Kids Outdoor Zone

It was a glorious morning for my introduction with the crowd from Kids Outdoor Zone (KOZ) ministries. There were about 15 boys in the crowd—which I’m told was a little lower than normal. They ranged in age from eight to 18. There were about half as many dads and church men hanging around doing various chores.

The back of my truck was loaded down with all sorts of gear. I had center stage to teach these boys about trapping on Saturday, May 10 in Newton County not too far north of I-20.

To up the odds at our chance for a live visual aid, my buddy Travis Wade and I met 24 hours earlier and deployed eight dog-proof raccoon traps just down the hill from where my trapping demo would take place.

I arrived by 7:30 the next morning, and by 8, the boys starting filing out of vehicles as mamas sped away to enjoy quiet mornings. Everything was lining up just perfectly… sort of. There was one minor hiccup, at least in my aging eyes. It was raining, not sprinkling or some hit and miss stuff. It was the weekend middle Georgia got 5 inches of rain. From 7:30 until I left at 12:30, it never stopped—not once.

“We meet rain or shine,” Travis told me the week of our event as I was eyeing that forecast. Ever set traps in the pouring down rain? Not exactly on top of my bucket list, but I was game.

The KOZ crew made wonderful provisions with tarps for my demo and ponchos for the boys, although I would quickly learn that boys in that age bracket really don’t mind becoming wringing wet before lowering their standards and adorning a rain suit. To be young again…

KOZ’s founder is a guy named T.J. Greaney. He lives out in Texas but had a vision to begin a ministry that would use hunting and fishing as a way to reach boys for Jesus—wherever that led across the world.

According to KOZ’s website, “KOZ provides men of your church with training and curriculum to mentor boys using outdoor adventure.”

KOZ chapters are tied to local churches, and training is required.

“After training, the men plan their monthly meetings/adventures with the boys based on the monthly curriculum provided.”

The KOZ program began because of the huge need for fatherless boys to have positive male role models. While not all KOZ chapters are exclusively for boys without a father in the home, boys without a male role model are certainly close to the heart of KOZ’s founder.

“Today, over 40% of the boys in our nation do not have a dad living at home. The lack of this male role model has created a dramatic increase in drug use, school drop-out, pregnancy and more. The average kid also spends 40 minutes a week outside, 70 hours in front of a screen. This trend is creating an unhealthy mental, physical and spiritual population among our boys today. It is at catastrophic levels.”

According to the website, KOZ has four chapters in Georgia, and I was asked to visit with the Newton County group. The host church for the chapter is Journey Church in Oxford, where Pastor Chad Caldwell is very involved with the outdoor program.

“A friend called me out of the blue and said he’d like to start an outdoor ministry for kids. He didn’t know I was wanting to start an outdoor ministry for boys,” said Chad. “We got together and began to pray about it. That’s when we found out about KOZ.”

Currently, the men leading the Newton County chapter are focused on those boys 8 to 18, either with or without fathers in the picture. However, a burden on this crew is still to see boys join them who need that critical male mentor in their lives.

“T.J., KOZ’s founder, has a huge heart for them. I do, too, because I grew up without a father,” said Chad. “The goal is to get all boys 8 to 18 outdoors involved and learning skills they otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to. I’ve found that the fathers who are helping lead the ministry are learning and acquiring new skills along with the boys.”

One thing I really like about KOZ is that if you can shoot it, catch it or trap it, it’s fair game for a topic of learning at their monthly get-togethers.

“Every month we have a different activity. The theme of our first meeting was all things bird hunting. So we taught the boys how to make a duck blind and bird houses,” said Chad. “Last November, one of our guys shot a doe the morning of our gathering. We field-dressed, skinned and quartered it, then threw some on the grill. The boys helped with each step. In March, we took 30 boys fishing, many of them for the first time. In July, we’ll be doing an overnight camping trip. The boys learn firearms safety and how to shoot bows. Pretty much anything pertaining to the outdoors will be taught at some point.”

That’s where I came in: Trapping 101 on a rainy and very chilly morning for mid May.

Our morning started off checking traps. The first three traps were empty, although I started right in with how to set a DP trap, baits to use, location for sets, safety, etc. Our second and final trap check was a little more exciting. A big boar coon was waiting on us and allowed for an in-the-field demo on how to safely dispatch an animal. The raccoon was cleaned in front of the boys, and we even ate it for lunch, along with hamburgers and hot dogs.

My trapping demo was a load of fun and seemed to really catch their interest—of the boys and the grown men. Nobody had any trapping experience so they were eager to learn and ask questions. I went over different trap types, trap prep and some of the various trapping tools needed to get started. The kids really enjoyed watching a 330 conibear trap fire off on a heavy stick.

I concluded with a hands-on demo on how to properly bed a foot-hold trap for coyotes. The boys were then given the opportunity to set their own foot-hold traps. One thing I like about KOZ is that they provide these boys the opportunity to get some real-life dirt under their fingernails. Those hands-on types of experiences are really paying off in the lives of these kids.

“The fruit from starting KOZ here has been amazing,” Chad said. “One of the main tenets of KOZ is teaching the boys to do hard things. We are seeing boys build mental and physical resilience. Not just that but they’re building confidence in hunting and fishing skills. We’re also seeing the dads gain that same confidence. The most important thing, however, is the fact that the boys are exposed to the Gospel every time we gather together.”

It was an honor that Chad asked me to handle the devotion for the morning. I spoke from Matthew 6:19-21 about laying up treasures in Heaven. In the last few years, I have been learning how to tan animal hides. Those are my earthly treasures, and there’s nothing wrong with me enjoying those things, as long as I keep them in perspective and never put them in front of God. I’ve learned that a rewarding part in my life is using those earthly passions and treasures as a way to store up heavenly treasures. What a privilege to share with a group of boys who spent four hours playing in the rain, checking traps, learning to trap, being fed physically and spiritually and learning to be a man, all led by a group of men wanting to help.    

To learn more about KOZ, go to www.kidsoutdoorzone.com. If you want to hear more about the Newton County chapter, they are certainly wanting to grow the number of boys who participate. Chad would enjoy speaking with you at [email protected].