but these boys have a home here.
As Shanna and I launch this new venture my prayer is that our first letter found you well. Our daily devotional blog continues to grow as we partner with men. We are two months away from launching 9 pairings of men into nearly one hundred men involved in the GHFG, but we have a small crisis. We have more men begging us to let them in than we have groups forcing me to call and audible. I expect possibly more than 200 men in our city involved in The Great Hunt for God by fall.
I would continue to ask that you pray about supporting this new organization. We have about 2 months left of savings and are trusting God for 10 men who will support $100 a month plus the ten thousand dollars needed to purchase office equipment, pay attorney fees, create and update a web page, and market this ministry the way it should be done. Please pray and consider how you can partner as a monthly donor with The Great Hunt for God.
Making a difference,
Jim Ramos
