Second Annual Whitley County Outdoorsman Crusade set for Friday

If you like to hunt, fish, hike, boat, ride four-wheelers, bird watch or just spend time outdoors, and/or if you like eating wild game meat or barbecue, then you might want to head down to the Whitley County Fairgrounds in Savoy Friday evening for the Second Annual Whitley County Outdoorsman Crusade 2019.

The event will include free food and free door prizes, such as a turkey gun, a fishing rod rack, a pair of boots, a fishing reel, gift cards to Bass Pro or Cabela’s, and things of that nature.

“What we are trying to do is go out and meet folks where they are at. We are targeting a specific people group and that is outdoor people both male and female. Whatever their outdoor activity is, we are trying to reach out to them with a gospel message,” noted Marc Hensley, one of the organizers of the event.

“We think we already have a connection with folks, who enjoy the outdoors because they already enjoy God’s creation. We feel like we already have a foot in the door because they are out their experiencing that creation, then we can combine that hopefully with a gospel message and get folks involved in church, get them saved, and reach out to them to let them know that the modern day church is as much involved in the outdoors as anybody.”

He added that a major misunderstanding that a lot of people have is thinking that a church is a place or a building when, in fact, it is a family of gathers, who join together.

During the inaugural event last year, 737 people turned out for the outdoorsman crusade, and organizers are hoping to have 1,000 people this year.

People are encouraged to bring their whole family to the event, which will start at 5 p.m., and feature Rev Outdoors’ Jeff Eaton, who will be a guest speaker. Eaton, who has been a pastor for 27 years, has an outdoor ministry.

“The reason for this ministry is simple. As people encounter the outdoors, they are ripe to encounter God. This ministry exists to help connect people to a loving and satisfying relationship with Jesus Christ. I simply use hunting, dog training, game call design, seminars, conferences, retreats, guided hunts and shooting sports to help connect people to Jesus Christ,” Eaton wrote on his website revoutdoors.com.

Hensley noted that Eaton isn’t a professional lecturer, who does speaking events for a living, but rather is an actual pastor of a church.

“He is a huge outdoorsman. He has a big following on Facebook and You Tube,” Hensley said. “He is an avid, avid outdoorsman. He loves the outdoors.”

Hensley noted that Eaton would be leaving right after the event Friday because he plans to go turkey hunting Saturday morning.

To get to the Whitley County Fairgrounds, go south from Williamsburg on US25W, and turn left onto Savoy Road by Firestone and then follow the signs to the fairgrounds entrance.

“We are going to be serving some of the best barbeque that you ever put in your mouth. There will be some deer meat out there. There will be some fish. There will be some turtle meat. There is even going to be some crawfish out there. There will be everything in the world you can imagine to eat and it is all good,” Hensley added.

Last year there were about 35 volunteers for the event, and this year Hensley is hoping to have over 100 volunteers.

Five local churches have partnered to put on the event, including: Main Street Baptist Church, Mt. Ash Baptist Church, Wolf Creek Baptist Church, Grace Christian Fellowship and Cumberland Freewill Baptist Church in Redbird.