Royal Rangers was and is a very good and valuable program for me. It reached me for Christ , taught me about Christ , and kept me in Christ . I enjoyed Rangers and learned valuable lessons. They are: I had fun, learned life skills, and grew spiritually.

The first aspect I value of RR's is that I had fun. All boys in Rangers, including me, have fun. One of the ways I had and still have fun is by camp outs such as Pow-wows, and survivals, Camporama, and for FCF'ers , Rendezvous. For me, some of the fun things to do is eat, shoot bow and arrow, guns, and repel the repelling tower. One of the funny things about camp outs is when the commanders let the greenhorns (new rangers) try to start their first fire. It's funny because I see them bickering about how to do it, and when they finally agree and get a flame, they don't have enough wood to keep it going. I always see someone telling everyone else to get more wood. When they finally comply and go get some, they have one stick in their hand. By then, the fire is out.

The other way I had fun was by playing sports and games like football, basketball, kickball, dodgeball, and batterball. The best one of these is football. When I was at outpost 34, under Commander Tom Ferrara , we would play tackle football in the sand.  Some times I wouldn't think and wear my uniform which resulted in medals getting ripped off and pins sticking me. But it was fun until sand got into my eyes or I got hurt.

A second and important value is the life skills that I gained. The main life skills are camping and survival, archery and shooting, and safety. The first one, camping and survival, taught me how to do the following: set up tents, make a primitive shelter, make and start different types of fires from scratch with or without a match, use and sharpen tools safely, tie various knots, lash, cook over fires, preserve and store food out in the wild, and administer first aid/CPR.

The second skill I learned is archery and shooting, specifically black powder. The black powder gun experience was interesting. The certification course was longer than I had expected, taking two and a half days. But along the way I learned about it's history and how to use, shoot, and clean it.  I, along with the rest of the group, shot sixty rounds (that is 4,200 shots). After I and everyone else was done, I had to help clean the guns, lock, stock, and barrel. The next day, I received my shooting card and certificate.

Finally, the last and most important value of Royal Rangers is the Spiritual growth which I received. With the help of the program and commanders like Bruce Link , Tom Ferrara , Kevin Comalander , Tim Heiliger , and Tom Tarris , I received more knowledge of the Bible and God through the devotions, the Bible verses I memorized, the books of the Bible I read, and the biblical people I had to study. Also, the program, especially through the God and Life book, made me think about how I was serving God and doing what he commanded me to do like witnessing. It made me question where I was with God and how I stood with Him.  Now because of the challenge it presented, I am closer in my walk with Him than I was.

I thank God for this program along with my parents who pushed me, helped me through it, and backed me up. This program is excellent and will benefit anyone who participates in it.