Everybody, welcome back to The Covenant Eyes Podcast. We are so glad to have you joining us. We have a great guest joining us today. Mark Hancock is joining us. Rob. He's a favorite of ours. Absolutely. I mean, when you talk about dads and young men, such an issue and such a such a big topic and, we loved, love to talk about this. So, Mark, thanks for joining us. Mark, by the way, is the CEO of Trail Life. Yeah. And, so, Mark, tell us a little bit about yourself and, your ministry with Trail Life. I love to let me start with Kevin and and thank you for what it is that you guys do have. I have two sons. They're now 25 and 23. And we've had been fans and and customers of Covenant Eyes for years. And so I appreciate the changes that you've done, the way that you've you've changed with technology to keep up with things. And it's just been a wonderful thing. Now they're both married and I still get my weekly covenant. So think of it for what it is. You see. You. You know, trail off USA. I've been privileged to lead for 11 years now. We launched in 2014 and ironically, we're in the place where, in 2013, the Boy Scouts of America met here in this building and decided to change our membership standards. Yes. Which led to, what we've seen happen, what we call downward growth. Yeah, they've gone from over 7 million members now under a million members. Yeah. Because of those decisions. And so trail, I've started out of that. And so it's kind of neat to be back in this building where that you were where our family was so depressed when Boy Scouts made their change. But out of that, God launched Trail Life. That's right. As an unapologetically Christian, boy focused organization, we believe boys and girls are different, that they need our focus and our on our attention. And we've just grown crazy. Gross. Almost 70,000 members in all 50 states, over 1300 churches now participating in trail USA across the country. So always love to talk with you guys about real life. Yeah, awesome. But you also have some devotional resources. You said that. So I'm going to show this one. This one is, 101 devotions for dads with boys. You said one or 2 or 2 of one. Yeah, I'm one of those. Okay. It's coming out as well. So this is a great resource. Talk to us about how dads are using this with their boys. What does it look like practically? It's a neat book because it's called Trail Ready 100 devotions, 101 devotions for dads with boys. And it was written to a dad who has a son. Okay. And so it's not for him to do with his son necessarily, but it's written together. Understand, understand because we're in a culture that discounts men and boys. Yes. And boys are treated as if there's some sort of a defective girl or something. So this is helping to remind dads on a daily basis of the wonder and the marvel of a boy. Yeah, he's not just a defective girl. He is actually his own beautiful thing. Yes. And he's he's made different. But but we we we know how active boys like to be. And also dads are the sun. So every devotion has a page. It's a one day hike that a dad can do with a son, somewhere. And so, yes, men have used it. I was really blessed one day to see, somebody reach out to me through Facebook and sent me a picture of he and his son in Hawaii. Oh, wow. On the trail that was in the picture and that devotion in that spot. And he's smiling and holding the book up, saying, here's my son and I taking this one day hike as I read this devotional today. Wow, that's just beautiful. So I love seeing dads get in the outdoors with their sons. And of course, Trail Life is an outdoor organization, so that just made made sense for us. Yeah. That yeah. Yeah, that's that's an important resource. Because if guys if men don't get involved with raising their sons up and we see it so much in our culture today, we're really missing it. So thank you for that. Well, it's hard. It is for it is. Dads figure out how to connect with their sons. Yeah. You can't. I remember trying to play a video game with my sons. I was like, forget it. I do not have the time in it to be competitive. It was just Minecraft wasn't even this great. It was just, you know, so I'll just go over here and build a chicken coop and you guys do whatever you're doing. I guess I, I just could not keep up. Yeah. You got to do this and do that. No, I'm just going to do what I can do. Yeah. No. It's so hard to keep up in their world. Yeah, but Trail Life provides this great opportunity for dads and sons. It's a level playing field. It's the outdoors, right. And they learn together things like why Moss is on this side of the tree, or how to start a fire with wet leaves. Yes. The best place to set up my tent or yes. Or how to how to pack a backpack for a five day trip. And they learn these things together. So it's this level playing field for dads. And of course, Trail Life appeals. Even men without sons. We have over 20,000 adult volunteers across the country, many of these men without sons. But they say, hey, I need a band of brothers. Yeah. And they have found and trail lives. These men who are band of brothers who are focused on the next generation, and they share that passion and that purpose. And so they're out there with guys who share their values, enjoying the outdoors along with the boys. That's great. And single moms love it because it's like, where do I put my son? Where he can be around men, good and godly men, and they love it because it's, hey, here's my son. Help me. Yeah. Had a young man out in California not too long ago stood before his troop. He had just won one of our earned one of our highest awards. Yeah. And he said, I need to thank the men in this room. He had a single mom raised by his mom, said, I need to thank the men in this room. You taught me how to shave and how to love Jesus. I love that, and I thought they nailed it. Yeah, you can imagine being a single mom saying, yeah, I did the right thing. I've got a place for myself. And so yeah, yeah. So we love the way Trail Life is. Most people don't know how to measure whether porn is a problem. Well, now you can. Hi, I'm Mike Stone, producer of The Covenant Eyes Podcast. At Covenant Eyes, we have created a short, free and confidential assessment called the PAUS Test. That's Porn Addiction Use Severity. It's not about judgment, it's about understanding. So in just a few minutes, you'll get clarity on where you stand and what your next step could be. So take the free test now at cvnteyes.co/test. That's cvnteyes.co/test. Super short, super simple. Now you've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. Now back to the show. And you're teaching boys really their role, their biblical role too, as providers, protectors, those things that God has gifted with men. You guys really just kind of built that into your programing. And I think that's so important. Yeah. So you also have another book out, The Flight of the Falcon. So is this what is this? This is. An adventure fiction. Connection. Yeah. Right. Right along with Brian Davis, who's an amazing, author. Awesome. And he's been a friend for years, and we just, collaborated. Hey, let's tell a story, the boys. And this is the first in a series we've planned for five books. Spoiler alert. I have no idea how it's going to end. So we wrote ourselves into this. We wrote this story, and. And every once in a while, we get together, we say, where are we going with this? Because we're not sure how we can get them. You know, as any adventure story, it's really set up for the, the boys love it. And, it's a boy. His his dad is missing. Okay. And so him dealing with his his dad has disappeared mysteriously and just, taking him through that whole story. So many boys without dads today. So, but he's in a Trail Life troop, and so it's just following him through his adventure, trying to to find his father, reconnect with his father. We don't yet know how it happened. Yeah. Oh, wow. So it's like I can't even give it away because anticipation. Has gone. Well. Mark one, one thing that we love is just your connection with the church and how your ministry comes alongside. Help churches reach the young men and any and fathers in their community. So talk to us a little bit about how you work with the church. Yeah, what that looks like. Or having come out of being in and on church staff as a pastor's youth pastor, associate pastor, I know the struggle that pastors face in getting men involved. How how do we we need something for them? Yeah, because they're inspired. These are men who are doing great things at work every day or in the household or whatever. How do we get them involved in ministry. And Trail Life USA is answering that question for pastors because men you know, they may not be able to work in the nursery or the children's church, or maybe they can't sing and be on the worship team. Maybe, maybe they can help park the cars. But oh my gosh, what are we doing with men in the church? And so Trail Life puts them in this situation where it's like, hey. And that it like dawns on them, I'm in ministry. Yeah, you're in ministry. You're out here camping in the outdoors or hiking or or with this other group of men. But you're in ministry. You're making a difference, and it really brings men to life. Yeah, an interesting thing. You know, we consider ourselves an outreach at a local church. We just don't. We're just not a group that meets in our basement. We are a ministry of that church. So that troop is a ministry. And, it's it's amazing that 18% of our adult members join that church after they join the true. Oh, wow. So they come in because they say, hey, I want a place. I want an outdoor adventure organization for my sons. And they come in there, but they're meeting at the church, but they're also during these outdoor adventures and they're looking for church and they're meeting the other adults. Yeah. Who are leading the troop are members of that church. And they say, this is going to be our church home, or they come to Christ and they say, we need a church home. And that's a natural. Is 18% of our adult leaders join that church after they join the troop? So it's an evangelistic because you can invite a boy to Sunday school for forever. Yeah. You know, particularly if it's not from a family of faith. He's not going to go, but probably but you invite him to go, hey, we're going canoeing or hiking or rock climbing or whitewater rafting or something like that. Yeah. That unchurched boy joins the troop, and then the unchurched family joins the church, and it's just been a beautiful what a great way to grow the kingdom. Yeah, I love that. That's great. Well, Mark, how do our listeners get connected with you guys and your ministry? And how do they maybe even bring it into their church if it's not already there? Yeah, well, that question is answered the same way. Yeah. TrailLifeUSA.com, two L's in the middle. TrailLifeUSA.com. And there's this tab there that says get connected okay. And you click on that shows you a map of the United States. Where all the troops are. You can put in your zip code. Okay, I'll show you troops there nearby how far away they are from you, what knights they meet in, click on it and connect with that. Troops say, hey, I'd like to come be a member. I'd like to come check it out and they'll invite you and look for you when you attend. Yeah, and if there's not a troop in your area, there's also a tab that says start a troop and you find out how you can bring a troop, to your local church. Awesome, excellent. Well, Mark, thank you so much for your ministry. Thank you. So important and so, so needed. And thank you for what you're doing. We appreciate that, too. Yeah. God bless. Yeah. Well, to all of our listeners, please check out Trail Life. It is an amazing organization. You will not be disappointed. We'll put all the links in the show notes. And thank you for tuning in to this episode of The Covenant Eyes Podcast. Take care. God bless.